Daly Focus Blog
President Donald Trump’s State of the Union address last night to a joint session of Congress was a soaring defense of many of the core issues evangelical Christians care so deeply about.
From Mr. Trump’s defense of pre-born life, his conviction to uphold religious freedom and his ongoing commitment to appoint judges who promise to strictly interpret the Constitution, the president’s speech was sweeping in its socially conservative scope and emotionally moving on so many levels.
Every year it is inspiring to see tens of thousands gather at the March for Life.
As I shared on Tuesday, this year’s gathering featured an historic moment. President Trump, the first chief executive to address the crowd at the march, delivered perhaps the most compelling pro-life speech of any president.
President Trump affirmed Scripture, proclaiming, “Every person is worth protecting. And above all, we know that every human soul is divine. And every human life, born and unborn, is made in the holy image of Almighty God.”
Watch below to catch a glimpse of the march and hear more of the president’s powerful speech.
It’s always encouraging to return to the office from the March for Life and swap stories with members of the team who attended the rally, whether for the first time or the tenth.
President Trump’s decision to show up in person turned everything on its head. From metal detectors to Secret Service on the roof-tops, the atmosphere was super-charged last Friday.
In fact, out of concern for security, Focus on the Family was even required to vacate its tent – and with it all our special hats and cookies we intended to dispense to our guests.
The sun is just now setting across the Mall in Washington, D.C., the site of the annual March for Life.
It’s been a remarkable day.
Amid tens of thousands of pro-life stalwarts, many of them young, this year’s assembly was unlike any of the previous 46 demonstrations. That’s because for the first time in the rally’s long history, the President of the United States attended and spoke in person.
Standing at the blue lectern behind bullet proof clear-glass panels, President Trump’s message was moving and direct:
When we see the image of a baby in the womb, we glimpse the majesty of God’s creation.
Greta Henry is the director of Living Alternatives Pregnancy Resource Center in Champaign, Illinois. She’s also their director of adoptions and oversees their residential program for women called Merci’s Refuge.
Last year, she asked me to come and speak at Living Alternatives to almost 1,000 workers and supporters. I was happy for the opportunity to share my heart with people who are so dedicated to standing for life.
That night, the audience, including me, also got to hear from Greta and from a young woman named Rain Pierce, who graduated from Merci’s Refuge.
As a medical student in her 20s, Dr. Kathi Aultman was convinced of two things: God didn’t exist, and women deserved the right to an abortion.
She wanted to help women who were struggling with an unwanted pregnancy. And for Kathi, “unwanted” was the key distinction. Some women wanted their pregnancy. Some didn’t. Kathi felt strongly that she was helping women. She was terminating their pregnancy, not a baby.
It was while she was caring for preemies during her neonatal intensive care rotations that she realized the babies she was caring for were at the same stage of development as the babies she had been aborting.
Years ago, in the mid-90’s, a colleague at Focus on the Family attended the Beijing Women’s Conference. It was a global event convened by the United Nations and included a diverse level of world leaders and politicians whose stated goal was to achieve greater equality and opportunity for women.
My colleague asked a panel of well-known female political figures, “What woman’s rights are being protected? The adult female? Or the baby female? Because one of those females is taking the rights of the other.”
They refused to answer.
Being pro-life means much more than being against abortion. Our value statement on the sanctity of human life reads:
We believe that human beings are created by God in His image. Therefore, every person, from conception to natural death, possesses inherent dignity and immeasurable worth – including preborn children, elderly individuals, those with special needs and others marginalized by society. Christians, then, are called to defend, protect, and value all human life.
Author and speaker Emily Colson has lived the truth of that statement up close and personal.
Lost in this week’s
impeachment fever was President Trump’s stellar address to the 72nd
session of the United Nations General Assembly.
It was Mr. Trump’s third time speaking
before the world’s international body and the nation’s chief executive didn’t
mince words on a wide range of topics from North Korea to Iran and
the sovereignty of the United States.
Of particular interest to me
were his strong remarks concerning the sanctity of life:
“Americans
will never tire of defending innocent life,” he stated.
“I’m pregnant!” is supposed to be good news, the kind that most would-be moms celebrate.
Not Jennifer Polimino. Her moment of incredible joy was tarnished by feelings of guilt and shame from her past, the result of abuse that steered her in the wrong direction.
At age 12, Jennifer was nearly raped by a group of boys that hung out with her older sister. Jennifer was with them in an apartment with little furniture and no electricity.
Jim Daly is a husband, father and President of Focus on the Family and host of its National Radio Hall of Fame broadcast. His blog, Daly Focus, is full of timely commentary and wisdom designed to help you navigate and understand today’s culture. His latest book is Marriage Done Right.
