What comes to your mind when you think of the pro-life movement?
Perhaps it is angry protesters standing outside of the local Planned Parenthood, waving posters of aborted babies. Maybe it is the image of the most recent person on trial for murdering an abortionist. It might be your local church’s crisis pregnancy ministry or the friends you know who go downtown to help shepherd women away from abortion clinics. Maybe it is something that is seemingly detached like legislators, laws and politics. Or maybe it is your own experience with abortion. Regardless of your experience, almost all of us think of something when we hear the words “pro-life.”
In many ways, the abortion issue can cause us to feel weary. The statistics can spur hopelessness. The constant barrage of anger, bitterness, and hateful banter can make it seem like a pointless cause. But in the midst of it all those numbers are souls that once lived in bodies—little image bearers of our Creator. Being pro-life is not about politics. It is about the gospel.
Why should we care?
As Christians, we of all people should be the most concerned about life in every stage, especially in the helpless stage of the womb. But why should we care? From the beginning of time we understand that God created men and women equally in his image (Gen. 1:27). People bear the image of their Creator—God. This is staggering. Every soul lost through abortion is an image bearer of the King. But to take this even further, Christians are to also care about the least defended, the least protected, and the helpless. Who is more helpless than a 10-week-old baby nestled not-so-safely in the womb of a mother who is determined to kill it?
It’s really easy to be passionate about really good causes that are visible—world hunger, racial harmony, poverty, human trafficking. In a lot of ways it is easier for us to forget that the cause of the unborn is just as real and just as horrific as the child who is prostituted—we just don’t see it plastered across the television.
How can we help?
Fighting for the cause of the unborn is a tangible way for Christians to live out what it means to live as Jesus lived.
For starters, one real way to become passionate about the cause of the unborn is to know where the local abortion clinic is located. My drive home from work used to take me right by the downtown abortion clinic in Louisville. It was always a strong reminder to pray for the many women who walk through those doors. You might even be surprised to notice that many abortion clinics are either right in the heart of an urban, poor neighborhood, or near a university campus—not a coincidence at all. In some cities there are people who are willing to pray outside these clinics and even seek to counsel women away from abortion as they arrive at the clinic.
If you want to be even more involved, find out where the local crisis pregnancy center is located. Being pro-life means being pro-mom. These women are often scared, confused and alone. Many of them need a godly, older woman to shepherd and love them. I know that our local crisis pregnancy center is constantly in need of women (and men) to volunteer their time to help women in need. And I am sure many of these centers across the country are no different.
God is the author of life. Psalm 139:13 says: “…for you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb.” This is where we start in the pro-life discussion. Life matters. We have been given new life by the work of Christ on our behalf. To be pro-life means to desire that babies and mothers are saved both physically and eternally.
