March for Life 2012

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Last week the children and I joined over 19,000 other Canadians in a March for Life.  Together, we—women, men, families, young adults—listened to prolife politicians and then walked peacefully through downtown Ottawa to show Canada’s politicians and people that the abortion debate is not closed as some would wish.

The theme of this year’s event was Abortion Hurts Everyone, and that is so true.

• First of all, it hurts the babies who are killed in extremely painful, barbaric ways.
• It also hurts the mothers, who are much more likely to have serious depression as well as fertility problems and breast cancer.
• Some fathers and grandparents are devastated; others are guilty of forcing the mothers to have abortions by withdrawing love, housing, and support.
• Of course, our communities and countries are missing countless citizens and they are stained with bloodguilt.

So what can you do?

• Political work:  Most abortion laws need to be improved.  To our shame, Canada has absolutely no law in place to protect unborn babies of any age.   See We Need A Law for information about practical things you can do.  Furthermore, the entire world needs laws to limit (and eventually eliminate) abortions as well as to prohibit forced abortions, both in our own communities and throughout the world.
• Pregnancy support:  Most communities have a crisis pregnancy center that supports moms who are under emotional or financial pressure to abort, as well as those who are just trying to make up their minds.  These groups need volunteers as well as baby supplies.
• Abstinence education:  I have a sister-in-law, a very beautiful, articulate, ‘cool’ woman, who used to talk about abstinence to teens at public high schools.  Those poor, deluded teens who believe that Hollywood’s standards bring joy will end up sinning and suffering greatly throughout their lives. A few appealing Christian role-models can have a huge impact on them.
• In your own family:  Teach your children about the value of life, about the beauty of godly marriage, and about the blessing of children.  Teach them self-control, as much as it can be taught.  Children are a blessing; our culture and even our Christian communities are often so skewed that they no longer believe this.
• Most importantly: Pray.

I was planning to report on the prayer service we attended and seminar that followed, but all my notes were lost.  Here are some thoughts combined with my responses:

Proverbs 31:8 tells us to speak up for the rights of those who cannot speak for themselves.  That includes the babies, of course, as well as the frightened mothers who are being coerced into having an abortion.  (Yes, I know many women choose an abortion on their own, but many others are ‘strongly encouraged’ to do so by husbands, parents, and even medical personnel.)

The questions in the abortion debate can simply be put like this:

1. Is it right to kill an innocent human being?
2. Are unborn babies human beings?

Almost everyone will say it is not right to kill an innocent human being, so pro-abortion people are left arguing that unborn babies are not human.  Of course, there is much Biblical and scientific evidence that they are, but who is going to logically accept what they don’t want to believe?

Seeing is understanding, as Planned Parenthood director Abby Johnson found out when she used ultrasound to watch an abortion she was assisting with.  She wrote Unplanned about the life-changing consequences of that one abortion.  One disarming and effective resource is  180 Degrees , a movie which begins by probing random people’s knowledge of Hitler.  (Caution: disturbing scenes.)

Statistics, such as the information about breast cancer and abortion, may convince some.  So may logic.  But ultimately women contemplating an abortion need to be shown that their child is a baby and need to be given hope for the future even if everyone else is telling them to abort.

May the Lord bless this March for Life as well as all the other pro-life efforts throughout the world.

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–For more inspiration, see Workin’ It Mondays, Better Mom Mondays, No Ordinary Blog Hop, Encourage One Another Wednesday, Women Living Well Wednesdays, Works For Me Wednesday , and Raising Homemakers.