As I sat down to write on other subjects today, two breaking stories crossed my screen. In one, the Islamic terrorist group ISIS beheaded an 82-year-old antiquities expert in charge of overseeing the ancient site at Palmyra in Syria. How could anyone be so barbaric?
The second story is the Center for Medical Progress’ latest video, with shocking pictures of intact children who lost their lives to abortion, and former StemExpress employee Holly O’Donnell talking of a co-worker cutting into the head of one of these precious ones.
I asked, “What’s the difference?”
The answer broke me: None.
I wanted to get angry, I wanted to write something that would light a fire under this country; I wanted to write an “Aha!” article that would prove how right we were all along.
But I couldn’t get the energy to do so, as another emotion swept over me. Sadness.
Friends, I’ve been in the pro-life community for 35 of my 53 years. Not as long as some, but long enough to have fought a battle or two, long enough to know how to speak clearly on the subject, long enough to make my case.
Tweet This: Being proven right somehow rings hollow at this moment. #PPSellsBabyParts #DefundPP @KirkWalden
And that’s what I first planned to do: Make my case. I wanted to win and there’s nothing wrong with that, especially when we are talking about life.
I wanted to draw comparisons between Planned Parenthood and the Islamic Jihadists, making it clear that both are barbaric to the core. I wanted to say that one group excuses its barbarism with religion while another does so in the name of “choice” and “science.” It’s absolutely true, of course.
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But emotional hurt took over. For a moment I had to stop; and mourn the loss of a child. Holly O’Donnell does so in the latest CMP video, saying that as she disposed of a dissected child, “It was really hard knowing that you’re the only person who’s ever going to hold that baby.”
A baby. She was the only person to hold this child, and it was too late. I’m usually tough when it comes to this issue and all that we see and hear, but not that tough. This broke my heart.
Can I write the following without it coming across as a weak attempt to tug at emotions?
This child doesn’t get a birthday party. Not one. Ever. My two boys—born two years apart and both surprises—will share a birthday party this weekend. The younger gets a Cars party; the older wants a Lego theme. I’m a dad, so I’ll just celebrate, laugh and eat too much cake and ice cream.
But not the child Holly O’Donnell held. No birthdays. No smiles. No crawling, no first step. No loose teeth to wiggle. None of that.
It just. Hurts.
If I wanted, I can say in defense of the pro-life community, “We were right all along. These are babies!” I’ve done that before, and likely will again at some point. But not today.
Today, I don’t care about “right.” There will be no victory laps, no end zone dances, no shaking my fist to say, “I told you so!”
Planned Parenthood and the abortion industry is terribly wrong. I get it. The leadership is callous. I know that, too. Some who work within their walls have lost their moral compass. Let’s check that box while we’re at it.
But let’s not forget that some at Planned Parenthood and other abortion centers are simply taken in by the rhetoric; unknowing accomplices who are perhaps right now searching for redemption. We can offer the path to this redemption, and we should.
Nor can we forget those who are reliving past decisions as each of these videos comes out. Our hearts break—together.
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For those of us in the pregnancy help community who offer hope through pregnancy help medical clinics and centers, through maternity homes and adoption agencies; being proven correct somehow rings hollow at this moment. At least it does for me.
Instead, all I can think of is, “These are children. Each had a future. And that future was violently stolen from every one of them.”
Today, I just hurt. I need a pause; a time to reflect on why we do what we do.
Tomorrow however, I’ll remind myself of this: There are voiceless children out there who have no idea how much they need us to reach out and offer hope to their parents; fearful and undecided about the lives entrusted to them.
Tweet This: One day, every child will get a chance at life. I dare to believe this. #PPSellsBabyParts #DefundPP @KirkWalden
These children don’t know it, but they need us to show their parents all of the life-giving, joy-filling, awe-inspiring, birthday-creating, clear alternatives to the Planned Parenthoods of this world. This is our mission, and as painful as these videos are, this mission is still in front of us.
There are those who will tell us the mission is too much for us, giving us every reason in the world to quit.
They will tell us the politicians can’t be moved. They will tell us the mainstream media won’t cover this story. They will tell us we are too few, and those opposed to us are too many.
I don’t care.
One day, every child will get a chance at life. I dare to believe this; against what I see and regardless of what the naysayers, the critics and the “wise” of this world tell me. I’m just naïve enough to believe that God is on His throne, that He works through those who choose to work with Him, and that there is nothing He cannot accomplish through His people.
Today then, there is pain for those we’ve lost. But tomorrow, there is work to be done.
