There’s this saying, “You only know what you know, until you know better.” This statement accurately describes my journey of understanding abortion and the pro-life movement.
Seven years ago, when I felt God calling me to be active in the pro-life mission, I had no idea where my calling would lead me. All I knew was that I was to be obedient and try to understand as much as I could about the pro-life movement and information surrounding abortion.
It’s humbling to realize you know so little about something you may be very passionate about. I might have been a bit naïve at first. Ha! But seven years later, I can now say I know so much more about the abortion issue and the pro-life movement. And yet, sometimes, it feels like I have so much more to learn.
Here’s one thing I do know. Saying you’re pro-life is also committing to educating yourself about the overall movement. It’s about relationships and realizing many individuals and organizations have the same mission with a different focus.
As a pro-life Christian, it has been encouraging to witness more church leaders and prominent Christian voices take a stand for life. They are speaking the truth about abortion but with a compassionate, Christ-like response—that holds the life of the mother with equal compassion as the life of her unborn baby.
But I am also concerned about how some of these prominent Christian voices portray the pro-life movement. They often talk about loud, angry voices at abortion clinic sidewalks or hateful signs at Life Marches. An angry mob who doesn’t care about the women and men who face unplanned pregnancies, but only the unborn baby in the womb. That’s not the pro-life community I have come to know.
And then I learn these same Christian leaders have not educated themselves about the pro-life movement. They haven’t joined the thousands and thousands of mostly young marchers at a recent March for Life, and haven’t formed relationships within the community. They don’t know all they could— and they need to know better.
In my seven-year pro-life educational journey, I am always amazed at the compassionate response to abortion:
- The sidewalk counselors who pray quietly for the women who will enter an abortion clinic that day. Or those who gently approach the mothers and fathers asking if they may talk with them about another alternative to abortion.
- The pregnancy center employees and volunteers who have face-to-face conversations with abortion-vulnerable women and men. They witness tragic circumstances with crisis pregnancies but are determined to offer a compassionate, loving response no matter the outcome.
- The numerous pro-life organizations that donate thousands and thousands of needed baby supplies to mothers who choose life and are in desperate need.
- The church groups who make handmade baby quilts for their local pregnancy center or who donate diapers and formula.
- The prayer warriors who stand outside government buildings and seek the throne of God over ongoing abortion legislation. Their prayers are silent in voice but passionate in their prayer-focused mission.
- The ministries who walk through the healing process with post-abortive women and men, offering them freedom and forgiveness through the gospel of Jesus Christ.
The list goes on, and I am humbled and encouraged by those who stand together in this movement called pro-life. It has profoundly affected my faith as a follower of Jesus Christ. I understand more about the grace of God because of the relationships I have formed within the pro-life community.
Are there facets of the movement who lack a Christ-like response? Yes, absolutely, but they are a small segment, and they do not represent the pro-life movement as a whole.
So here’s my challenge to pastors, leaders, and prominent Christian voices who are willing to stand openly with the message of life. Educate yourself about the pro-life movement and mission. Don’t set yourself apart before you have all the facts in front of you. Venture outside the walls of your church and denomination to build relationships with pro-life ministries. Join us in January for the March for Life, and witness the overwhelmingly compassionate, Christ-like response to abortion. Please don’t take a self-righteous posture toward the pro-life community. We need unity because even though our focus may differ, our mission is the same. And let’s all agree to keep learning and growing so we know better how to be genuinely pro-life, or Pro Abundant Life (Matthew 28:18-20) as Christ calls us to be!
Diana Cooper