RE: Ken Hayward's views on the Latimer Appeal

I was sorely disappointed to read that Mr. Ken Hayward has not changed his views on abortion. Almost two years ago he wrote a letter to the editor claiming that an unwanted child is better off aborted, and now he is adding mercy killing to this. Obviously my public response in 2006 via the Citizen in a personal account of being considered an "unwanted child" but graciously given a chance at life has had no effect on his view. For his benefit, and for the benefit of others who support abortion, I urge you to continue reading this letter and ask yourself, what if you were the unwanted child who was not given a chance at life?

It grieves me when I hear people today saying an unplanned pregnancy is better off aborted. Do we somehow feel justified in committing murder if the baby is considered unwanted? I humbly admit that I too, used to think that abortion was okay n extreme circumstances such as rape. But it wasn't until I was face to face with my very own adoption records that God shook me out of my selfish and immoral worldview...you see, I was conceived through an act of rape.

I was unplanned. I was unwanted. I was an inconvenience. I was horribly conceived in an act against my birth mother's will. Not only was I a product of rape, butwasanunbornbabyofmixed blood, not welcomed in this black Bermudan family.

Even though my natural mother was further inconvenienced by moving to Canada, and endured the pain of giving birth to this unwanted child, she selflessly gave me up for adoption. Although this unwanted child altered her temporary, and possibly, her life plans, she chose the route of giving me life instead of a death sentence.

In God's great plan, I was adopted by loving Christian parents, who did not care that I was mixed blood, even though I was again considered unwanted, this time by many of the white families in Toronto in the 1960's. These real parents opened up their hearts and home to me, as well as to three other mixed children, despite the disapproval from others, even from close friends!

God's ways are much higher than our ways. We think we know best, but in actuality, even our most compassionate thinking is flawed with sin and self-centeredness. I can be here today, enjoying my Godgiven life with my loving husband and four wonderful children, because I had a birth mother who did not think the way most of us do today. In today's society, I would have been destined for a quick and imminent death, and it would have been considered an act of compassion and good will. But by God's amazing grace, my birth mother chose life and not death for me.

It took the shocking reality of my own life story to change my wrong thinking ...what will it take to change yours?

Gwen Kampen

Orangeville