President's Message: Demonstrating Convictions

What is a life worth? Does it really matter whether we speak out against abortion? Does one life make a difference? Does casting a vote for a prolife candidate make sense? These are all questions that prolifers face.

Over the years I have meet so many people and heard so many stories that prove that each life saved by abortion does matter and each abortion matters.

There’s the letter I received from a mother describing her daughter’s lengthy battle with alcohol. Then came the untimely pregnancy with many encouraging abortion because how could this woman care for a baby and wouldn’t there be health problems for both? Fortunately, there were those who spoke out for life. The baby was born and the woman now had a reason to change her life habits. She described her baby as her “miracle.”

I remember the teen who was an advocate for life, a student leader opposed to abortion. Then she was pregnant teen and didn’t want to “disappoint” her parents. She found that the parental consent law that was passed through a citizen petition initiative stopped her secret teen abortion. The time involved in going through a court by-pass was enough time for her to think about what abortion would do to her baby. She later courageously placed her baby for adoption.

Even in those most difficult cases of assault rapes, the positive stories of life prevail. One woman sent me a note about her daughter conceived in rape. She had tried to obtain an illegal abortion and failed. How could she know that the pregnancy conceived in assault would result in the precious daughter who was her care giver now? Her other children have moved away, but this child remained to care for her mother in her illness.

Then there are all of the other stories from women who made the abortion choice. These are stories that prove that abortion is not a solution to a difficult situation. These are stories of pain and “what could have been.”

Or the letters come from “enablers,” those who drove a friend to an abortion clinic or didn’t speak out for life when a friend told them about an impending appointment at Planned Parenthood.

And not to be left out are the tearful conversations with men who have encouraged or even forced their partners to abort their baby. They too are faced with the reality that they played a pivotal role in the killing of their progeny.

Abortion does touch us all in some way. The lives lost through abortion certainly have affected our society now and into the future. We can only wonder about what these wasted, unknown lives have cost us in talents, ideas, visions, creativity, and even economic advancements.

To promote the precious gift of life does not require great sacrifices. It may mean only being able to explain to a friend the reality of our present day policy of abortion; it may mean taking the time to find the nearest pregnancy care center.

This election gives us another easy way to demonstrate our convictions. We can take the time to explore the abortion positions of all of the candidates. We can say loudly and clearly through our vote that the most basic right, the most necessary right for all, is the right to be born.

We can vote only for those candidates who will oppose the destructive forces of abortion. We can put aside our personal wants and think beyond ourselves. We can ask our politicians to understand that a society that condones the violence of abortion leads to the devaluation of all human life.

Each child born makes a difference; each child aborted leaves a hole—in the woman, in the family and in society. Abortion is not a just single tragedy. It has been described as a ricochet against the walls of our lives. Let’s echo the words of President Bush who on September 2, 2004, stated, “Because a caring society will value its weakest members, we must make a place for the unborn child.”

How about starting with our vote on November 2nd?

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