Are We Listening?

I have been pro-life for over ten years now. I grew up in a house that didn’t talk about stuff like that. I would venture to guess that many of you reading this could say the same thing. Maybe it was because my parents didn’t have an opinion. Maybe it was because they had one, but didn’t want to impose it on us kids. Or maybe they just didn’t want to talk about it. Either way, the truth was not a part of my life for a long time.
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The election of 2008 woke me up. That, coupled with a very dear friend praying for me and my conversion, brought me to awareness of the barbaric nature of abortion. Barack Obama was elected that year, one of the most pro-choice presidents our country has ever seen. I have gone from on fire with my guns blazing to sitting at home praying that abortion would just stop. And yes, I have even done nothing. I have often lost hope. I have fought an apathetic attitude on and off throughout my ten years as an advocate for the unborn. Two days ago, my fire came back. This morning, my heart entered in the fight.

I logged on to Facebook a couple days ago to find that New York’s governor, Andrew Cuomo, signed a death sentence for any child in the womb whose mother may be undergoing any physical or mental illness that would impair her ability to carry the baby to term, or if the baby has been diagnosed with a fatal illness. At first I was angry. Then I was frustrated. This morning? I was sad. ​

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​My heart was hurting as I continued to scroll through Facebook. While it was nice to see people speak out for the babies who have been determined viable -- and even go as far as telling their friends to unfriend them if they were OK with the NY law, it made my heart sad to think about all the tiny forgotten babies in the womb who still need their mother to live.

So today I’m not angry. I’m not frustrated. I’m just sad. We haven’t listened. We haven’t paid attention to the warning signs. We have buried our heads in the sand and haven’t faced the reality of what abortion is.

Maybe New York will wake us all up. Maybe God has allowed this to be in our face to show us what happens when we don’t pay attention. Maybe we will finally start to listen. ​

Karen Cross
Secretary, CCRTL