The term “pro-life” escaped me as a teenager in the 1970s. I remember thinking, is “pro-death” then the opposite, a dead human no longer breathing? Who would be pro-death except a war monger? Wasn’t life defined as a living human being already born? Then everyone would be pro-life, because we were all born. Wouldn’t they? Was an unborn baby just a baby in its tiniest form, human? We may have discussed fertilization and development, but no one ever gave pre-birth babies the equal status of personhood.
The older, mature, thinking me, now sees the simplicity of the answer. We are part of the human species; therefore, our development is just another stage of human development. In all stages, we remain human. And the human life should be protected, especially the most vulnerable and weaker-bodied people, unable to defend themselves. That is why it had always been the social norm to save and protect women, the elderly, and children first in a physical disaster like fire, flood, or sinking ships.
Women’s Lib was a social movement of the 70’s. “’ I am woman, hear me roar” was the mantra from a Helen Reddy song. If women were now claiming liberation and more power, where did that power begin, and to what end? What are they liberated from? Being young, I did not spend much time thinking about it. I had more important things to think about, like my friends, school, getting my driver’s license, shopping, and part-time jobs (to support my shopping habit). Living during this sexual revolution, I did not know what came before it. Unless you count watching old reruns of ‘Leave it to Beaver’ or ‘Father Knows Best.’ Even though mom did not work, we did not call her a stay-at-home mom; we just called her a regular mom. Mothers with families who worked were referred to as “working moms.”
More than 50 years ago, the 1973 Roe Vs Wade decision added gasoline to the fire of women’s lib. It pitted women against women, and women against their own babies. Women had gone from contracepting to prevent pregnancy, to the extermination of in utero babies. Sex outside of marriage was becoming the norm. If men could “play the field,” then so could women.
Sadly, the pro-Life voice was a weak one. Even churches did not often discuss the sanctity of life. Some lone individuals got tired of the lack of action to defend the unborn. They took their hatred of abortion and the power women now had and used their hate to attack abortionists and their buildings. Until I started researching it, I had no idea how many attacks there were. It usually made the news, though. These were individuals, frustrated by the lack of protection for the weak, not organizations. Most sought to destroy buildings, though some abortionists were targeted and killed. I suppose they saw it as war. Kill the enemy before they kill others. They were trying to protect their weakest citizens, and they were fighting force with force. But it was evil against evil. Violence was not the answer. And these actions are condemned by prolife people and organizations.
Thankfully, many good groups have been formed to help promote the prolife cause peacefully, like Priests for Life, March for Life, 40 Days for Life, Caring Network, National Right to Life Committee, Human Life International, Life Chain, Susan B. Anthony, Georgia Right to Life (most states have right-to-life organizations). Not to mention the more than 2,700 Prolife pregnancy centers in 50 states with 15,000 staff members and over 54,000 volunteers. The Catholic organization, the Knights of Columbus, has donated over 1,900 ultrasound machines worth over $ 91 million to pregnancy centers across the country.
Between 2016 and 2020, over 800,000 babies were saved due to these pregnancy centers. 75% of women who view their baby on an ultrasound choose life. Save the Storks is a mobile ultrasound unit that goes into cities to offer free ultrasounds near Planned Parenthood clinics to show what Planned Parenthood will not.
Abortion accounts for 96% of Planned Parenthood’s business. In the past year, at least 20 Planned Parenthoods have closed due to the removal of federal funding. Thank you, President Trump, for doing what should have been done 50 years ago. Federal funding should aid women’s health services, not abortion. Since the Dobbs decision 3 years ago, reversing Roe, a reported 45 clinics have closed. But the exact cause of this number is hard to determine because of the numbers affected by bans and partial bans on abortion in each state. Each state’s laws now determine the decision to allow or ban abortions.
Abortion will always be a divisive topic. Few people want to debate it. Recently. Lila Rose, a pro-life activist and founder and president of Live Action, decided to accept an invitation to debate on that topic at Yale University. She won the debate against Frances Kissling, the former head of Catholics for Choice and founding president of the National Abortion Federation. She accepted the invitation after her friend Charlie Kirk was shot and killed by a hate-filled assassin. He was known for going to college campuses and debating the complex moral topics like Life, traditional marriage, transgender issues, celibacy, and many more. His compass was Jesus and His Word. He was not afraid to bring Jesus into the conversation.
Charlie Kirk was a Christian who was staunchly pro-life and argued the pro-life message with anyone who wanted to debate it. WORDS were his weapon of choice, his sword used to cut down ignorance. Those debating him would attack his religious perspective on Life. He stated that he proudly defended God’s Word on the sanctity of all life and the scientific proof that shows life begins at conception.
Charlie Kirk was a brilliant debater. His intelligence on every subject showed. He was never afraid to speak the TRUTH. Truth is on the side of Life. But truth is not always popular. Jesus knew it. He said it would cause division and persecution. I believe Charlie was a modern-day John the Baptist. He was a lone voice calling out in the wilderness of secular college campuses, preaching God’s word, asking for repentance, and inviting them to know Jesus Christ. John the Baptist died for speaking the truth and defending marriage. Charlie died telling the truth. Many are calling him a modern-day martyr. Others continue to hate him because of a difference of opinion.
Charlie’s death has awakened millions of people around the world to the truth that we have tolerated immorality for far too long. Our forefathers blessed us with the constitutional right to free speech in the US. Use that right to defend Truth with WORDS, not violence. Defend what you hold dear. I will protect the TRUTH that the unborn have as much right to life as you do.
