I ask that you bear with me. This quarter's newsletter should have concluded our series on "What does HOPE stand for?" But with the release of the undercover videos by The Center for Medical Progress, I feel that it is more important that these videos are addressed.
When I watched the first video released on July 14th, 2015, I sat in stunned horror that anyone could be so callous as to speak of selling aborted baby parts in between sipping wine and eating salad. I wasn't ready to act on it, because even though I had heard rumors that this was going on, I wanted to make sure it was legitimate. As the day progressed, I received several emails from ministries that I trust, including the NC Values Coalition, so I felt comfortable sharing it. Since that time, three more videos have been released. The third and fourth actually show the aborted body parts of a baby boy, with a person moving the body parts with tweezers as they decide if someone would buy them.
With each video, my heart is more broken for us as a country...as a people. How did we get to the point where, when looking at a dead baby, we just want to know how much money we can get for his body parts. As a country, how did we get to the point where we send our tax money to help fund this atrocity? Indeed! How did we get here?
In the words of my 17 year old daughter, "As horrible as it is, isn't it the next logical step? They're killing a baby! Why would they care if they sell the body parts?" Her words echo in my heart as I think about what we, as a nation, are doing.
The idea that abortion providers sell the babies that they dismember makes me sick. It is sick! But let's not forget that they are suctioning these little ones out of their mother's womb with a high powered vacuum first! That is also sick!
The idea that abortion providers manipulate the baby in the womb so that he will deliver feet first and thereby allow them to "harvest" the brain is disgusting. But partial birth abortion, which is illegal by the way, is also disgusting!
The idea that the abortion provider will use a "less crunchy" approach when they tear the baby apart is appalling! But the fact that they dismember a precious little one in the first place is also appalling!
When did we lose sight of just how important and how precious life is? Our lives, our children's lives, these aborted babies lives are precious! Every life is precious! Psalm 139: 13-14 tells us:
"For you created my inmost being;
You knit me together in my mother's womb.
I praise You because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Your works are wonderful,
I know that full well."
We all know this Psalm. But do we really understand and believe what it says? I(you, everyone) am fearfully and wonderfully made. "Your works are wonderful" is speaking about God's creation of humankind. It goes on to say that God has "ordained" all of our days before one of them came to be. He has a plan for each and every one of us! You matter! I matter! EVERY ONE MATTERS! We are all precious in His sight!
As a nation we have lost this. We no longer see life as a gift from God...one that only God has the right to end. We think, if this life, whether an adult or a baby, gets in our way or is inconvenient, we have the right to end it.
We are not God! This is not our right! To kill a person because you are mad at him is wrong. To abort a baby and claim that it is the reproductive right of every woman is just plain ridiculous!
Bottom line, the abortion industry is a sick, disgusting, and appalling business! When you add the fact that it is done in such a way as to "harvest" body parts to sell, makes it even more so.
As hard as these videos are to watch, watch them I will. And I hope and pray that you will do so as well. Hopefully, they will be the straw that breaks our camel's back. Hopefully, they will be our wake-up call. Hopefully, we will see that this has gone too far!
So, what is our next logical step? First, we need to seek God's face. We need to ask for forgiveness for callous hearts that have allowed such atrocities to happen. We need to pray for those who are in the battle, and it is a battle, for life. Pray for the women who find themselves in unexpected pregnancies, that they would choose life. And even for the abortionists, that God would convict them. And last, ask God to show you what He expects you to do.
Then do it!
Whatever it is, stop making excuses and do it! Whether it is reaching out to a woman who needs help, volunteering at a crisis pregnancy center, going to the abortion mills to reach the ladies who are scheduled for abortions, getting politically active against abortion, or donating your money, do it!
There is something that everyone can do. Do it!
Take the next step!