{Hot Button}

Abortion is a hot button topic. With passionate opinions on both sides of pro-life and pro choice supporters it can cause confusion, character annihilation, and high conflict. Regardless of conviction the facts of abortion are not opinion based.

“On June 24, 2022, the Supreme Court issued a ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization that overturned the constitutional right to abortion as well as the federal standards of abortion access, established by prior decisions in the cases Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey,” according to Kansans for Life.

When researching how many abortions are performed annually on American soil reference to the New York Times—abortion is still in high numbers.

“Altogether, about 511,000 abortions were estimated to have occurred in areas where the procedure was legal in the first six months of 2023, a review of Guttmacher’s data shows, compared with about 465,000 abortions nationwide in a six-month period of 2020.”

The question faced with us today is not if abortion is happening, but rather beyond politics. How can we as every day people in communities do anything?

The National Day of Remembrance for Aborted Children was established in 2013 as a day to mourn, remember, and fight for the rights of babies. Acknowledgement that these babies were life is vital to remembering their importance. Every life matters—and every life was created with purpose by The LORD. Beyond the mourning of aborted children, I would encourage us to mourn with their mothers. Many women face unprotected medical procedures, forced abortions, sexual abuse in relationships, sex trafficking, broken families and emotional abuse. The baby who was killed in an abortion was not the only victim of the day. In order to be effective in mourning the loss of the millions of babies lost to abortion honoring their innocent memory is to carry on in innocent love. Yes, we fight for their rights, yes we fight in politics for full bans of any abortion or chemical abortion procedures. Yes, we fight against black markets of aborted fetal cells—but one of the best ways to remember these babies is to respond in love.

Pray for the babies lost today, but also consider reaching out to a mother who was a victim of the lies spewed across society. That she was not smart enough, worthy enough, strong enough to handle a pregnancy and still have an abundant life. They degraded her identity and strength in saying this was the only way for her to have a good life. They degraded her into a business transaction—a soul for money. Beyond the scary procedure, she then felt shame and condemnation from those who claimed to be pro-life. If we fight for the babies who lost their lives, then the way to fight is on our knees—in prayer and servant good. How broken her heart must feel to have felt this was her only option—how scared and alone without support did she feel? What kind of abuse did this mother face that lead her to make this decision?

We fight back in love by remembering the loss, comforting the mother with God’s forgiveness and supporting avenues that share the truth and resources that women and men can be good parents amongst the lie they are not qualified. Pregnancy centers, free ultrasound screens, prenatal health care, baby showers, single mom support groups, employment training opportunities—these are positive ways to remember the lost children to change the culture and community into a place where abortion would not even be thought as an option. If we share the truth of successful living after delivering a baby in a cared for gestation, the lie will reveal itself to be a fabricated science of money corruption and broken families.

When we fight to set up successful avenues for women and men to believe in the value of not only their baby’s life but the value of their own life— when we give them the tools to succeed, the heart position of love and grace, and the freedom to live—we will naturally annihilate the marketing lord and schemes of abortion.

We choose to remember those babies lost in abortion, and dedication to make communities of love that would make the option of abortion completely obsolete and unrealistic.

A great way for Goodland to support these babies is to support our local pregnancy center, Hope’s Place and the Kansans for Life Chapter in Sherman County.