Headlines from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) heralding the claim there were over 10,000 fewer abortions in 2019 as compared to 2018 suggests abortion is on the retreat.
Unfortunately, such a report is misleading – and for several reasons.
First, media often fail to distinguish between abortions reported versus performed. California along with a few other states and the District of Columbia haven’t reported any abortions for years. So, in reality, we have no way of knowing specific numbers in those areas – but what we do know is that abortion clinics in those areas remain very busy.
In addition – and this is the most significant shift in years – chemical abortions (the killing of pre-born children by taking a drug called mifepristone) are rising rapidly. Those are not included in the tallies because many women are now aborting their children at home. In fact, within the last two weeks, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has authorized the distribution of abortion pills by mail. Abortion has become an epidemic of ease.
The irony of the FDA – a government agency established to protect the health and safety of Americans – encouraging the distribution of a drug that kills children and jeopardizes women’s health seems lost on most.
Nonetheless, abortion zealots are on the run. Their murderous and exploitive obsessions have now been exposed, time and time again. Even widespread polling indicates that Americans are increasingly uncomfortable with abortion on demand.
At Focus on the Family, we’ve been advocating for the protection of the preborn since our inception in 1977. It remains a cornerstone principle and objective. In part that’s because what you believe about the most innocent and vulnerable informs your opinion and behavior on most everything else. When people wonder why culture has grown coarser and more hostile, they need look no further than the legalization of abortion in all fifty states back in 1973.
We’re making a difference and contributing to the upward swing of pro-life sentiment. That’s because we’re encouraging women to choose life and showing them what they thought impossible is actually very possible. Our Option Ultrasound program is helping women recognize that life is the better choice. When abortion-minded women see their child, they are exponentially more likely to carry their baby to term.
In addition, our partnership with Heartbeat International’s Abortion Pill Reversal Network is providing lifesaving help to mothers who have made a tragic mistake – but for whom it is not too late to save their child’s life.
Our Wait No More program is calling attention to the plight of the orphan along with children in foster care and encouraging churches and congregants to live into God’s call of service.
All in all, Focus on the Family is a bright spot in a dark culture.
Allow me to reiterate a pledge to you. We have been in this battle from our beginning – and we will continue our efforts to protect all innocent life.
As we consider the very real prospect of a post-Roe America, what can be done to prepare for this coming shift? We must redouble our efforts to support birthmothers – before, during and after birth. Wherever and whenever possible, the local church is in a unique position to provide housing, job training and other practical assistance. We must work to make adoption an easier and more attractive option for both birthparents and adoptive mothers and fathers, encouraging and affirming the adoption tax credit. Might we create a national data base connecting birthmothers with prospective adoptive parents? We must continue to champion pro-life laws in family-friendly states, recognizing these states will become a magnet for people to move to because the culture of life is so much more appealing than the culture of death.
So much work remains as we strive to help mothers and their children. We are here for them. We are here for you and your family.
Thank you for your help and support in 2021. This next year promises to be the most consequential in the history of the pro-life movement.
Please join me in praying for strength and courage for all those on the front lines. Hold on and hold tight – the Lord is on the move!
Barbara Ferguson says
-I’m glad that 2 young women about 55 years ago didn’t abort their babies, but gave them up for adoption, or I wouldn’t have been able to enjoy the holidays with sons, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren.