President's Message: A Difference Only YOU Can Make

In his book The Lost Choice, Andy Andrews creates the following letter:

“I made you different from the others. On the planet Earth, there has never been one like you and there never will be again. Your spirit, your thoughts and feelings, your ability to reason—all exist in no one else. Your eyes are a masterpiece, incomparable, and windows to a soul that is also uniquely yours.

I made you different in order that you might make a difference. You have been created with the ability to change the world. Every single choice you make...every single action you take matters. But remember, the converse is also true. Every choice you do not make, every action you do not take matters just as much!

By your hand, millions of lives will be altered, caught up in a chain of events begun by you this very day. Your Father”

We know that in each and every abortion a unique human being is lost, and with that loss, we all lose. We will never even know the depths of our losses, as individuals and as a society. Complete generations have been wiped out.

Fortunately, since those tragic U.S. Supreme Court decisions that legalized abortion, thousands of Michigan citizens have been determined to make a difference by not accepting the finality of this injustice. Because of ordinary citizens banding together, Michigan has achieved a record of promoting life. Two recent examples are:

• Americans United for Life, a national prolife legal defense firm, has ranked Michigan as the number one state in the nation in passing life-saving legislation.
• A national proabortion organization has graded Michigan with an F for the same reason.

These special rankings are possible because of the election of prolife candidates who then work hard to pass life-protecting legislation. Prolife laws such as parental consent, elimination of abortion funding, informed consent, 24 hour waiting periods, and ultra-sound viewing are all positive ways to save lives. These concrete measures are part of the reason that abortions in Michigan have been reduced by dramatic percentages.

Now we have another opportunity to make a difference through our individual choices. The August 8th Primary Election is rapidly approaching. Primary elections are noted for a low turnout; many voters regard them as less important than the November general election. But in many areas of the state, because of the political party demographics, districts are so heavily Democratic or Republican that whoever wins that party’s primary is automatically the winner in the general election.

A Detroit Free Press article said it well, “ Keep in mind before you leave for vacation without getting an absentee ballot that in Michigan, this primary really settles most of the races for county and state offices and seats in Congress. At any level of government, most districts and even counties are dominated by one political party. In most of Michigan most of the time, you win the primary, you win the job.”

If we want to continue to see Michigan ranked as a life-saving state, then we as individuals must make the choice to become involved in this primary election. Our choices and our actions will make the difference in millions of future lives. We each have the power to make a difference. Your vote on August 8th does matter.