As far back as I can remember, I’ve been pro-life. I was raised in the Roman Catholic Church, which at that time was very pro-life. I’m an elder in a church and denomination that is unashamedly pro-life. I know that there will be some of you, perhaps many of you, that do not agree with me on this issue, and that’s OK. We don’t have to be mean towards one another by arguing on social media or marching and holding up signs that we know will just anger those that don’t agree with us.  I like author Bob Goff’s approach when he writes in his book Everybody, Always, “Find someone you think is wrong, someone you disagree with, someone who isn’t like you at all, and decide to love that person the way you want Jesus to love you.” Bob goes on to write, “Loving people we don’t understand or agree with is just the kind of beautiful, counterintuitive, risky stuff people who are becoming love do.” For those of you who are in favor of abortion rights/pro-choice, you may very well feel as strongly about your opinion as I do mine.   But I think there’s a way for all of us to work together in support of life.

The actions that have recently taken place in Virginia and New York have given me a heavy heart and led me to write this article. This past week, a delegate to the Virginia state legislature introduced a bill affirming abortion up to the moment of birth.  Virginia’s bill comes just a week after the New York state senate was filled with cheers following the passage of a similar law. Governor Andrew Cuomo declared it “a historic victory” and directed pink lights to shine on landmarks throughout the state, including Freedom Tower, where the Twin Towers once stood.  They would be lit up in pink to celebrate the occasion, a jubilee for the unlimited right to choose death for the defenseless.  Ironically, just beside Freedom Tower, two pools mark the spot of the 9/11 terrorist attack. Around each of them are inscribed the names of every person murdered that day, and beside the names of eleven of those women the carved stone says, “and her unborn child.”

In the Declaration of Independence it states, “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.”  I believe Life is listed first in these rights for a reason.   Others of you that are pro-choice believe that it should rank third behind Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.

My wife Tammy and I have been talking about what we can do to work together to support life and to encourage women to make wise reproductive health choices.  Here’s a few ideas:

1. Abstinence
2. Birth Control
3. Be part of a support system for those with unwanted pregnancies
4. Adoption
5. Be the hand that offers healing to those that have had an abortion
6. Pray.  This is the most important thing you can do. Marches and angry rhetoric are not going to change the hearts and minds of people, only God can do that. If moms make wise choices before pregnancy and even after pregnancy, it doesn’t matter if abortion is legal or illegal here in America.  It would be obsolete and unnecessary.
7. Volunteer at your local Pregnancy Resource Center. My sister in law has led a Pregnancy Resource Center for the past five years. I’ve heard many wonderful stories of the positive impact that their Center has had on both pregnant women and baby daddies. If possible, volunteer at your local Pregnancy Resource Center.
8. Contribute to your local Pregnancy Resource Center. In addition to volunteering at your local Center, consider including them in your charitable giving. Your contributions may go toward the purchase of a sonogram machine that could be used as the difference in a woman not aborting her baby. In addition, your contributions could be used for the Center to expand their services or hours of operation.

If God gave out a business card it would say, “Uses His Power on Behalf of the Powerless”.  Here’s what He says about Himself in Deuteronomy 10:  For the Lord your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great, the mighty, and the awesome God, who is not partial and takes no bribe. He executes justice for the fatherless and the widow, and loves the sojourner, giving him food and clothing.

And guess what He commands us to do?  Yep, the same thing:  He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God.  Micah 6:8

Remember Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s words: “Silence in the face of evil is itself evil: God will not hold us guiltless. Not to speak is to speak. Not to act is to act.”   Complacency is Complicity.

What will you do?