Book Review - Lilac Girls by Martha Hall Kelly

I just finished reading Lilac Girls by Martha Hall Kelly and I can't get it out of my mind. This book has stayed with me. An historical novel, it's based on the true stories of several women who lived - and didn't live - through the Holocaust. Their stories are followed from the start of WWII until long after the end. Some were killed; some were tortured; some were the torturers; some were simply bystanders trying to get through the day. All were affected. 

A few things that stayed with me and why: 

A common phrase, "For the greater good," was used frequently to gain control of people. But those people, no matter how complaint they were with this mandate, were killed anyway. It reminded me of 2020 in that people were forced to give up their livelihood and shut down "for the greater good." It gives me shivers. Just 2 weeks of shutdown? No...it wasn't true. They take your livelihood without a second thought. They will leave you in the hospital alone without a second thought. All "for the greater good."

The innocent were killed. Many, many women, children and men alike were killed for simply existing. It reminded me of abortion today. Many thousands of babies are killed daily for simply existing. 

Those who dared to speak out were quickly hushed by those who wanted to comply with the "new order." They were encouraged to tattle tale - and some did, to the detriment of their loved ones they tattled on. No one could be trusted as a result. 

The thousands of victims were lied to at every step and it sounded reasonable and plausible each and every time. Today, we are lied to on a regular basis by certain media and certain politicians who want their way. Pregnant women are lied to so they'll kill their babies. It's all lies, just like it was then. 

Read this book. See how things played out in people's everyday lives. Look at how "good" and "righteous" they made the compliance sound while they lined the compliant up, naked, at the top of mass graves and killed them all. 

Today, girls line up in a waiting room, repeatedly told that what they are doing in aborting their baby is "for the greater good" because it would be horrible to bring an "unwanted" child into this world who may end up in poverty. 

Those who work to protect individual liberties protect your liberties as well as their own. They don't bow to the "for the greater good" mantra because they already know it's a lie. Do not be fooled. There is no "greater good." There is only "good for me too bad for you" in the politician's voices. Not one politician gave up their salary for the shutdown. Not one missed a paycheck. You may scramble to pay your rent or mortgage but they never do. Nothing is for the "greater good." Nothing.

Let Lilac Girls be a stark reminder of how easily the people fell for the lies. I highly recommend this book. 

~Tricia

What I Knew Then

I was in high school when Roe v Wade was finalized and abortion was made legal. I was clueless and ill-informed, trying to get through each day as most teens do. My main focus was home, my seven siblings and a few close friends.

I may have been clueless and ill-informed, but even in my teenage state of mind, I knew unborn babies were babies. I knew abortion was wrong, had always been wrong and would always be wrong. Maybe it was that I was raised on a farm. I knew a pregnant cat would eventually give birth to kittens because her pregnancy was actually kittens growing inside her. I knew a new calf was the result of the pregnancy of the mother cow. I knew turtle eggs would mean turtles hatching, that robin eggs meant baby robins were going to hatch.

I also knew that destroying turtle eggs was the same as destroying turtles. I knew if one of the cats got to the robin eggs, they would be having unhatched baby robins for lunch. I knew this from observation and common sense (which my dad would call horse sense to this day). It was common knowledge to me that abortion meant killing a baby and killing a baby is wrong.

Imagine my confusion when I heard pro-abortionists argue that a fetus is just a bunch of cells and not a baby. At first I thought they were just clueless and ill-informed. I remember thinking that someone needed to educate them so they would realize abortion meant they were killing babies - and surely they would put a stop to it. In my young mind, abortion was unthinkable.

I knew what a fetus was - it translates "little one," and not just any little one - a human little one. A little human. Specifically, according to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, "a developing human from usually two months after conception to birth." Prior to two months after conception, the child is called an embryo. These are simply terms and they are describing different stages of life. Not one of these terms denies the humanity of a fetus/embryo/baby.

I knew abortion was wrong even in my limited understanding of things as a clueless teen. I knew!

Today, the Colorado legislature voted down a bill that would require doctors to provide medical care to babies who survive abortion. They voted it down. How can they think this is acceptable? The bill is talking about babies born alive. Think of it. A baby, born after a failed abortion, left to die of neglect. I shudder.

Just like that, abortion has transitioned to infanticide. It didn't really take that long, less than a generation. Other states have done the same thing. The stuff of horror films has been a legal reality for helpless babies since 1973. Horror. Absolute horror.

May God have mercy on their souls.

~Tricia