She Didn't Need an Ultrasound...

Editor's note. This column, written by Brenda Fastabend, president of Virginia Society for Human Life (VSHL), first appeared in the August 2004 edition of Life Saver, VSHL's newsletter.

A tiny baby weighing a little more than three pounds was born on August 31. The year was 1937, before even incubators were part of standard hospital equipment. Placed in a shoe box with a hot water bottle, the premature infant's survival looked bleak. The doctors gave no hope, the parents prayed and, against all odds, the baby boy continued to live and to grow.

Although small for his age, he did well in school, graduating from college by age 20. He married in 1959, a week after his 22nd birthday, and by early 1969 was the happy father of four sons and two daughters. Two years later, in May 1971, he would become the co-chairman of the first chapter of Virginia Society for Human Life, and a few years later, the state VSHL treasurer.

You may have guessed by now, baby Billy grew up to be my husband and partner for life ... in more ways than one.

Following the infamous January 22, 1973, Roe v. Wade ruling of the Supreme Court, VSHL was inundated with invitations to present programs to churches, schools, and groups of many descriptions in cities and counties around the state. The subject of legalized abortion was a hot new topic. Our Lynchburg VSHL chapter invited a nationally recognized doctor to town to speak. The physician's sobering slide program was presented to a packed hospital auditorium. Bill's mother, who happened to be visiting from Petersburg, attended the program with us.

The following morning as I drove my mother-in-law to catch her train home, she spilled out the story she had ...