January 8, 2008 12:47 PM
Roe v Wade 35th anniversary - January 22 - time to start making more of a difference!
January 22 will mark the 35th anniversary of Roe v. Wade.
In 1973, I was one of the women who'd fought for abortion rights and was jubilant that the Supreme Court had decided we could have it our way.
From the bottom of my heart, I regret my involvement in that tragic part of American history. I also regret my own abortion in 1978, though I had no idea at the time the enormity of what I was doing. With no understanding that I was a child of God or that my life had value or meaning, there was no way I could understand then that life is sacred. But I will spend the rest of my life trying to help others understand that all life matters.
What amazes me is how feminists like me took abortion and made it the centerpiece of the movement for women's rights - so important that they would back politicians who exploited women just because they were pro-abortion. But when you think about it, why wouldn't exploitative men be big on abortion?
The early suffragettes had it right - legalizing abortion would lead to further exploitation and less protection for us. Abortion is bad for women, good for exploitative men.
The involvement of the media in cover-up and lies has been breathtaking: the link between abortion and breast cancer, the emotional havoc wreaked on women, the genocide of African Americans - all of it censored by the mainstream media. Abortion has not only been an American holocaust, but a an emotional disease like alcoholism, evoking layer upon layer of denial and dishonesty.
I have written lots on this subject before, and will provide links below.
But today I want to remind the evangelical community how vital it is that you take up this issue and work harder to bring back the conscience of America. One thing I noticed in 20 years of being an evangelical was that the Pro-Life struggle is being fought in the trenches by Catholics. They have always been at war with Planned Parenthood. At the Pro-Life marches, I see busload upon busload of Catholics coming in from all over the country. I do not see much evangelical presence at all.
I'm attending two churches right now - a Catholic one and the nondenominational evangelical one our family has attended for four years. Both are an hour away from DC and the March for Life. As far as I know, I was the only one from my evangelical church to attend the March for Life the last two years. This year I will be going with a busload of Catholics from St. Francis de Sales.
I have been in evangelical churches where Roe v. Wade was not even mentioned in January. Maybe this explains why I have also heard statistics that among evangelicals, the abortion rate is as high as it is in the general population - just as the divorce rate is the same.
These days I am all about ecumenism. I'd love to see that where we find a better witness - on either side of the ecumenical aisle - we might forget our differences and appropriate what the other side can teach us about living for God.
Thirty five years of 1.5 million abortions annually. That's a lot of sin and shame for our country to bear. And a lot of women hurting individually. I'd like to challenge evangelicals to step it up on this issue. Make plans if you can to come to the March for Life on January 22. And no matter what, see that your church does something meaningful to mark Sanctity of Human Life Sunday on January 20.
What sparked this post - who knew I'd have so much to say? - was a link I received to Be a Voice for Life, which is chock-full of resources for churches and individuals, including a downloadable handbook :
I'd Be A Voice For Life...If I Knew What to Say!
Many people are strongly pro-life in their heart, but when questioned about different sanctity of life issues, they find themselves at a loss for what to say. Our new, updated Sanctity of Human Life Handbook 2008 is here to help you be a voice for Life with short articles on a wide spectrum of life issues, from conception to natural death.
But there are also links to pro-life videos - short and long - and Sunday bulletin inserts.
You might consider asking someone from a pregnancy resource center to come in to speak at your church that day and take up a collection for the center.
You might consider having someone speak about adoption and beginning a pre-adoption prayer/support group.
You might consider starting a group for women in the church who've had abortions and kept it hidden. They need healing.
Speaking of healing from abortion, please spread the word about Operation Outcry. I will be putting this button in my sidebar - feel free to copy and link in your blogs too.
For the third year in a row, I will be in DC January 22. While the Washington Post sees fit to chronicle every teensy disgruntled group that protests in the nation's Capitol, they never find much of interest at the March for Life. You can find my past photojournals here (read the captions, too!):
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| March for Life 2006 |
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| March for Life 2007 |
My related articles:
Blowing Out 32 Candles for Roe v Wade
The Slipperiest Slope of All (Teri Schiavo)
Hey, you know what? There are just too many of them! To see all my Pro-Life material go here.
Posted in Pro-Life Issues | Permalink
Comments
There will also be a 40 Days for Life campaign being held in cities across the country during Lent this year. It is not too late to get your community involved. Go to http://www.40daysforlife.com/splash.cfm for more information.
Posted by: melissa | January 8, 2008 6:17 PM
In April 2004 Peggy Noonan wrote the most moving article about how an audience responded to a scene in the play "A Raisin in the Sun". They cheered the line in the play that the actress says she will abort her child. They cheered.
http://opinionjournal.com/columnists/pnoonan/?id=110005014
May God bless you and your family.
Posted by: Katherine | January 8, 2008 8:05 PM
Thanks for continuing to bring this issue to the forefront for all of us--catholics and evangelicals alike.
Ironic that many of us moms are so busy with our own children, we can neglect the unborn children in danger. Especially at the time of our lives when we should be most sensitive to their plight.
Posted by: Meredith | January 8, 2008 11:05 PM
This will be my 16th March for Life. I'll be there with my four kids -- three in strollers/walking and one in utero -- and an ecumenical group of moms from our Capitol Hill neighborhood. Maybe we'll run into you! :)
Check out www.womendeservebetter.com for good information about pro-life feminists.
Posted by: Molly | January 9, 2008 6:30 AM
I'll be there, and at the Blogs for Life Conference at Family Research Council earlier that day.
Last year someone asked me if I blogged at "Mommy Life". I was so flattered!
Any chance you'll be there, Barbara?
Posted by: Leticia Velasquez | January 10, 2008 1:01 PM
