By Autumn Lindsey, SFLA Students Spokesman
I was recently at Western Washington University during the Abortion is Violence display. We had six laundry baskets of baby socks in front of the banners that represented the amount of abortions Planned Parenthood commits in one week. A young man stopped and quietly looked at the baby socks for a few seconds and then said to us “That’s a lot
of socks. If abortion wasn’t legal all those babies would be in the foster care system. Do you know many kids are already in the foster care system?! But you guy’s don’t care.”
I said, “What you are saying is because there are already a lot of people in the system, that’s a good justification for abortion? What’s the worst thing that could happen to those kids in the foster care system? They die. Your solution is to kill them before they get the chance. But once you choose abortion, you remove any change for change or hope. Where there’s life, there is always hope.”
There is a common theme in the pro-abortion community which accuses pro-life people of really only being “pro-birth.” They try to make the argument that once a person is born and out of size two diapers, pro-life advocates don’t help them anymore.
Last Sunday, I heard my pastor mention six families in our church alone who are either adopting or fostering a child. My family is one of the six and we are adopting for the second time. When I thought of how many churches and ministries there are in America who do not rely on government funding but find other ways to help the vulnerable and marginalized it made me wonder how this lie has become so widespread? The lie that says,
“You want to see this baby live, but you don’t want to care of for this person for the rest of their life.”
I see pro-life people so active in our community in so many areas, from prenatal care, to the end of their life. People lovingly and tirelessly giving of their time and resources for the good of others. I researched some of the organizations and ministries that support not just women who are pregnant but support babies, toddlers, teens, and adults.
There is such a disconnect. Pro-abortion supporters want the pro-life community to take care of other people’s children, yet they proudly support of the right of a mother to kill her own child. But the pro-life community does care for children of all ages.
Bethany Christian Services assist in adoption and foster care. They provide counseling to families, assist in refugees and immigrants resettling in the U.S. and partner with several countries to help keep families together.
Russell Moore, president of the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention and author of, “Adopted for Life: The Priority of Adoption for Christian Families and Churches says, “Christians and other pro-lifers are at the forefront of caring for orphans. This means not only empowering adoption but also being active in the foster-care system, in providing homes and resources for pregnant women in crisis, and in working to confront global poverty and disease, the root causes of much of the orphan crisis.” What he is saying is that Christians are called to care for orphans, and thousands sacrificially give in this area.
Faithbridge Foster Care, Foster Care Coalition, Arrow Child and Family Ministries, and Fostering Hope, are all organizations or ministries that help those who are currently in the foster care system. And this doesn’t even scratch the surface. There are hundreds of national and local ministries that are dedicated to provide care to people who are in need.
So no, pro-lifers are not just “pro-birth” they are pro-life. Everywhere I look this is evident. So I don’t know why so many people continue to say pro-lifers don’t do anything other than prevent abortions. And I’m personally looking forward to December when my little brother comes home from China. On that day, there will be one less orphan. And one more situation that changed for the better, all because he was given life to start with.
Sources:
Bethany Christian Services
www.bethany.org
Faithbridge Foster Care
www.faithbridgefostercare.org
Foster Care Coalition
www.fostercarecoalition.com
Arrow Child Ministries
www.arrow.org
Fostering Hope
http://fosteringhope.org