There were four women who went in to the building on 46th Street yesterday morning to have their preborn children killed. We were there to offer alternatives to those women and to let them know the facts about abortion that they were certainly denied by the abortionist’s staff. We were also there to pray. And though we’re sure the Lord lovingly heeded our entreaties, the abortion clients didn’t. They decided to turn away from the message of truth and compassion we presented.
They usually do.
And frequently they do so with a brazen blasphemy...
A common sentiment among some pro-life people is that women choose abortion only as an act of great desperation, a last resort taken because they could not depend on the callous, cold-hearted man in their life. A woman, it is often said by such pro-lifers, does not choose abortion as she would a restaurant or a dress but rather as a trapped animal decides to chew off its leg in order to get free.
That this vivid word picture is an accurate description of what some women experience in deciding on abortion is certainly true. However, those pro-life advocates who dare go to the abortion clinics as sidewalk counselors know all too well that the “crisis pregnancy” of a desperate, otherwise well-intentioned woman is no longer the norm. Indeed, most abortion clients are now women who are well aware of the humanity of their unborn baby and even well aware of the safety nets provided for pregnant women by government, social service agencies, pro-life organizations, churches, family, adoptive agencies, and so on. And this increasingly hard-hearted attitude of women who buy the abortionist's services is a truth that many pro-life advocates have refused to recognize or, at least, openly admit.
Yes, in the past there was much more ignorance about fetal development and much less publicity about the wide range of services available to pregnant women and moms of newborns. And yes, we must deal with women who experience genuine “crisis” pregnancies in which the trapped animal metaphor is yet applicable. And yes, we must always deal compassionately, patiently and sacrificially in our offers of assistance to any and all women tempted by abortion.
But no; we need not keep propagating a myth. We should face the fact that, as the years have gone by since Roe v Wade, more women are making abortion decisions boldly, selfishly and completely cognizant that alternatives are freely available.
Of course, I understand that even the flippancy and bravado that we see as a matter of course in the women coming into abortion mills can be a cover for deep-seated pain and confusion. I have no doubt that sometimes is the case. But also beyond doubt (for someone who has been sidewalk counseling for over a quarter of a century) is that many, many modern women are cold-heartedly using the abortionist as their backup birth control, indifferent to the cruel death that is inflicted on their child.
Legalized abortion has not liberated women. But it has changed them. It has stolen their children, emasculated their men, and transformed their natural, nurturing spirit into a concentrated, but tragically counter-productive, selfishness.
Legalized abortion has done more than kill children; it has killed the compassion that was once the beautiful, noble crown of womanhood.
(Note to whom it may concern: The typekey login page appears to be disabled.)
Denny, you are right. I have said what you are saying again and again, though without your experience to back it up. There is something almost dangerous in the pro-lifers' insistence on saying that in every abortion, the woman is a second victim. We must face facts. All too often, this myth is used to flagellate ourselves for being insufficiently "compassionate." Indeed, it is often used even to discourage sidewalk counseling on the grounds that this makes the women feel bad, is the same thing as "screaming at people," and doesn't convey the compassionate face of the pro-life movement. It is important to admit that there are many women who are murderers of their children nearly as much as the doctors who actually do the deed. It is entirely unfeasible to make any attempt to pass any legislation punishing them; indeed if we could get meaningful legal sanctions against the doctor murderers this would be a reason for great rejoicing. But we need not lie to ourselves and others by pretending that none of the mothers are guilty, that they are all just victims along with the child. To do so will only sap the spirit of our own movement and will only be used against us to argue, for example, against all attempts at legal protection of the unborn.
God bless you in your sidewalk counseling. Tell us some of your success stories to cheer us.
Hardness of circumstances we can help with. For hardness of heart, only God can break through. And even then the person has to be willing.
This is why Pride is at the head of the list of Deadly Sins. "It's all about ME ME ME ME ME ME ME!!!"
I try to think that's sad, but mostly I wonder why, looking on these women, Jesus tarries.
Yes, those of us who "sidewalk counsel" do see it all. Perhaps it is only those who are not fully informed or who are not cold-hearted murderers or who haven't already "spiritually aborted" their children that we actually may be able to help choose birth. Even if they represent only a small percentage of the mothers to whom we reach out, we must persevere in being there for them and their children. Please read about a recent experience of mine at http://fdalessio.blogspot.com/2005/04/sidewalk-counseling-apr-2006.html
God bless,
Fredi