The other day was the last day of the 40 Days for Life Campaign and I participated again. If you're pro-life then I highly encourage you to participate in the campaign because it is always so moving. It seems like the more children I have the more I am moved by the whole experience. My heart truly breaks for all the lives lost to abortion every day.
This year my heart has been heavy for those seeking abortions... much heavier than in the years past. One afternoon I spent nap time looking at all the web sites for abortion services... I was so sad to read the details of the "procedures" and the "testimonies" - I spent a long time praying for those couples who had written in. Then my heart became burdened for the workers. For the doctors, nurses, and receptionists at such places. That is when I had an idea...
There is a ministry here in Louisville called Scarlet's Hope. It is building relationships with people who work in the Adult Entertainment Industry. Their point: befriend these people, love them where they are, share Jesus with them over time. I Love it. What if we started a ministry like that for people who perform abortions? I mean, think about it, I'm sure they assume all Christians want to do is bomb their cars (sad)... why not show them the love of Christ? Love them. Befriend them. Over time, share Christ's love with them... allow THAT to change their hearts and overtime they will remove themselves from the industry. I kept thinking, "if no one is willing to perform abortions... perhaps overturning Roe v. Wade won't be nearly as important because there will be less doctors/nurses/etc. who are willing to work in those clinics." Just a thought and a prayer, but for the first time my prayers have gravitated toward the workers... begging for them to fall in love with Jesus and embrace His teaching on the sanctity of life.
Now, this next section of the blog post is one that will strike a cord with many. Lots will passionately disagree and possibly get upset. That happened about a year ago when a wrote a similar blog post. However, I wrote that post at three in the morning and, looking back, I don't feel like I was very clear. The intended audience was Pro-Lifers... if you're pro-choice or if you don't believe life begins at conception... well, then you'll totally disagree and that's fine. I'm not writing this trying to change you of your view, but to enlighten people who ARE Pro-Life the risks that come with medical contraception. Here me out...
I have lots of friends who are on "the pill" -- these lovely ladies go to church, are pro-life, believe begins life begins at conception, etc. That's great, but sadly, many of these women don't know HOW the Pill works. Yes, to be fair, the pill's number one way of working is to prevent ovulation... prevent ovulation thus prevent conception... however, most have a "back up" way of working which changes the lining of your uterus so that a fertilized egg (a baby if you believe life begins at conception) won't implant... thus, killing the baby. Sounds harsh I know... and believe me, most of the people I know on the pill would never want to kill a baby. Ever. So it makes me sad so many women are simply uninformed. Years ago I had a friend tell me about all of this... Jason and I did our own research and praying and came to the conclusion that if it is even the smallest, tiniest chance that a fertilized egg would fail to implant because of something we were talking... then we wouldn't take it. Simple as that. When it comes to life I would much rather err on the side of protecting it. Sure, women get pregnant on the pill... which yes, shows that it doesn't ALWAYS prevent the fertilized egg from implanting, but that also shows that it doesn't always prevent the conception in the first place. You never know how your body will respond or how the pill will change the lining of your uterus. Again, with something so sacred as life - why risk it? There are other, non-medical, ways to prevent pregnancy that don't run the risk of killing a baby.
Over the past several months I was able to have several conversations with dear friends who mentioned to me that their form of birth control was the IUD. I prayed about approaching them about this for quite a while and finally God gave me the courage and the words to say to these ladies. I'm thrilled that they all had such amazing hearts about the whole thing. IUDs are different... they don't even try to prevent the conception, but its primary function is to change the lining of the uterus in order to prevent the implantation. I did some research and found out that even Focus on the Family has spoken out against IUDs as an "acceptable" form of birth control. Here are some of my favorite articles:
Loved this one written by a doctor on the Focus on the Family medical panel.
Also, this one by Albert Mohler.
Love this quote from this article from Christianity Today: "being pro-life isn't only about opposing surgical abortion. It's about opening ourselves to the risk and mess and uncertainty that accompany any God-sent guest we allow into our lives. The least we can do is leave our doors unlocked. Like Rahab did for the spies. Like Mary did for Jesus."
I have so many more articles I could post. I usually do research on this topic if I ever get any spare time... and almost daily I'm begging God to start a revival in the Protestant Church that is anti-medical contraception. I promote other forms of "family planning" that don't run even the tiniest risk of stamping out a life. I think that is where true pro-life living really begins.
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