Praying today that women who are prone to choose abortion would be willing to carry the child to term and release him or her into life, not death, through the gift of adoption.
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
40 Days of Prayer: Day 13
Praying today for those who are seeking to build their families through adoption to have peace while they wait.
Monday, June 28, 2010
40 Days of Prayer: Day 12
Praying today for churches all over the world to be safe havens for women and men experiencing pregnancy-related crises where they can be welcomed with love and compassion.
Friday, June 25, 2010
Teen Put Newborn in Trash Bag After Giving Birth
www.breitbart.tv
This situation is one reason why we need to remove the social stigma of adoption in our society. This young woman obviously was in major denial, but if someone could have offered her the option of adoption and helped her to see that adoption could have provided a win/win situation for herself and her baby, the outcome could have been so different. Instead everyone loses.
The "safe harbor" idea, while well-intentioned, takes away the mother's role in planning for her child's future proactively, and continues to victimize the children by leaving them without any social and medical history and so without any way to connect with a birth family in the future. Rather than helping a woman manage her pregnancy crisis with courage and forethought, it sends the message that only "good" mothers "keep" their children or solve their pregnancy "problem" via abortion, while "bad" mothers must leave their children, under cover of darkness, at some random hospital or fire station and slink away into the night. It is as though admitting that parenting right now is not the right choice for them is the unpardonable sin, and that abortion is just a sad but necessary choice. Is anyone else blown away by this illogical thinking?
Abortion is promoted and women who choose it are heralded as having successfully handled a major life crisis with great love for themselves and their blobs of tissue. Yet women who proactively make adoption plans are shamed and have their "love" for their baby questioned. As a birth mother myself, I was often asked, "How could you have possibly given your baby away?' My answer is this: "I did not 'give my baby away.' I planned for his future by choosing adoption, and I did it for his good. I did not throw him in the garbage or put him out on the lawn with a 'for sale sign' or drop him off somewhere hoping that someone would care for him. I planned for him. I am proud (not in a haughty way) of my decision to choose adoption, and I will not allow anyone to shame me for it. I am grateful to and proud of every birth parent who has had the courage to choose adoption for their children."
It is so bizarre to me that I have never once had anyone challenge my decision to have three abortions prior to giving birth to my birth son. I have never once had anyone ask me, "How could you possibly have paid somebody money to kill your baby? How could you possibly have allowed them t0 throw your babies in the garbage or flush them down the drain?" It is unacceptable in 2010 that we applaud women who abort and deride women who choose adoption. We need to de-stigmatize adoption and re-stigmatize abortion!
If this Nevada teen had just quietly aborted her child, she would have suffered the loss of her baby in private. But now she will suffer the loss of her baby in the most ugly public way--in the court of public opinion and in the media. People will begin to say, "If only she would have had an abortion, her life could have been ok." There is no guarantee that her life would have been ok. Now, she has drawn us into her crisis, by making us face the death of a child head on. We don't like it when people "murder" in public; it makes us uncomfortable because it is so real.
Before we judge her in the court of public opinion, or anywhere for that matter, those of us who have aborted for convenience sake should ask ourselves,"How are we different from her?" Oh, we paid someone else to do it and we did it in private, so that makes perfect sense! Really? Where is the line between a choice and a crime? Can the same courts that uphold a woman's right to "choose" also be used to "convict" a woman of the death of her child at the moment of birth. Is her crime a crime? Or is her crime the fact that she did not pay an abortionist to do the job for her and and that she did it in a very public, messy way?
It is all so sad, her life is changed, the baby is dead, and her family is being besieged with media wanting to know WHY? The media should leave the poor girl alone and go to the abortion mills and ask every women coming out after an abortion, WHY? The answers would most likely be financial reasons or relationship problems or rarely, medical issues. Then they should go and stand outside hospitals as birth parents leave after placing their newborns in the arms of adoptive parents, and ask WHY? The answer would most often be,"Because we love our child."
Self or sacrifice? Two completely different ends of the spectrum, which will we serve? Praying for this young women and her family is the best we can do. I hope we can learn something from this tragedy.
This situation is one reason why we need to remove the social stigma of adoption in our society. This young woman obviously was in major denial, but if someone could have offered her the option of adoption and helped her to see that adoption could have provided a win/win situation for herself and her baby, the outcome could have been so different. Instead everyone loses.
The "safe harbor" idea, while well-intentioned, takes away the mother's role in planning for her child's future proactively, and continues to victimize the children by leaving them without any social and medical history and so without any way to connect with a birth family in the future. Rather than helping a woman manage her pregnancy crisis with courage and forethought, it sends the message that only "good" mothers "keep" their children or solve their pregnancy "problem" via abortion, while "bad" mothers must leave their children, under cover of darkness, at some random hospital or fire station and slink away into the night. It is as though admitting that parenting right now is not the right choice for them is the unpardonable sin, and that abortion is just a sad but necessary choice. Is anyone else blown away by this illogical thinking?
Abortion is promoted and women who choose it are heralded as having successfully handled a major life crisis with great love for themselves and their blobs of tissue. Yet women who proactively make adoption plans are shamed and have their "love" for their baby questioned. As a birth mother myself, I was often asked, "How could you have possibly given your baby away?' My answer is this: "I did not 'give my baby away.' I planned for his future by choosing adoption, and I did it for his good. I did not throw him in the garbage or put him out on the lawn with a 'for sale sign' or drop him off somewhere hoping that someone would care for him. I planned for him. I am proud (not in a haughty way) of my decision to choose adoption, and I will not allow anyone to shame me for it. I am grateful to and proud of every birth parent who has had the courage to choose adoption for their children."
It is so bizarre to me that I have never once had anyone challenge my decision to have three abortions prior to giving birth to my birth son. I have never once had anyone ask me, "How could you possibly have paid somebody money to kill your baby? How could you possibly have allowed them t0 throw your babies in the garbage or flush them down the drain?" It is unacceptable in 2010 that we applaud women who abort and deride women who choose adoption. We need to de-stigmatize adoption and re-stigmatize abortion!
If this Nevada teen had just quietly aborted her child, she would have suffered the loss of her baby in private. But now she will suffer the loss of her baby in the most ugly public way--in the court of public opinion and in the media. People will begin to say, "If only she would have had an abortion, her life could have been ok." There is no guarantee that her life would have been ok. Now, she has drawn us into her crisis, by making us face the death of a child head on. We don't like it when people "murder" in public; it makes us uncomfortable because it is so real.
Before we judge her in the court of public opinion, or anywhere for that matter, those of us who have aborted for convenience sake should ask ourselves,"How are we different from her?" Oh, we paid someone else to do it and we did it in private, so that makes perfect sense! Really? Where is the line between a choice and a crime? Can the same courts that uphold a woman's right to "choose" also be used to "convict" a woman of the death of her child at the moment of birth. Is her crime a crime? Or is her crime the fact that she did not pay an abortionist to do the job for her and and that she did it in a very public, messy way?
It is all so sad, her life is changed, the baby is dead, and her family is being besieged with media wanting to know WHY? The media should leave the poor girl alone and go to the abortion mills and ask every women coming out after an abortion, WHY? The answers would most likely be financial reasons or relationship problems or rarely, medical issues. Then they should go and stand outside hospitals as birth parents leave after placing their newborns in the arms of adoptive parents, and ask WHY? The answer would most often be,"Because we love our child."
Self or sacrifice? Two completely different ends of the spectrum, which will we serve? Praying for this young women and her family is the best we can do. I hope we can learn something from this tragedy.
40 Days of Prayer: Day 11
Praying today for those experiencing the challenges of a pregnancy that involves a child with special needs, medical or otherwise, to have support to carry the child as long as the Lord allows.
Thursday, June 24, 2010
40 Days of Prayer: Day 10
Praying today for the staffs of pregnancy care centers in the USA to be encouraged in their life-affirming work and trust the Lord for every outcome.
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
40 Days of Prayer: Day 9
Praying today for people of “faith” who are supportive of abortion to recognize that they are being deceived about their support of abortion and turn from their involvement.
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
40 Days of Prayer: Day 8
Praying today for the nurses who are involved in abortion to stop their involvement because of a change in their hearts.
Monday, June 21, 2010
40 Days of Prayer: Day 7
Praying today for the families of those experiencing unplanned pregnancies to offer love and support rather than judgment and criticism.
Friday, June 18, 2010
40 Days of Prayer: Day 6
Praying today for people of “faith” who support abortion to would recognize that they are being deceived about their support of abortion and turn from their involvement.
Click here to view videos of a "Christian Pastor," "Jewish Rabbi," and an "ethical leader" explaining why their "faith traditions" support the abortion decisions of women.
Note that the "Christian" leader omits the last part of the story about the woman caught in adultery. She speaks of Jesus defending the woman against her accusers but fails to finish Jesus' admonition to her to "go and sin no more." Jesus never said it was okay to kill an unborn child to protect yourself, and Paul encourages us not to use our "liberty" against one another but to instead "love our neighbors as ourselves."
"For you, brethren, have been called to liberty; only do not use liberty as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” Galatians 5:13-14
All of the leaders in the videos appear to be encouraging those considering abortion to love themselves through this "difficult" decision without regard for the other person involved in the crisis. And please don't point out the situations where women's lives are in danger because of a challenging pregnancy situation where they "choose" abortion to solve the problem. Those are tough cases, but rarely does abortion threaten the life of the mother to the point of death. The vast majority of abortons are done for convenience, economic, or relationship reasons.
The presentations of these "clergy" remind me of the slick deception of Satan in the garden when he posed this question to Eve: “Has God indeed said . . . ?" (Genesis 3).
Click here to view videos of a "Christian Pastor," "Jewish Rabbi," and an "ethical leader" explaining why their "faith traditions" support the abortion decisions of women.
Note that the "Christian" leader omits the last part of the story about the woman caught in adultery. She speaks of Jesus defending the woman against her accusers but fails to finish Jesus' admonition to her to "go and sin no more." Jesus never said it was okay to kill an unborn child to protect yourself, and Paul encourages us not to use our "liberty" against one another but to instead "love our neighbors as ourselves."
"For you, brethren, have been called to liberty; only do not use liberty as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” Galatians 5:13-14
All of the leaders in the videos appear to be encouraging those considering abortion to love themselves through this "difficult" decision without regard for the other person involved in the crisis. And please don't point out the situations where women's lives are in danger because of a challenging pregnancy situation where they "choose" abortion to solve the problem. Those are tough cases, but rarely does abortion threaten the life of the mother to the point of death. The vast majority of abortons are done for convenience, economic, or relationship reasons.
The presentations of these "clergy" remind me of the slick deception of Satan in the garden when he posed this question to Eve: “Has God indeed said . . . ?" (Genesis 3).
Thursday, June 17, 2010
40 Days of Prayer: Day 5
Day 5
Praying today for the non-medical staff and clinic escorts involved in abortion to stop their involvement because of a change in their hearts.
Planned Parenthood is planning to build a new MEGA abortion facility in St. Paul this summer. Planned Parenthood is a multi-million-dollar-a-year organization about to receive a windfall in our federal tax dollars from the healthcare reform law. As a "community health center," Planned Parenthood of Minnesota will be a large recipient of the $11 billion the government will be handing out to these centers starting October 2011. Below is a fundraising appeal letter from Planned Parenthood bemoaning the presence of peaceful pro-life protesters at the site of the new clinic.
"Just last month, Planned Parenthood announced its plans to build a new flagship health care center in St. Paul. As we expected, our opponents are not pleased with our plans. In fact, last week Pro Life Action Ministries and other anti-choice groups held their first protests near our new site. We know that this is just the beginning.
While the anti-choicers begin to gather and protest against our efforts, we know there are PLENTY of people who stand with Planned Parenthood.
People from all over Minnesota have visited our website, www.standwithpp.org, to share their story of support. It has been amazing to see the outpouring of support and we encourage you to check out the messages people are leaving. It's very inspiring!
When visiting our website, we hope you will click on the "Speak Out" image to share your own story of why you support Planned Parenthood. Let's show the opposition that we have strength in numbers!
By the time we formally begin construction later this summer, we would like to have more than 5,000 online supporters. Help show your solidarity and support for Planned Parenthood by going to www.standwithpp.org today!
Be sure to tell your friends and bookmark the site so you can watch our progress. Real-time video feeds and updates of the building construction will begin mid-summer.
Thank you so much for your support!"
Praying today for the non-medical staff and clinic escorts involved in abortion to stop their involvement because of a change in their hearts.
Planned Parenthood is planning to build a new MEGA abortion facility in St. Paul this summer. Planned Parenthood is a multi-million-dollar-a-year organization about to receive a windfall in our federal tax dollars from the healthcare reform law. As a "community health center," Planned Parenthood of Minnesota will be a large recipient of the $11 billion the government will be handing out to these centers starting October 2011. Below is a fundraising appeal letter from Planned Parenthood bemoaning the presence of peaceful pro-life protesters at the site of the new clinic.
"Just last month, Planned Parenthood announced its plans to build a new flagship health care center in St. Paul. As we expected, our opponents are not pleased with our plans. In fact, last week Pro Life Action Ministries and other anti-choice groups held their first protests near our new site. We know that this is just the beginning.
While the anti-choicers begin to gather and protest against our efforts, we know there are PLENTY of people who stand with Planned Parenthood.
People from all over Minnesota have visited our website, www.standwithpp.org, to share their story of support. It has been amazing to see the outpouring of support and we encourage you to check out the messages people are leaving. It's very inspiring!
When visiting our website, we hope you will click on the "Speak Out" image to share your own story of why you support Planned Parenthood. Let's show the opposition that we have strength in numbers!
By the time we formally begin construction later this summer, we would like to have more than 5,000 online supporters. Help show your solidarity and support for Planned Parenthood by going to www.standwithpp.org today!
Be sure to tell your friends and bookmark the site so you can watch our progress. Real-time video feeds and updates of the building construction will begin mid-summer.
Thank you so much for your support!"
Wednesday, June 16, 2010
40 Days of Prayer: Day 4
Day 4
Praying today that fear would not drive the choice to abort a pregnancy for anyone, whether the parties involved are married or single, young or old.
So many times, the decision to abort a baby comes within 72 hours after finding out about the pregnancy. This tendency to act quickly to “solve” the “problem” is not usually the best way to proceed. What a person typically feels about a pregnancy, especially an unplanned pregnancy, is initially fear and panic. Those are emotions that don’t take into account the long–term consequences of the choice.
Some wisdom from the Lord:
1. Don’t let fear drive your choices.
“There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love.” I John 4:18
2. Don’t make a decision before you have all the facts - not opinions, but facts.
“He who answers a matter before he hears it, it is folly and shame to him.” Proverbs 18:13
Praying today that fear would not drive the choice to abort a pregnancy for anyone, whether the parties involved are married or single, young or old.
So many times, the decision to abort a baby comes within 72 hours after finding out about the pregnancy. This tendency to act quickly to “solve” the “problem” is not usually the best way to proceed. What a person typically feels about a pregnancy, especially an unplanned pregnancy, is initially fear and panic. Those are emotions that don’t take into account the long–term consequences of the choice.
Some wisdom from the Lord:
1. Don’t let fear drive your choices.
“There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love.” I John 4:18
2. Don’t make a decision before you have all the facts - not opinions, but facts.
“He who answers a matter before he hears it, it is folly and shame to him.” Proverbs 18:13
Tuesday, June 15, 2010
Abortion Recovery Billboard Goes Up
My dear friend Ann Marie Cosgrove, director of Silent No More Minnesota, has been diligently working to get this billboard erected on Highway 94 east for several months now. It is finally up and Jill Stanek, pro life blogger, has posted it on her blog! This billboard will offer help to people suffering from the aftermath of abortion. Please pray that it will be an effective tool for offering positive hope and help to post-abortive men and women.
40 Days of Prayer Over the Summer
I have been struggling with being bitter at those who are involved in the practice of abortion. I have even found myself angry at the men and women who have abortions, which is not usual for me. I think that the massiveness of the task of reducing the number of abortions (Dare I say praying for the end of all abortions?) has been overwhelming me lately.
I know, intellectually, that we only do so much to help a person choose life over death. I know, spiritually, that the heart of the individual involved must turn from thinking only of self to thinking about the other “person” involved in her challenging pregnancy situation.
According to the statistics for abortion in Minnesota, the main reasons for abortion are economic, do not want children at this time, and the nebulous “other” category.
Reason for Abortion*, 2008 Occurring in MN; MN Residents
Pregnancy was a result of rape 76; 67
Pregnancy was a result of incest 12; 12
Economic reasons 4,254; 3,984
Does not want children at this time 9,368; 8,675
Emotional health is at stake 848; 792
Physical Health is at stake 627; 574
Continued pregnancy will cause impairment of major bodily function 34; 29
Pregnancy resulted in fetal anomalies 150; 134
Unknown or the woman refused to answer 1,440; 1,264
Other stated reason 2,891; 2,629
This shows me that the main reasons for abortion are based on fear and selfishness. I know this from personal experience so I am not trying to judge anyone, just making an observation.
So, as a way to refocus my thoughts towards positive action, I have decided that I need an attitude adjustment. To that end I am going to pray through this for 40 days, praying each day for a certain aspect of this issue. Would you please join me in doing so? I started this a couple of days ago, so here are the first 3 days of prayer requests:
Day 1
1. Praying today for all women who are just finding out about a pregnancy, that they would fall in love with their babies.
Day 2
2. Praying today for all men who are just finding out about a pregnancy, that they would fall in love with their babies.
Day 3
3. Praying today for abortion clinic doctors that they would turn from the practice of abortion.
I know, intellectually, that we only do so much to help a person choose life over death. I know, spiritually, that the heart of the individual involved must turn from thinking only of self to thinking about the other “person” involved in her challenging pregnancy situation.
According to the statistics for abortion in Minnesota, the main reasons for abortion are economic, do not want children at this time, and the nebulous “other” category.
Reason for Abortion*, 2008 Occurring in MN; MN Residents
Pregnancy was a result of rape 76; 67
Pregnancy was a result of incest 12; 12
Economic reasons 4,254; 3,984
Does not want children at this time 9,368; 8,675
Emotional health is at stake 848; 792
Physical Health is at stake 627; 574
Continued pregnancy will cause impairment of major bodily function 34; 29
Pregnancy resulted in fetal anomalies 150; 134
Unknown or the woman refused to answer 1,440; 1,264
Other stated reason 2,891; 2,629
This shows me that the main reasons for abortion are based on fear and selfishness. I know this from personal experience so I am not trying to judge anyone, just making an observation.
So, as a way to refocus my thoughts towards positive action, I have decided that I need an attitude adjustment. To that end I am going to pray through this for 40 days, praying each day for a certain aspect of this issue. Would you please join me in doing so? I started this a couple of days ago, so here are the first 3 days of prayer requests:
Day 1
1. Praying today for all women who are just finding out about a pregnancy, that they would fall in love with their babies.
Day 2
2. Praying today for all men who are just finding out about a pregnancy, that they would fall in love with their babies.
Day 3
3. Praying today for abortion clinic doctors that they would turn from the practice of abortion.
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