October, Respect Life Month, reminds us that abortion continues to haunt our world, causing pervasive death, including here in Fargo every Wednesday.
We can accurately say abortion is the worst epidemic of our age, more life-taking than any Coronavirus. As of July, according to the Worldometer, 4.1 million people had died worldwide from COVID-19 since January 2020. Nearly six times as many pre-born babies were killed through abortion in 2021 alone.
Further, the number of pre-born babies who’ve died from abortion so far this year closely parallels the number of deaths in the world of all causes combined: 33.4 million, according to the tracking website, which omits the pre-born baby death count.
Some who favor legalized abortion contend these pre-born lives aren’t human. But in reality, even at their tiniest, these “blobs of tissue” are human beings with full DNA intact. Science proves their humanity.
Is it because we can’t yet see this human with our eyes that we try to dehumanize it? Does not being able to see something mean it doesn’t exist? Ask the vision impaired this question. Technology, namely ultrasounds, has helped settle it.
The truth here is very simple. Each of us was a “blob of tissue” at one time; one containing life. We were, and are, either human or something else. The lives being extinguished daily by abortion are also either human or something else. We know the truth.
Knowing unequivocally that these small, innocent lives are human, we can also conclude that it’s barbaric to kill them. The law even convicts us here. When a pregnant woman and the pre-born child within her are killed, both are noted distinctly on the death certificate.
The law contradicts itself when it comes to abortion, however, illogically changing the story about what the pregnant womb contains.
The lies spread on this topic flourish because we’ve neglected seeking truly loving responses and supporting each other in challenging circumstances. We err on the side of despair rather than hope. We’ve forsaken our inherent creativity in caring for lives we’re given that come before we feel ready.
And contrary to the deceits that float about, those against abortion, specifically we who regularly advocate for life at abortion facilities, are not trying to take away women’s choices but to expand them; to assure mothers and fathers that support exists to wholeheartedly welcome unplanned, pre-born children into the world.
The 2021 40 Days for Life prayer vigil launched Sept. 22. That day, in front of the Red River Women’s Clinic in Fargo, a young, local artist created a sidewalk-chalk drawing of a pregnant belly. This exquisite image was washed away by pro-choice escorts, an act calling to mind abortion itself, which involves a pre-born child being “erased” by poison or puncture. The artwork remains digitally, however, and speaks for itself. See Maria Loh’s piece at https://roxanesalonen.com/2021/09/pro-life-sidewalk-chalk-maria-loh/.
“The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” (John 10:10)
[For the sake of having a repository for my newspaper columns and articles, I reprint them here, with permission, a week after their run date. The preceding ran in The Forum newspaper on Oct. 4, 2021.]
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