Sanctity of Life Sunday is a memorial of the decision to make abortion legal in the Roe vs. Wade court case. We do not remember so that we can accuse or hate but so that we can mourn with and share the hope of Jesus Christ with those who mourn lost babies. And so that we celebrate the importance and holiness of life.
I will be speaking at a local church this Sunday on behalf of the pregnancy resource center where I am a board member. Here is (roughly) what I will share:
Imagine that you are a sixteen year old girl. You had a boyfriend
who you were sure loved you, but he has since moved on to other girls, and
you find that you are pregnant.
Your mother encourages an abortion. Your friends
make snide remarks and tell about how easy abortion is.
The former boyfriend threatens you if you don’t.
Perhaps even your doctor says that with a small
ten-minute procedure your pregnancy can be over.
You're scared, you're vulnerable and you have no
one to turn to.
This and many other scenarios are behind the
girls who walk through the door at Choices Pregnancy Resource Center.
On the week of January 2-6, 40 girls walked
through the doors at our two locations. They found sympathetic ears willing to
listen. They were able to take a free pregnancy test and receive confidential,
Biblical counseling.
Out of those 40, 18 received a positive on their
pregnancy test. And the number of those who will probably carry and parent
their baby? One.
Many people assume that abortion is yesterday's
issue. Or maybe since our city has no abortion clinic, we get a little lax in
our prayers and actions for this issue.
But this IS today’s issue. The same God who is
father to the fatherless and defender of widows also forms each baby in the
womb!
Nationally there are over 1.2 million babies
aborted each year. And our state accounts for 39,820 of those. That number is
so astronomical—39,820 babies in one year.
90% of babies diagnosed with Down syndrome are
aborted and
40% of women ages 18-40 have had an abortion,
half of these women have had more than one.
Almost all abortions are done as a means of
birth control. Only a very small portion are performed because of rape or
incest, fetal abnormalities or a risk to the mother.
Choices Pregnancy Resource Center is there to
help the mother in crisis in any way they can.
The choices we represent are:
Parenting—raising a child
Adoption—this is the most difficult for many girls to
make
Abortion—sold as a solution by the media, but really
just adds to the problems with a life-time of emotional aftermath
Along with presenting the options, Choices
also---
**Gives out maternity clothes, baby clothes,
and baby equipment.
**Offers post-abortion counseling, a 24 hour
hotline, childbirth classes, and ultrasounds.
Many girls who are set on an abortion change
their minds completely after those ultrasounds, by the way. It is a great
blessing to be able to offer that ministry.
**Gives out std information and
referrals for medical care, social services, and legal assistance.
I am on the board at Choices, but the main way I am most involved is by teaching an "ABCs of Baby Care"
class to those moms who have chosen to carry and parent. We build relationships with them, pray over them
and pass on information about parenting their babies.
Please join us by praying for all pregnancy resource centers!
*Pray for the girls who are discovering they are
pregnant.
**Pray that adoption would become a more
positive word in the field of crisis pregnancies—many girls would much rather
abort than consider adoption.
**Pray for the girls who make ultrasound
appointments to keep those appointments!
**Pray for the staff to have the right words to
speak at the right time—to be gentle and bold with each girl who walks in.
**Pray for the babies who are born to these
young moms.
**Pray for the board members to make
wise and Spirit-filled decisions.
**Pray for
the funds to keep our doors open and all our services running.
**Pray for
awareness and an end to abortion.