There is No Such Thing as “Personally Pro-Life”

Even as I type the title of my article here, I cringe at the shower of outrage that’s about to come my way. No, seriously, I know that many well-meaning people believe that it is possible to be personally pro-life. I’ve been thinking about this recently, and I have to disagree. I’m talking about the people who say, “I wouldn’t personally have an abortion, but it’s not my place to tell others what to do.” Or something like that. Let’s run through some of the ideas and thoughts behind a “personally pro-life” viewpoint.

Would it be okay with you if I made any of the following statements? (Ignore your personal thoughts on these issues. Just take the statements at face value.)

I wouldn’t personally shoot a Mexican crossing the border into the United States, but it’s not my place to tell a Texas landowner what to do.

I wouldn’t personally drink and drive, but it’s not my job to tell you what to do.

I wouldn’t personally rape anyone, but hey, it’s not my business what you do in your own private life.

I wouldn’t personally hold up a bank at gunpoint for a joke, but I’m not going to tell you what’s ok and what’s not.

I wouldn’t personally leave my kid with an abusive babysitter, but I won’t tell you what you should do with your kid.

Thoughts, anyone? Let’s just say that personally, I think those statements are full of junk. Kudos to me if I wouldn’t personally do bad things that would make me a nasty person, a murderer, or an absolutely horrible parent. Should I just pat myself on the back now?

The point in a civilized society isn’t so much what we wouldn’t personally do, though I admit that if everyone would stop personally doing bad things, we’d live in a perfect world. But guess what: that’s not gonna happen in this world, despite our best hopes. There will always be people among us who will personally choose to do wrong things. Therefore the question becomes not what we personally won’t do, but what is wrong for all of society.

I think we can all agree with the following statements:

It’s wrong to shoot an illegal immigrant.

It’s wrong to stab a gas station cashier.

It’s wrong to smother a newborn baby.

It’s wrong to run over a black child with a car.

It’s wrong to strangle an adolescent with Down Syndrome.

It’s wrong to kidnap a woman and kill her.

It’s wrong to end a man’s life because we don’t like him.

It’s wrong to poison an elderly person because we don’t want them around anymore.

Basically, it’s wrong to kill innocent human beings. It doesn’t matter who they are or what position in life they have or what race or gender they are or what environment they came from. It doesn’t matter how old or young or developed or not developed they are. It doesn’t matter if we love them or hate them. It doesn’t matter if they’re convenient or expensive or hard to deal with. All that matters is that they’re human and we do not have the right to kill them. Civilized society agrees with this.

The injustice we face is grave. We have no right to sit on the sidelines and applaud ourselves for our “personal” beliefs.

Except. Except in the cases of the unborn humans in our midst. The only differences they have from us are 1) their environment, 2) their level of dependency, 3) their development, and 4) their size and physical appearance. Since when are those qualifiers for the right to life?

Plenty of people live in different environments – think of people in other countries, in hospitals, or on the street. We don’t have the right to kill any of them. Plenty of people have differing degrees of dependence. What about a person on a ventilator, a newborn baby, a disabled adult, or a regular five-year-old? When does someone become “too dependent” – so much so that we have the right to kill them?

Plenty of people are at different developmental stages – whether you’re talking about mental or physical development. Human life is, in a way, development. Plenty of people are different sizes with different physical appearances. Think of men, women, dwarves, giants, three-year-olds, and people born with a cleft lip. Do any of those things affect our “right” to kill them? Clearly, they don’t in any case we can think of – except the unborn. This is an illogical, unfounded, and entirely unjust exception.

The gravity of this injustice should force us to take a public stand. We cannot afford to be “personally pro-life.” While it’s great if you wouldn’t have an abortion yourself, it’s not enough. Babies are being put to death in horrific ways every single day in our nation and throughout the world. If your only opinion is that you wouldn’t have an abortion, than you’re not actually pro-life. You simply wouldn’t personally have an abortion. I congratulate you on this decision – it’s an excellent one.

But being pro-life means that you think no baby should be sentenced to die in this way. It means that you’re willing to take a stand and say, “Every life is precious, not just the life of my own child. Every baby deserves a chance to live. Every baby has the equal right to life. And I will stand up for that life.” When you can say that, my friend, then you are truly pro-life.

Editor’s Note: This article was first printed at Live Action News on October 3, 2012, and is reprinted here with permission.

5 videos that show who abortion is killing – a real human being

Note: There are no graphic images of abortion in the videos included below.

In today’s modern age, it’s difficult to avoid the fact that unborn human beings are alive, growing, unique individuals – from the very first moment they come into existence. Yet some still manage to close their eyes to reality. It’s important to understand the things we claim to support. It’s essential to be aware of all the facts, not just the ones that seem to support our position.

And so, for anyone involved in the abortion debate – and for all those who are unsure exactly where they stand – here are five important videos. These short videos show just what that unborn baby in his mother’s womb looks like, at various stages of development. Modern scientific videos like these demonstrate that unborn babies are not:

• A clump of cells
• Part of his or her mother’s body
• Similar to a virus or
• Merely “potential” life

Dear kinda, maybe, sorta pro-life candidates

This was first published at Live Action News on March 26, 2014, and is reprinted with permission.

As another election cycle begins in earnest, some pro-life candidates are playing political games.

One common argument making the rounds is that campaigns are not “focused on social issues.” The all-important economy is the focus.

Where do a focus on the economy and a neglect of vital social issues get us? In the past, they’ve gotten us slavery and discrimination. They gave Germany the Holocaust. When moral people focus on the economy and put their blinders on for social issues, do we think our opposition ignores the social issues?

No. That’s why slavery continued and the Holocaust began. The opposition doesn’t let up. They don’t ignore social issues for the sake of the economy. They claim that their side of the social issues is imperative to the success of the economy. They use pro-lifers’ social-issue blindness to advance their own cause. They don’t hold up a white flag and say, “Sure, let’s all just forget about abortion for awhile.” Instead, they laugh at our folly and floor the gas pedal on their own advance.

Kinda, maybe, sorta pro-life candidates are emerging where true leaders once stood. Instead of finding a concise, courageous way to explain their convictions, they deny they ever had them.

Abortion and My Great Aloneness

Women – and young girls – choose abortion for many reasons.  All of them are sad, and none are necessary – despite how it may seem.  (Note, please, that saving a woman from an ectopic pregnancy by removing the child or saving her from cancer by using chemotherapy or other such life-saving treatment is not an abortion, even if the baby dies.)

Often, women choose abortion because they are convinced they will be alone if they do not.  They believe that their parents will reject them and throw them out.  They believe their boyfriend or husband will leave them.  They believe their friends will scorn them or make fun of them.  They believe they will become an outcast in their family, at school, or in society.  They fear loneliness and rejection, but in their fear, they do not realize that abortion itself is the ultimate loneliness.

Children are created to be with their mothers (whether the mother is a biological or adopted mother).  Children were never created to be killed.  When a mother kills her child – a very unnatural act – she creates a vacuum in her heart and in her life.  She creates the very loneliness she was attempting to escape.

The following is a writing about a woman who almost chose an abortion, in part, to escape loneliness and the rejection that she believed she would suffer if she kept her child.  This writing reveals her thoughts as she went on to choose life for her daughter.  (If you have participated in an abortion in your past, please consider contacting a local pregnancy resource center or Rachel’s Vineyard for help for post-abortive women and men.)

LIFE CONQUERS MY GREAT ALONENESS

When you showed up on that little stick as a plus sign, I was so unaware. 

I tried to push thoughts of you aside by chatting away to the friend on the other end of my cell phone, but I had no idea you would soon fill my vision entirely.  You found yourself in my womb, and instantly I knew you were a different sort of person than I’d ever met before.  Confident and bold, yet humble and unassuming at the same time.  Little did you know the sway you already held over my trembling heart.

You were what I needed – for all of time – but I refused to let myself see the truth.  Instead, I plodded along in my great aloneness.

Of course, I inwardly cursed myself that I planned to choose my friends, my life, and him over you.  That I would never be free to sit with you over a coffee – or a juice box – across a table, and let you enter my heart.   I used your father as an excuse for what could have been the greatest failure of my life – the failure that would have sentenced me to a great aloneness for the rest of my days.

You may have had no idea of the struggle raging inside me.  Or maybe you knew all along.  But I refused to let you see who I truly was.  I was bound up by society’s ideals and my own sense of pride.  My adamant refusal to risk getting hurt or being told I was wrong – that I didn’t live up the the standards – nearly led me to choose this great aloneness.

Proper manners ordered me to dismiss you cooly, as though you had not already captured my soul.  They ordered me to keep our conversations to the business at hand – ending your life – when what I really wanted was to take your tiny, chubby baby hand in mine, forever.  They whispered in my ear that I was not good enough, that you would not want me as your mother if you knew.  I feared taking a chance that would risk my heart.  I shook my head at the daring ideas racing in my mind.  I rejected courage, and my heart beat in solitary confinement.  But it is I who imprisoned myself in this great aloneness.  But only for a time.

I am not one to give up so easily.  I ride on the wings of hope.  And I am comforted by the power of prayer.  Perhaps my courage has taken its sweet time to surface, but it has come to me at last.  I believe, my child, that you are worth risking my pride, my comfort, my convenience, and even my life as I know it.  And now I am actually willing to act on my belief.

I can only hope that you will reach up your tiny hand, smile at my world – and at my very soul – as you take your first breath on the day of your birth.  Welcome to my world, little daughter.  You are here to stay.

What, exactly, is abortion?

Abortion is many, many things.

It is painful.

It is cruel.

It is a tragedy.

It is the source of harm for countless women, men, and families.

It is the cause of death for millions of innocent children.

More specifically, though, if you want to hear true, accurate descriptions of abortion from those who have been there – women who’ve experienced abortions and abortion doctors and clinic workers – you should follow the Expose Abortion project.  (There are other descriptions of abortion here that are worth reading, for those who want very detailed information.)

I’ve written a whole article about the Expose Abortion project for Live Action.  You can read it here.  This project exposes abortion by revealing truth from the inside.  Below are just a few of the project’s quotes, most from abortion doctors and clinic workers:

I was helping the doctor hold the baby [to keep it in the birth canal]. The other nurse got the instrument [a large syringe with a large needle], handed it to the doctor, and he inserted it into the base of the skull. Then he pulled the baby out. Its little hands were grasping. When the baby quit grasping, then he delivered it. He used the syringe to suction out the brains.

– Testimony of witness to an abortion. See Silentnomoreawareness.org/testimonies/testimony.aspx?ID=2671

It [abortion] goes against all things which are natural. It’s a termination of a life, however you look at it.

– Robert Harris, abortionist, From author Magda Denes, PhD. “In Necessity and Sorrow: Life and Death Inside an Abortion Hospital”.

And typically when the abortion procedure is started we typically know that the fetus is still alive because either we can feel it move as we’re making our initial grasps or if we’re using some ultrasound visualization when we actually see a heartbeat as we’re starting the procedure.

– This account of D&E is part of sworn testimony given in US District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin (Madison, WI, May 27, 1999, Case No. 98-C-0305-S), by Dr. Martin Haskell, an abortionist.

You can see a miniature person… as a physician… I am destroying life.

– abortionist Benjamin Kalish, MD

Question: Can the heart of a fetus or embryo still be beating during a suction curettage abortion as the fetus or embryo comes down the cannula?
Answer: For a few seconds to a minute, yes.

– Sworn testimony given in US District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin (Madison, WI, May 27, 1999, Case No. 98-C-0305-S), by Dr. Harlan Raymond Giles, an abortionist. He describes legal activity.)

I was finally able to remove the head and look squarely into the face of a human being…a human I had just killed.

– abortionist Paul Jarrett, MD

I have taken the lives of innocent babies and I have ripped them from their mother’s wombs with a powerful suction machine.

– abortionist McArthur Hill, MD.

**To find out more, visit the Expose Abortion page, read my article on Live Action, or follow the project on Facebook or Twitter @ExposeAbortion.  Tell your friends about this project and help them know the real truth, too!  It’s one thing to know the truth, but it’s another to share it!  Choose to share!!  (Hopefully you learned this as a toddler =)

***If you haven’t seen it yet, you should definitely check out Live Action’s Inhuman investigation.  Make yourself sit down and watch the videos or read the transcripts.  These are the things Americans NEED to realize are happening…

Here are 10 Reasons Not to Choose Abortion, an article for men involved in abortion decisions, and one for women who feel pressured to choose abortions.

A Different Kind of Mommy Post

One of the super cute photos in the article that you simply must read…

Ok, so this is a LOT different from my typical posts. But hey, while we are busy working to encourage moms out there to give their babies life, it’s also important to pass on some tips of exactly what to do with those precious gifts…

I’m a young mom – with one toddler and one baby coming later this year =). And I know I can often use encouragement and helpful tips. My children are some of the most precious gifts in my life, but that doesn’t mean I always know what to do with them!

So I’m going to pass on this EXTREMELY AWESOME article that my mom shared with me. It’s called “They are Listening: 19 Things We Should Say to Our Children.” Moms are sometimes told what not to say to our kids, but what about the things we should be saying?? You may not agree with every single phrase in this list, but overall – it’s great advice that I’ll be trying to follow.

I’d also add a couple other things I want to say to my children.

1) My parents always said this to us: “We can always talk about it. No matter what you do, we can talk about it. No matter how bad it is, we will be here for you, and we will work it out.”

2) “It’s ok. You’re safe. Mommy’s here.” This seems to be helpful for little ‘fraidy cat kiddos. We all need to reassured that we really are safe and that someone we trust is here for us.

So, to finish this out, why don’t you let me know things you try to say to your kids? What are important words we need to be building in our children? Because after all, after we choose to give life to these beautiful gifts, we need to remember to treat them like the gifts they are!

What Abortion Has Brought Us…

Death. Apathy. Women as Pawns. Lies, Inaccuracy, Misinformation. 

These are the things Roe and abortion have brought to us.

Live Action’s awesome magazine, “The Advocate” is now available online! This magazine is designed to be han

Yes, rights and responsibility should most definitely go together. And abortion is not the responsible way to care for a child we have helped create… (Photo credit: physiciansforhumanrights)

ded out on college campuses (and high schools and church youth groups) around the nation. It’s written specifically for the younger generation, but its information is appropriate for older generations, too. In the magazine, Live Action’s writers expose the truth about abortion and encourage people around the nation to TAKE A STAND. Here’s how Live Action explains The Advocate:

As one college student recently told us, “I was on the fence about abortion before, but after reading The Advocate and seeing those images, I’m now pro-life”. Every edition of The Advocate bears witness to the momentum the pro-life movement is gaining in our culture, especially among our youth.

You can get your own FREE copies to distribute (please do this!! Even if you only want five…) by clicking here. Pastors, please get these for your youth groups (and your entire congregation). Political activists, please get these to pass around your clubs and to leave in your party offices. Teens and college students, please get these for your friends and fellow students. People in general, please get these to give out to ANYONE you know. Even giving it to one person can make all the difference in the world. Abortion can end one person, one heart, at a time…

I was honored to be asked to write in the Winter 2012-2013 edition of The Advocate. I was asked to write on “Forty Years of Roe, Five Years of Live Action.” So, if you’ve ever wondered just what Roe has brought us, and if you’ve ever wondered just what Live Action does, you can read my article (and the whole magazine) here.

After you read, let me know what you think – what has Roe brought to America, to women, to the unborn children, to your friends and family, to you?

Good News on Our Youth and a Question for You

Students for Life of America (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Of course, this is great news!  SFLA details some bad news as well, including the fact that Planned Parenthood is still good at marketing lies to our youth.  In fact, 48% weren’t even sure whether or not Planned Parenthood provides abortion.  That’s scary.  And a wake-up call to us to keep spreading the truth.  I personally think the saddest part of the study is that 58% of young adults don’t know where to point a pregnant friend in need.  We definitely need to do a better job of making pro-life resources, crisis pregnancy centers, etc. more easily accesible and well-known.  We can do this by finding out the resources in our area and letting our friends – specifically any young adults – know, with the request that they tell their friends.  The information will spread if we make the effort to spread it.  Let me know if you have questions on how to find out the resources in your area – I’m more than happy to help!

SFLA encourages pro-lifers to keep educating young adults.  As part of the young generation, I join them in calling on all pro-lifers to give young adults the information that they need – whether they’re actively seeking it out or not.  You make a difference for us when you speak the truth!  Thank you!  Keep it up!  Consider purchasing copies of this book to hand out:  “Why Pro-Life?”.  It’s an amazingly simple, clear, and interesting way to explain the details and the basics about the pro-life message.  The books are only $1 each if you buy 50 or more.  Why not buy enough to hand out to your church’s youth group, college group, or your high school kid’s class?  Keep some extras on hand for that moment when you WILL need them =)

Ok, I’ve detailed more about SFLA’s study on my post at Live Action.  Or, you can look at the study for yourself here.

 

QUESTION:

How do you think we can convince Christians – and others – in our culture to view the pro-life issue as something THEY need to get involved with instead of viewing it as a mere political issue?  Where’s the disconnect?  We look back on slavery and are convinced we would have done something to stop it, yet that was a “political issue” in its day.  Any answers or thoughts?  I’d love to hear what you think…

Using Yahoo! Answers to Share Pro-Life Truth

Friends, please read this incredible post by Lucy to learn how you can help save more babies from the comfort of your own home.  This is one of the best ideas I’ve heard!

Guest Post by Lucy LeFever (originally posted at Live Action News & Opinion)

Want to save lives from where you are sitting right now? You can!

A few years ago, a post asking for help on a pro-life Facebook group caught my eye. A young girl considering abortion was seeking advice on Yahoo! Answers, and the person on Facebook wanted pro-lifers to respond. (For those of you unfamiliar with Yahoo! Answers, the website allows users to ask questions and receive answers from other individuals online.) Multiple people from the group responded and encouraged the woman to keep her baby. The effort paid off, and the girl chose life for her unborn child.

Though excited over one life saved, seeing the Yahoo! Answers question made me wonder how many other young women were looking for abortion advice online. A quick search for questions containing the word “abortion” gave me the answer: almost every half hour, someone used Yahoo! Answers to ask about abortion.

This shouldn’t come as a surprise. If a girl chooses abortion in order to conceal the pregnancy from friends and family members, then she is unlikely to ask for abortion advice from those same people. Girls are left with a choice: braving the confusion of an unplanned pregnancy alone or seeking advice from strangers.

Since this discovery, I have answered abortion questions whenever possible. Often the results are depressing. The questioner never responds, or worse, she responds stating that she has opted for abortion. Occasionally, however, there is good news. A girl decides to go to a crisis pregnancy center rather than Planned Parenthood, or realizes that short-term discomfort is worth it for saving the life of her precious child. I still remember my excitement a couple years ago upon opening an e-mail that began, “You’re right. I do want to keep this baby.”

This is where you come in. Questions about abortion keep coming, and though I’ve noticed an increase in pro-life answers, many questions still go unaddressed. We need more pro-life individuals who will take the time to help these women. Are you willing to help?

First, create a Yahoo! account. (If you use any form of Yahoo! Mail, the account is the same. Users can also sign in with Facebook or Google accounts.) Next, go to Yahoo! Answers and search for questions containing the word “abortion.” Click on the button that says “newest,” and the most recent questions will appear. Choose a question, and start answering!

Obviously answers will vary, but below are some general guidelines to responding.

• Be personal.

Some pro-choice answers are incredibly generic and look like spam. They hardly answer the girls’ questions, but they are always anxious to direct her to the nearest Planned Parenthood clinic. Don’t follow their example. Respond conversationally, addressing any specific issues and needs that the questioner has discussed. If you are a student talking to another student, clarify that you understand how frightening an unplanned pregnancy would be at your age. If you have faced an unplanned pregnancy before, tell your story. Building credibility in a one-sided online conversation is difficult, but the more real your response, the better.

• Be positive.

Sadly, pro-life answers are sometimes limited to “YOU’RE A MURDERER!” or “If you have an abortion you will go to Hell!” Criticism of women in such a vulnerable and fragile situation does little to help. Speak the truth with sympathy, grace, and love. Replace condemnation with compassion, and offer help and advice to the girls who are in need rather than focusing on actions of their past. Remember that women who choose abortion are also victims of the abortion industry’s “no regrets” lie.

• Be patient.

Like with any pro-life activism, if you expect immediate results, you’re in for disappointment. But are months of discouraging results worth it to help save the lives of children and spare mothers from a life of regret? Absolutely.

Online counseling gives pro-lifers the ability to reach out to pregnant women before they ever set foot in the abortion clinic. Next time you are wasting time online, spend some time answering questions instead. Log out of Facebook. Take a break from laughing at memes. Pause the YouTube video. Drag yourself away from Pinterest. It could make the difference in a life-or-death decision.

Below are some websites that may be helpful when answering various questions:

Option Line

Life Issues Institute 4-D Ultrasound Images

Life Issues Institute Fetal Development Images

Students for Life

Rachel’s Vineyard

Silent No More Awareness

Keeping Up on the Issue

Image via Wikipedia

Have you ever thought that it’s pretty stinkin’ hard to keep track of everything that goes on in this world related to the pro-life issue?  I sure have!  Every day, it seems, new developments are occurring.  Happily, 2011 was one of the best years…if not THE best year…for pro-lifers since Roe v. Wade.  Many new pro-life laws were put states.  Congress held a vote to completely defund Planned Parenthood.  (Sadly, it didn’t pass this time around.)  Media attention is increasingly highlighting the pro-life issue.  The recent GOP presidential pro-life forum, televised by C-SPAN and live-streamed by CNN is evidence of this.

So, four ideas for you to keep up with all that’s happening in the pro-life movement:

1)  Subscribe to Google Alerts for news on “abortion,” “pro-life,” and “personhood.”  Any other term relating to the issue that you’d like to watch is fair game!  (Think Roe v. Wade, stem cell research, euthanasia, etc.)

2)  Visit Live Action’s blog every day–or at least once a week–to catch up on news you may have missed.  Live Action usually makes multiple posts by multiple writers every day!  It’s a busy place over there =)

3)  Sign up for Family Research Council’s annual ProLifeCon.  This is coming up on January 23, and it’s a webcast.  You can find out how to more effective in broadcasting the pro-life message from the comfort of your own home!  The speakers include pro-life pioneer U.S. Rep. Chris Smith, Dr. Gerard Nadal, Live Action President Lila Rose, and Michael Clancy–the photographer of the famous picture where little Samuel Armas reaches out from his mother’s womb to grab the doctor’s finger.  Sign up for the webcast here.

4)  Watch the video of the GOP pro-life presidential forum.  If you’re still undecided on who to vote for, this may help you make up your mind!  (Hint, hint, don’t vote for Mitt Romney.)  Here’s the link to the video.

Happy learning!  Happy researching!  And happy saving lives!!!  Through God’s grace, we ARE making a difference.  YOU are making a difference.  Keep it up.