Being pro-life: 10 things we can all do!
Do you ever feel overwhelmed with the abortion rate in your country? Do you wonder what anyone can do? Feeling overwhelmed can be paralyzing. There is so much to do, and most of it seems impossible, so we do nothing at all. Here are some suggestions for things I believe most of us could do.
2. Write to a politician about your views. Let them know that people still care about this, even when it is not in the news.
3. Watch your words. I try to only ever say positive things about news of a pregnancy or birth, no matter what the age or circumstances of the person are. The truth is that God has created a new person. Although some circumstances are more difficult than others our first response should be to rejoice and praise God for his gifts.
4. Read a book and be equipped to know and explain what you believe. Two that I recommend are Why Prolife by Randy Alcorn (136 pages, Multnomah) and Answering the Call by John Ensor (150 pages, Focus on the Family). I own both of these books and I am happy to lend them if you live nearby.
5. Talk about pro-life issues. Many people are unaware of many abortions that are performed, and the reasons for them. They are also often unaware of the development of the baby and the effects upon women. This is true even in our churches. You can help to spread information. I must add one caution, though, that it is possible to talk about it to much! More than one person has had to ask me to stop talking about it. Now I think I've erred too much on the other side, and rarely mention it. Get a balance!
6. Think carefully about birth control. Did you know that some birth control does not just prevent conception, but actually stops a tiny life from being implanted in the womb? I encourage people to read Randy Alcorn's booklet Does the Birth Control Pill Cause Abortions?. I believe that we should always prefer to have a baby rather than do anything that would take a tiny life.7. Give money to worthy organisations. One group I love is Choices of Life. Bruce Coleman is an evangelical Christian and I know him to be a man who is gifted in taking the pro-life message into schools and networking with a wide variety of people.
8. Pray. God cares about the destruction of innocent lives. God cares about whether or not women are loved and supported, and whether they are informed honestly. Only God can change hearts so that people love children, whenever they come. It is a great idea to pray with our churches, as this also reminds others of the importance of this issue. I need to do better at praying to end abortion!
10. Embrace the gift of children, whenever they come! My friend Karen at The Sower's Corner is an example of this. Read her wonderful post and comments when she became pregnant at 46 . God sends us children in order to bless and build our families, and to expand his church and build his kingdom on earth. Wow! What a blessing it is to be fruitful in this way.
Many of the resources I mention are available from Heritage House in the USA, and Choices of Life is an Australian distributor for them.
Do you have more ideas for ways we can be actively pro-life? Please share your ideas or things you've been doing in the comments section.
Thanks for this post Sherrin, very informative, yet very well laid out and readable.
I wrote to an MP when I lived in Melbourne, concerned about local/national adoption being so difficult when it could be such a good alternative to abortion if it were handled better on a national level. But he got his wires crossed and rabbited on about international adoption in his response.
I agree international adoption is important and wonderful too, but I am very concerned about the huge push for IVF over adoption - and then adoption is such a slow and lengthy process. when so many babies could be saved and loved by childless families or families that cannot have more natural children.
Thanks for the encouragement to keep writing and being actively 'pro-life'!
Thanks for the post Sherrin. It was very informative and provided some useful information, without being too overwhelming!
I am overwhelmed with Australia's abortion rate. It really is sad. On going to the ACL's meeting the politicians night at UTAS a few weeks ago I was a little disappointed that this issue was not raised by any Church leader. Both Bartlett and Hodgman took questions from Church leaders and no one asked the question. I know it is more a FEderal, Centrelink, issue but I think it needs to filter through from our state levels too.
Even more so, this issue needs to continual corporate prayer of the churches.
Great post! Watching your words is particularly on my heart right now because so many people speak negatively about having kids. We had a really close relative tell us to wait a long time before having kids and it still breaks my heart to think about it. I was terrified of the reaction we would get when we told her that we were expecting. As Christians, every word should be positive, even before there is a baby coming (just like you said).
Volunteering one's time at a crisis pregnancy center is another idea. Whether in behind the scenes work or counseling. We have not personally done this so far, but have considered it in the past as a way to reach out in our community.