I love my country. I loved the U.S.A. before moving overseas, but being gone for the last seven years has stirred up some seriously deep patriotism in my soul that I wasn’t even aware was there. When Al and I were first married, I remember watching the opening ceremony of the Olympics with tears rolling down my cheeks as the U.S. athletes merely stood and waved. He thought I was ridiculous, but I didn’t care; those were my people.

Recently, though, I’ve felt embarrassed of and by my country in one particular area. As someone on the outside looking in, the way the U.S. looks to a lot of foreigners makes me want to hang my head in shame. We don’t get all the big headlines down here, but when I see one that says our tax dollars are going to the mass murder of babies and the selling of their organs, I literally feel sick to my stomach. With the recent release of the videos exposing Planned Parenthood for their base and inhumane treatment of little human beings and then the subsequent vote to continue supporting these gruesome acts by congress, I found myself doubting my nation that supposedly stands for “liberty and justice for all.”

I am incredibly grateful for the liberty that I have as an American citizen, but in this case, I think we’re taking advantage of the “liberty” and forgetting about the “justice.” I just can’t wrap my mind around how anyone can argue that murdering the most vulnerable human beings is a matter of choice. While a woman does have the liberty to sleep with whom she chooses, that liberty should not carry over to taking an innocent life because of her indiscretion. I see the liberty, but I see no justice in that. Can “justice for all” really exist if our government supports millions of abortions each year? And don’t even get me started on the detestable selling of the baby body parts.

My daughter was born premature and I remember sitting in the NICU just staring at all of the tiny babies fighting for their lives. These little people who were born at 25 weeks, 28 weeks, etc. were so fragile, but so alive. They were breathing, moving, and responding to touch. I was amazed at how incredibly cared for they were by the doctors and nurses. What amazes me even more is this: there are still people out there who say that if that 27-week old baby was still in the womb, the mother would have a choice to take the baby’s life. Why is it only considered murder if the baby is killed outside the womb at 27 weeks? Or why is someone charged with murder if they hurt a pregnant woman and she loses the child, yet a mother or doctor isn’t charged with murder if they choose to terminate that same baby’s life?

In Costa Rica, abortion is illegal and I’m sure Albin is proud of that. It is baffling to me that a country that is considered “Third World” and classified only as a “developing country” has a much higher moral standard than our so-called already “developed country.” The U.S. government financially aids the murdering of babies and selling their body parts? Which country sounds more “underdeveloped” or better yet, primitive?  It’s hard to believe that something comparable to Nazi doctors performing gruesome hate crimes is happening right in the United States and that there are a whole lot of despicable people who are marching down the streets to demonstrate their approval of it.
Like I said before, I love America, and I believe in this one nation under God. But today, I hate how easily she is allowing liberty to override justice. This experience has reminded me that there are ways of doing things in EVERY culture that are right and also things that are wrong. It’s important that we keep that in mind so that we don’t become imperialistic about our own culture and begin to take an honest look at the good…and bad in both.