Young people who grow up in a church are at risk for abortion. A recent Lifeway Research survey found that nearly 4 out of 10 women who have had abortions were attending church at least once a month.
Another survey by the Guttmacher Institute shows that 54% of women who have abortions identify as Christian. Perhaps they thought, “What will people say if they find out I’m pregnant outside of marriage? My parents will be so disappointed. I can’t show up in my church pregnant and unmarried.”
We pray that this won’t be your story, but pregnancy isn’t the end of the world. It’s the start of a new life. Scripture tells us that children are always called a blessing and a reward. Children are a heritage. God the Creator made each one of us as unique individuals and our lives are in his hands.
Our churches must be a place of grace, mercy, compassion and support for young women (and men) in this position. We need to be THE people who love them and offer hope and healing. We need to help post-abortive women find peace and forgiveness, rather than shame and condemnation. Isn’t that who Jesus is? Isn’t that who he calls us to be?
Let’s make abortion unthinkable.
Susanne Maynes, who works at a pregnancy center in Idaho, writes this:
I’m not fighting to save babies, but people. Those infant boys and girls will grow into toddlers, grammar school kids, teens. They’ll be adults one day. We’ll see them on the job, in the grocery store, at church. And when we see them, we might ask ourselves, “When did the sacred value of their life begin?” From the “first stitch” that God knit together in the womb. That’s when.
That means a lot to me. A year ago I went out to the lobby after I had spoken at a local church. A lovely young woman approached me and said, “I’m one of the babies you saved.” We hugged and cried together and I asked who her mom was. I remembered her mother. That woman chose life and placed her child for adoption. That child’s life mattered—and she was now in ministry.
That’s what happens when you choose life. Babies are born, and they grow into little kids, and teens, and adults.
Scott Klusendorf writes, in The Case for Life: Equipping Christians to Engage the Culture:
In the past, we used to discriminate on the basis of skin color and gender (and still do at times), but now with elective abortion, we discriminate on the basis of size, level of development, location, and degree of dependency. We’ve simply swapped one form of bigotry for another.
To go deeper and learn more about defending the sanctity of human life, see Scott’s article, How to Defend Your Pro-Life Views in Five Minutes or Less (https://prolifetraining.com/resources/five-minute-1/).
It’s well worth your time.
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Lindy Gjerness Gardner is a graduate of Hillcrest Lutheran Academy and lives in Eau Claire, WI. She is the longest serving Care-Net PCC Director in the US.
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Pregnant? Need Help? Visit: www.care-net.org/find-a-pregnancy-center