A “woman by her very nature is maternal – for every woman, whether married or unmarried, is called upon to be a biological, psychological, or spiritual mother – she knows intuitively that to give, to nurture, to care for others, to suffer with and for them – for maternity implies suffering – is infinitely more valuable in God’s sight than to conquer nations and fly to the moon.”
~ Alice Von Hildebrand
During an episode of her podcast, “IMO with Michelle Obama & Craig Robinson” former First Lady Michelle Obama stated, “Women’s reproductive health is about our life. It’s about this whole complicated reproductive system that the least of what it does is produce life.”
Yes, you read that correctly.
A woman’s unique ability to grow a human life inside her body is “the least of” what the reproductive system is for.
Now I can proceed to expound on all the ways this “complicated reproductive system” was created by God for the express purpose of procreation. That for us, as women, it is a gift to be granted the honor of being ‘co-creators’ with God
In the Encyclical letter titled “The Humanae Vitae” by Paul VI he states that the ‘sexual act’ must in all ways “retain its intrinsic relationship to the procreation of human life (Humanae Vitae 11). And that the reason is that the “fundamental nature of the marriage act, while uniting husband and wife in the closest intimacy, also renders them capable of generating new life.” (Humanae Vitae 12)
Or I can go another direction for those with a leaning more toward simple biology.
According to the National Institute of Health “The female reproductive system comprises internal and external organs that facilitate menstruation and procreation. This organ system is responsible for producing gametes (termed eggs or ova), regulating sex hormones, and maintaining fertilized eggs as they develop into mature fetuses ready for delivery.” (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK537132/)
So whether you wax philosophical, analytical, contemplative, or theological I think we can all agree that, in fact, the miracle of creating and sustaining new life is the “most”, if not all, of what a woman’s reproductive system does.
I sometimes wonder, in this age of the erasing of femininity and the scorning and avoidance of a woman’s natural cycle, if supporters of choice (and Mrs. Obama) despise their own sex.
“A feminist is someone who loathes being a woman and who dislikes the chief feminine characteristics.” — Gilbert K. Chesterton
I for one am most fortunate and content to be a woman and a mother. And humbled to be counted among those who possess XX chromosomes.
