I remember one week at Texas A&M University (probably this week 11 years ago and the anniversary of Roe vs. Wade). The A&M pro-life group had a display outside of the MSC (Memorial Student Center) with tons of graphic images of aborted fetus. I remember walking through almost pretending I was busy fixing my coat, or shuffling through my books, looking at my phone... just about anything to not look. Why? It was gross! Who wants to see dead babies? NOT ME! I remember getting to class and everyone talking about how disgusting it was and how that is no way to help people become pro-life. I somewhat agreed but mostly because I didn't really know what fence I was going to stand on. I took the pro-life side as a "passerby" and didn't fully understand nor was I willing to fully understand what abortion was all about.
I went though college being pro-life but was CERTAINLY not willing to engage in conversation with others about it because I wasn't fully rooted in my beliefs yet. During college, I worked a few summers at The Pines Catholic Camp nestled in the heart of the piny woods of east Texas. If you've ever taken a walk through a pine forest, you're bound to see a pine tree that has fallen over. Unlike many other root systems, there is no tap root that goes deep into the ground giving the tree structure and support. There are only shallow roots, and when a big storm comes, the tree falls over pulling roots and all out of the ground.
Why is this significant? Because this was my pro-life stance. I knew what I believed but my roots weren't deep enough to hold against a storm. So what helped my roots grow deep? What gave me the firm foundation to stand against a challenge?
I was preparing to teach our teens about the pro-life side. I had been really turned off with "graphic images" and "picketing" so I wanted to find an appropriate video to show. I began to look on youtube for a video, only this time, I was in my own private place open and mature enough to see what abortion was all about. I knew they killed babies, but never REALLY KNEW that they killed babies the way the do. For those of you reading this that are mature - if you're still not sure whether you're pro-life or pro-choice, do some research. If you're pro-choice because it's the woman's right to choose even if you don't like abortion, this would be my response...
A person that is pro-life believes that a child in the womb is a child with rights, with dignity and with a purpose, value and a great life ahead of them and abortion ends that life. A person that is pro-life believes that the child has a right to live. Lets take a look at our declaration of Independence...
"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness"
they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights - We don't "earn" our rights... Our parents, the hospital doctors, the government - they don't give us our rights - they are ENDOWED BY OUR CREATOR. Our "Rights" don't begin after we're born, but are given to us in our CREATION. They are unalienable - they cannot be taken away, removed or granted to another.
that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness - We all have the right to LIFE, liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. These rights are given to us in our creation, not in our birth.
This is such an amazingly HUGE deal. In 2008, there were 1,210,000 abortions in just one year in the US which divided by 365 (days in a year) and that's 3,315 abortions per day. If that stat is consistent through every year of my life, that is 37,510,000 people that have been killed since I was born... For more abortion facts...
If you're not firmly rooted - here are 3 videos I'd suggest you take some time to watch. Pray first, find some time alone, and then watch the videos with an open heart considering not just the life of the woman having the baby, but the life of the child that is LIVING within her.
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