How Do We End Abortion? We Get There First.

This past January, men and woman, young and old, Catholic, Protestant and other, marched for the Right to Life for all people, especially the unborn. Their purpose was to defend men, women and children from an evil called abortion by calling for the end of an atrocity that has claimed the lives of over 50,000,000 future doctors, parents, scientists, garbage collectors, social workers, teachers, and so on. These numbers only represent the dead, and they don’t include the physical, emotional and spiritual damage done to the women and men involved in the procedure. Yes, men suffer from the repercussions as well.

When we hear about and see evidence of babies in the womb recoiling from the scalpel or body parts of human beings tossed aside or sold as products, the same question arises.  How could the legalization of abortion have happened in a country whose constitution purports to value human dignity?

The answer is simple. The devil got there first.

Many people know Norma McCorvey’s story. She is the woman who became the Jane Roe of Roe vs. Wade. Homeless and pregnant, she was taken advantage of by two female lawyers who used her to further their own agenda. She met them when she went to talk to an adoption attorney. She didn’t know what an abortion was, and they told her it was merely the removal of tissue. Her testimony was never heard in court, or the judges would have seen this woman didn’t want to kill a child. She wanted help.  In fact, Norma only met with the attorneys twice, and both times it was because they offered her pizza and beer. And she was hungry.

Christians who read her story might be tempted to judge Norma. Though her first child assumedly was a product of her short marriage, she had two other children out of wedlock. The father of her second child wanted to marry her, and she declined, saying that she wasn’t ready for a commitment. This is where we snort and say Then why were you making babies? Have some self-control!

She had difficulties with alcohol and drugs. Her choice, right? She worked at abortion clinics, because as a troubled woman, she found it difficult to make money, and they were eager to hire her for her notoriety. Doesn’t sound as if abortion bothered her that much, right?

We are quick to make judgments. When I mentioned that 2012 saw the abortion of over half the black babies in New York, someone responded that it was good news. Those babies represented more mouths on welfare, and he didn’t want to have to pay for them.

As Christians, the only thing that should matter in Norma McCorvey’s story is that she was poor and in trouble. She needed our help. Jesus didn’t tell us to first make the poor clean up their acts before we helped them.

Activists would have found someone else to be their poster child, and we probably would have wound up with legal abortions anyway. But if Christians embraced pregnant women and helped them to have their babies, whether to keep them or give them up for adoption, how many women would opt to kill their children?

We need to educate women with facts.

There are many volunteers and workers trying to educate and support pregnant women, and I salute them. I’m proud we have the SCV Pregnancy Center in Santa Clarita. They do not perform or refer for abortions, but they do provide information. Women considering this alternative deserve to know what the procedure involves and what it will do to them before they agree to it, without coercion. They deserve to get the information that was denied Norma McCorvey and is still denied to women who walk into an abortion facility.

We need to meet the poor where they are.

Pregnancy Centers and pro-life volunteers are making a difference, but it’s not enough. As Christians, we need to start early, educating the young about respect for their bodies and respect for life. We need to unite in the fight against this concrete evil, whether through providing funds, volunteering at a home for pregnant women or teens, or educating women and men about the realities of abortion. And we need to pray.

We need to be a visible alternative for women facing pregnancy alone. We need to embrace them with love, not judgment. We need to put on the armor of God and prepare for the backlash from pro-abortion advocates, because it will come. We need to ask for an outpouring of the Holy Spirit so that, like the Apostles, we can put aside our fears, step out of our safe houses, and bring Jesus into the world.

There are women who have abortions for convenience, but many, if not most, are coerced into this act, and it’s not a stretch to say that money is at the root of the problem. Poor women and families who can’t afford to have another child. Who don’t have access to the medical care they need. This is not an argument for the Affordable Care Act, because the Act doesn’t cover the poorest of the poor.

We need to beat abortion advocates at their own game.

Abortion advocates are happy to convince women that the “problem” will go away for around $200. Politicians, celebrities and the well-funded Planned Parenthood are making it their business (literally) to sell abortion as the solution. They aren’t going to stop. How can we possibly beat them when they seem to hold the winning hand? Or at least the most popular?

Speak out about adoption until it’s the first option women think of when they find themselves pregnant in a difficult situation. There are many agencies who will pay the medical and legal expenses of the birth mother.

Volunteer to be a Foster Family and welcome a child into your home so that they are loved and wanted during that interim stage before they are placed with a permanent family.

Support the poor. Knowing where the next meal is going to come from, or that there will be a next meal, can make a difference in a pregnant woman’s mindset.  If you have a Single Mother’s Outreach or other program to assist families, volunteer and actually meet face-to-face with people who are dealing with difficult circumstances. Learn their stories, and applaud their courage.

We can change the outcome if we get there first.

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Jacqueline Vick

Jacqueline Vick

Jacqueline Vick is a devout Catholic, wife to a wonderful guy, pet parent to a troubled mutt, and mystery writer. Her website is www.jacquelinevick.com.

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