March for Life

This past Sunday, January 22, was the 33rd aniversary of Roe v. Wade, the court decision that made abortion legal. Each year MCCL (Minnesota Citizens Concerned for Life) hosts a rally called the March for Life at the Capitol, and over 6000 people showed up for this one. I remember going to the event as a kid, but this was my first one in years. The first half of the event was a march around the front grounds of the State Capitol, and the second half was a rally. I was disappointed only that it was a little too much of a rally and not enough of a funeral for 46 million children.

If any political cause is worth supporting, surely the pro-life cause is it. And that's only because the abortion issue is far more than a political cause. Abortion is a legal act that mocks God by destroying His image-bearers for convenience and money. The numbers and statistics about abortion murders are staggering. Abort73 puts out a teriffic (and very graphic) site with this information. Be prepared to cry if you watch these videos. They are horrible, but we need to be reminded about what is really going on. In high school, my principal showed us a video called The Silent Scream which is a good eye-opener as well.

Pastor John preached on abortion this Sunday from the angle of loving your neighbor. The unborn children being killed certainly need people who won't walk on the other side of the road, but instead will invest time, money and energy into caring for them. In the sermon, he read advertisements from abortion clinics' websites that were just sickening. They charge by the age of the "fetus," say they are defending "reproductive rights," describe their procedures as "emptying the contents of the uterus," and whine about how much expense the Woman's Right to Know bill has added to their budgets. I would like to think that it is only money that motivates these clinics to do what they do, but maybe it is more. How can someone take lives every day? Either they are so completely hardened to what they are actually doing, or they actually want to kill.

If you spend some time on the Planned Parenthood website, you can see how much deception is really there. They insist that they are doing what is best for women by offering them 3 choices(keeping the baby, adoption and abortion) for their unplanned pregnancy. They warn women to stay away from "so-called crisis pregnancy centers who will not give you the option of ending your pregnancy." They also describe the abortion procedure in simple, non-scary terms so the woman does not realize what they are actually going to do to her. One FAQ was "Does the fetus feel any pain?" The answer was no, despite all the research done lately on that subject. Ask any neonatal surgeon if the fetus on which he operated could feel what he did.

At the march I walked with my friend Sarah who grew up at Bethlehem. She told me stories of how the youth group used to protest in front of one of the local abortion clinics. One of Piper's sons would even lie in front of the door until he got arrested and carried away. My first reaction was, "That's awesome, but I would never do something that extreme." But after thinking about it, blocking the door doesn't seem extreme at all. People are being murdered in those buildings every day.

The conclusion of Pastor John's sermon was that the abortionists need to be saved. Just imagine the change if those doctors, administrators, recptionists and nurses came to Christ. He challenged us to pray every day to that end. The pro-choice advocates are scared for their cause if Judge Alito gets appointed. I hope they are right, and that the law changes. But more than that, I hope this sin is stopped by the blood of Christ changing hearts.