At the time of this writing, we’re a week out from Christmas, and I’m 39 weeks pregnant.
This Christmas season, it’s been hard to not think of Mary and the whole Christmas story as a little more real. Every time I wince from joint or muscle pain, laugh feeling my baby turn and wiggle, and receive seemingly endless compassion and care from my gentle husband, the experience of Mary, Joseph, and the baby Jesus becomes simultaneously more sobering and beautiful.
And between my personal experience, study of the Christmas story, and entrenchment in the pro-life issue, I wish to share a key conclusion:
The nativity story is the most pro-life scripture story!
And here are 10 of the top pro-life principles found within the very pro-life story of the birth of Christ:
1. Unplanned pregnancies are not truly unplanned. (Luke 1, Matthew 1, Helaman 14)
(Luke 1, Matthew 1, Helaman 14)
Mary became pregnant at the wrong time. At least, she never planned on being pregnant before being married.
However, scripture makes it very clear that there was a plan.
Prophets throughout the ages prophesied of the coming Messiah, including Samuel the Lamanite in America even giving a specific timeline for the birth of Christ. Not every detail had been foreseen, but everything that had been taught materialized in His birth, from the lineage to location and more.
She may not have expected to be expecting, but Mary even realizes the divine plan the Lord has for her and her baby, as she proclaims to her cousin Elizabeth.
Of course, Mary’s particular circumstances of becoming pregnant are unique, but her experience can still inform and inspire other women who find themselves in an unplanned pregnancy.
When a woman today is single, financially unprepared, and maybe even at risk of loss or danger from others for being pregnant, it is easy to say that the merciful thing for her to do would be to get rid of the baby. After all, she’ll probably have another chance when she can better plan for it, right?
The Lord has a plan for every mother and every baby. We can trust that He can turn a very hard situation into something beautiful—because His plan is greater than our own.
2. Mary’s bravery is an inspirational example for pregnant women.
(Luke 1, 2)
When the angel tells her she would be Jesus’ mother, Mary’s response is incredibly brave.
“Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word.”
(“Handmaid”—an ironic word for the 21st-century reader who sees women claim it as a word to represent female oppression and a need for abortion.)
It would have been easy for Mary to say, “Oh, not me, you’ve made a mistake,” or to spiral in fear or denial.
Instead, she bravely accepted the will of God.
She didn’t have all the answers, and she probably wasn’t confident in herself, but she had trust in the Lord to accept His plan and the child He was sending her.
3. Joseph shows how fathers can stand as defenders of their families.
(Matthew 1, Luke 2)
(I know, Joseph wasn’t the biological father, but he was Mary’s betrothed husband, and fathers facing unplanned pregnancies can absolutely learn from Him.)
When Mary told him she was pregnant, Joseph wasn’t sure what to do. He thought about “putting her away privily,” or breaking off the betrothal without shaming her. But when he received revelation to marry her anyway, and that he was going to raise the Son of God, Joseph did so, seemingly without delay.
Later, we hear how he continued to protect and care for Mary and Jesus, raising Jesus to follow God.
He followed God, and he understood the duty and responsibility he had been given as a husband and father, and he bravely walked in what he knew was right. The world today needs more fathers who are willing to stand by their pregnant wives/partners and become the strong husbands and fathers the Lord asks them to be.
4. Parents in unplanned pregnancies can receive revelation amidst difficult decisions.
(Matthew 1-2, Luke 1)
Mary and especially Joseph both show that parents in unplanned pregnancies can receive personal revelation. They both had questions, but they found answers through personal prayer, pondering, and visitations from angels on earth and heaven to understand the Lord’s will and what to do next.
Anyone facing such serious choices as those relating to pregnancy, family, and children, and with the holy stewardship as parents, will surely be guided and upheld by the Lord as they ask for revelation and power.
(I love the examples in this Liahona online issue: https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/liahona/2022/07/digital-only/single-and-pregnant-important-decisions?lang=eng)
5. Pregnant mothers (especially single pregnant moms) need community support.
(Luke 1)
For a lot of us moms, pregnancy is super hard. I believe our modern culture is really harsh on pregnant moms. For example, for me, I am practically stuck in bed (or on my knees bowing to the porcelain throne) for about the first half of pregnancy—and I’m far from normal or well for the rest!
We don’t hear about Mary’s physiological experience of pregnancy, but we do know that very shortly after speaking with the angel Gabriel, she goes to stay with her cousin, Elizabeth, and stays with her for several months.
Pregnant mothers need family or other community to embrace them. Other people can help provide the emotional, social, and physical support they need to move forward in pregnancy with health, peace, and confidence.
When we see a pregnant woman, especially a single pregnant woman, we should try to embrace her and welcome her in our families and ward families. I’m glad Mary didn’t have to do it totally alone, and no other mother should have to, either.
6. Children in the womb have consciousness, value, and personhood.
(Luke 1)
Who was the first person to recognize Jesus as the Savior?
A preborn baby!
And it happened while Jesus was also in the womb!
The story of Mary meeting Elizabeth (both pregnant), and preborn John immediately leaping for joy at being near his cousin and Lord Jesus, is both miraculous and incredibly informative.
What powerful evidence that children in the womb are not just alive but have an eternal identity!
7. When facing unplanned/challenging pregnancies, taking an eternal perspective brings confidence and peace.
(Luke 1)
In meeting Elizabeth and telling her about her own miraculous pregnancy of the Christ child, Mary proclaims her testimony. She understands her place in history and in her genealogy, and she is grateful for the trust the Lord has in her in bringing about His plan. She takes her role as a mother as an honorable and important one because she has an eternal perspective.
We don’t hear about Mary’s fear that her betrothed will leave her (or pursue justice against her). Her focus on thinking celestial seems to overshadow worries about her daunting situation.
Pregnant women today can take courage that, even in the face of adversity, they are playing an important role in God’s plan and in powerfully linking their past fathers and mothers to the generations of children they are bringing to the world.
8. Inspired people may serve and give to honor mothers and babies.
(Luke 1, Matthew 2)
It probably wasn’t the support system/welcoming committee Mary would have chosen, but the Lord sent people to honor her and her newborn baby.
Upon the magnificent invitation by the angels, the shepherds came to worship baby Jesus in the manger. Later, the wise men also are inspired to find Jesus and bring gifts to honor him.
Today, many inspired people strive to support, give, visit, and honor pregnant mothers and their babies. I want to thank Latter-day Saints for Life and friends of all faiths who do this through prayer, service, and giving, often through the means of organizations like a pregnancy resource center.
All new mothers and fathers, and all new babies, deserve to be celebrated, and parents facing unplanned pregnancies especially need inspired people to support them.
9. The world may try to stop the Lord’s plan, even by violence against innocent children.
(Matthew 2)
The most sobering part of the Christmas story? King Herod angrily ordered all the babies under the age of 2 to be killed out of jealousy of this new king born in his realm.
What’s even more sobering is realizing that today, our world is no safer for innocent children.
An estimated 73 million children die each year through abortion (according to the WHO). These abortions may happen for a variety of reasons, but one thing is clear:
There is an enemy who wishes to stop the Father’s plan.
What joy it would have brought Satan to inspire man to kill the Savior they needed. Even though that plan failed, he still rejoices at every child who dies at the earliest stage of their premortal life. If he couldn’t stop them from choosing to follow Christ and live mortality in the premortal life, this is about the second-best thing.
10. The Lord is aware of and wishes to bless righteous parents striving to care for their children and follow Him.
(Luke 2, Matthew 2)
There was a lot about this Christmas story that is less than ideal, extremely inconvenient, and even devastatingly difficult. Mary and Joseph’s path to becoming the parents of the Savior of the world was far from ideal. They weren’t yet married, they were not established in a home, they were by no worldly means wealthy or prepared yet.
Likewise, today, many parents begin their parenthood journey in difficult or even dangerous situations. Sometimes, the Lord doesn’t remove the obstacles, I can promise you He is extremely aware of every earnest parent, striving to do the right thing for their tiny children the Lord has sent them.
This Christmas, I hope every expecting parent can take more confidence and faith in moving forward to protect and care for their preborn child, and I pray that every pro-life Latter-day Saint feels empowered and inspired to serve those parents and children.
Merry Christmas! If you feel inspired by this story, find a way to serve this coming year: https://www.latterdaysaintsforlife.org/post/how-to-help-latter-day-saints-for-life-and-serve-preborn-children-at-any-availability-level
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