In recent times, as in the last few days, the sanctity of life has been front and center for me. Working in a Christ-centered, public policy ministry for the last two decades, that shouldn’t be a surprise.
But, as someone once said, “Small things start us in new ways of thinking.”
Here are three “small things” that made me realize I had to put pen to paper, so to speak, and try and contemplate what God is communicating to me.
No doubt it is easy to be discouraged in the movement to lift up the sanctity of life for pre-born image bearers. As you’ll see from David Bereit below, a man with decades in this arena, there have been ample reasons to think we’re not making a dent in the civil rights issue of our time.
But despite our doubts, God is on the move. We are simply called to be faithful and give the Author of Life room to orchestrate the results on His terms and His timing. (Proverbs 3:5-6)
An Alaskan Chooses Life…Despite Intense Pressure to do Otherwise
As you can read for yourself in this exceptional piece of journalism by my friend Natalie Spaulding at MustRead Alaska, the natural inclination to shelter children yet to take their first breath from harm is alive and well and profound. And yet so is the tendency to think we can make “an issue” go away by trying to control when a human being lives and dies.
In a nutshell, this story, one I’ve known about behind the scenes since late June, is about an Alaskan woman who volunteered to be a surrogate for a couple out of California. When a diagnosis discovered the child had a serious, but treatable heart condition, the couple asked that their baby be terminated. The Alaskan refused.
A legal battle ensued and ultimately, as Natalie writes, “McKenna West, the surrogate mother, stated that she could not abort “this precious baby who had now become a part of her.”
Incredibly, in their desire to have their child aborted, the couple articulate “their rights of privacy to make decisions regarding the health and medical care for their son, and the best interests of their unborn child.”
And yes, you read that right. They believe that terminating their unborn baby, named Gabriel, would be in it’s best interests.
McKenna has relocated to Texas where the best hospital in the nation is to address Gabriel’s heart condition. But the biological parents, despite giving up on aborting their child, are now insisting that McKenna should be required to come to California to deliver Gabriel. Why ? Are they still interested in the “best interests” of their child by taking him away from the best health care available to him in Texas? California, as in Alaska, has essentially no restrictions on abortion up until, and after birth.
So many questions are unanswered but for now, as the delivery date approaches, we pray.
For baby Gabriel and his future that is in the hands of the Great Physician.
For McKenna West’s continued strength to fight for baby Gabriel and his true best interests.
For the legal team standing alongside McKenna.
For the biological parents to soften their hearts, obviously broken by this matter, and allow their son to get the best care possible by staying in Texas for the best outcome.
Pro Life Doc to Keynote Fall Dinners
Securing keynote speakers for our annual Dinners has always been like fishing. That’s on my mind as our family heads out today for the Kenai to harvest sockeyes, fill the freezer and make memories.
We consistently have “lines in the water” seeking cultural and political influencers to come to Alaska to equip and encourage us and help Alaska Family Council raise ministry funds. Some lines never get a nibble. Some tug and give us a jolt of enthusiasm but slip away. Others we have next to the boat, net out and they get away.
At the recent Social Conservative Conference (SoConCon) in Washington, DC last week, (CLICK HERE to see the incredible list of speakers) we literally had a fish jump in the boat.
After hearing Dr. Bill Lile, known as the ProLife Doc, and witnessing the energy and enthusiasm he brought to the stage, I asked him in person to join us this fall as our Keynote Speaker.
Having never been to Alaska, he looked at his cell phone calendar and said let’s do it.
Please mark your calendars now for Thursday, November 19th in Anchorage and Friday, November 20th in the MatSu Valley for what will surely be an exemplary evening to be equipped to better defend the sanctity of life and advocate for the pre-born – no matter what station you are at in life now. We can all help change the culture and I promise you, Dr. Lile will give you energy to lean in with renewed energy.
Stay tuned for venues, sponsorship information and securing your seat.
And finally…
“I’m done. I don’t want to be in the pro-life movement anymore.”
David Bereit, founder of 40 Days for Life and advocate for the unborn for decades, wrote those words recently in his journal.
Since Dobbs, the historic U.S. Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v Wade, there have been 21% more abortions in the United States.
Planned Parenthood announced that they had aborted 434,000 babies last year and, despite earlier efforts to stop taxpayer funding of this group, your taxes and mine are once again flowing toward this organization.
Mail-order abortion pills are flooding across state lines.
We’ve lost 14 out of 17 state ballot measures
Public opinion has shifted against us.
In this 15 minute speech David gave at the recent Alliance Defending Freedom Summit in San Diego, he gives all of us wonderful insight in direction on how culture is really changed. How the legal victory of Dobbs, although of course celebrated, was a clear indication of the work we have yet to do “upstream”. Take some time to watch and listen to this important and pivotal video.
Culture, as many of us have said for some time, is of course influenced by good laws. But for a society to truly transform it’s thinking on a matter of great significance, think gay “marriage”, cigarette smoking, drunk driving, we have to alter assumptions about what is true and good.
His point is that Truth does not change. Culture does. Always has. And for pro lifers, especially in a place like Alaska where passing laws and seeing them upheld by the Supreme Court is rare indeed, there are clear pathways to changing how people think about the value of unborn life.
Are you ready ? Stay with us as we explore some of the ways we can change assumptions and turn a culture toward life.