Today’s post is going to be a call to action in semantics. We, pro-lifers, must take care of our tongue and the words we use. We must be pro-life all the time. I realize that this is difficult and can be a chore, but it should be a chore we choose to embrace and accomplish every single day. I am not calling for you to talk life in every conversation you have. I am not even calling for you to be an activist. I would welcome that, but I will save that call for another day. I am simply calling for you to understand the importance of words and phrases when you are talking about life.
I bring this up today because of an article that I recently read. This article discusses the “40 Days for Life” prayer campaign. This campaign has done a great deal for the life movement over the years. I am truly in awe of the work God has done through the countless number of folks standing for life through this campaign as they spend hours in prayer. This article is found on a site I visit often, lifenews.com. This is a great resource for anyone looking to see what is going on around the country in the life movement. They do a great job of keeping people informed and on task as we celebrate life. I, however, have an issue with their post concerning the “40 Days for Life” prayer campaign. My issue is not with their message or topic. My issue is with their semantics; semantics that too many times we, pro-lifers, tend to neglect when we are discussing our stance; semantics that, when forgotten, cause us to reflect the stereotypes that so many throw our way.
The article in question focuses its attention on the amount of babies spared from abortion during the 40 day campaign. On the surface, this focus is welcomed and celebrated. I praise God for this truth and I pray that the 412 mentioned only represent a fragment of the actual number of babies saved. Celebrating babies being saved is a good thing. My issue, though, with this post is the lack of focus on the moms/families that chose life. These moms and families were saved as well!!
I realize that some may call me petty for my concerns. I can assure you my stance is not petty. My stance is one that is seeking to position all pro-lifers to stand for every life. We cannot simply focus on the babies being affected by abortion. I realize that it is the babies that are being terminated via abortion, but we must never neglect the lives that are being lost emotionally, spiritually, and sometimes physically by moms and dads that choose termination. Those lives matter to me just as much as the life of each baby.
So many people claim that the pro-life movement cares not about mom and dad once they choose life. Many claim that our only concern is seeing that baby born. Once this occurs, we add another mark in our win column and move on not caring about the future of that family and their child. I wholeheartedly disagree with this assessment, but I understand how they may come to this conclusion when they hear our side discuss life. Now, I am not naïve. I also know that those that throw these stereotypes our way have an agenda directly opposed to everything we stand for. They seek to see us in conflict and abolished. They do not hide this fact.
They are united in their opposition to life and those that stand for it. This is why we must unite in our defense and celebration of life. We must focus on the babies, yes, but this focus cannot come at the expense of the moms and dads that are currently in the driver seat in determining whether or not that baby gets to take a breath.
I have large disagreements with current laws in our country that seek to devalue life. I have grave concerns about the direction we are headed. I will devote all of me to seeing this change in our society and seeing life celebrated. This devotion, though, must not focus solely on laws and elections. This is a huge part of what we do, but it is simply a means to an end. While we lobby and advocate, we must also interact and engage with our community. We must celebrate pro-life clinics like HOPE and others around the country. We must stand united for life at every stage.
This bold stance means we must also change our language. We, pro-lifers, must show everyone that moms and dads matter as much as any unborn baby. I am not dismantling Life News or the 40 Days for Life campaign. I stand with them in the God-glorifying work they are doing. I stand with them in wanting to see abortion outlawed and a stain in our past. This will not happen if we do not start guarding our tongue and truly changing our language to be life-loving in every case.
This means we must celebrate the unborn babies being saved as well as the women and men that chose to save them. I know that Life News agrees with this. They show this in countless articles, but we must not allow a slip up in a headline to tarnish the work that is being done every single day in the life movement.
We should absolutely celebrate 412 babies being saved. We should cry out to God in thanks for the work He is doing in our midst, but we must allow that celebration to continue to the mom that found herself in a desperate situation, but chose life anyway. We must allow that celebration to continue to a dad that thought about walking away, but stood next to his partner as they saw their child on an ultrasound machine. We must allow this celebration to not stop with the unborn but continue as we seek to assist those families in need after baby is born.
Our work is not a baby ministry. Our work is a family ministry. We strive to see lives saved at every stage. We know that the moms and dads that come into HOPE are facing some very difficult times. We know many of them have never been celebrated or encouraged. We know that most are not taking their situation lightly. This should motivate us to love, serve, and celebrate the multiple lives being saved when we have an opportunity, through Jesus, to intervene on their behalf. We are in the life-saving business and we are proud to say that this includes the unborn, the moms, the dads, and ultimately, the family!
posted by Andrew Wood, Executive Director of Hope Resource Center
