Author Stephen Arterburn is our guest on our Focus on the Family Broadcast “The Crucial Role of Men Standing for Life.”
What I appreciate most about Steve is his willingness to be vulnerable with his audience about his shortcomings. On our program, he’s sharing about the abortion he compelled his girlfriend to have when they were both college students.
In the years since, Steve has had to come to grips with the fact that he wasn’t the man that baby and young woman needed him to be. But when “we confess our sins to one another” (James 5:16) we find healing.
Not only does Steve admit his selfishness, he also acknowledges that he believed abortion was an acceptable medical practice because he was woefully uninformed. Information about abortion wasn’t as accessible as it is today. Even in this age of social media, misinformation abounds about abortion and its impact on women.
For many, abortion is a political agenda. It’s about your rights and my rights instead of about what’s right.
For others, it’s about money. I’ve met with representatives from Planned Parenthood and NARAL, the National Abortion Rights Action League. I respectfully listen, and I strive to offer well-articulated arguments for a pro-life position. One woman from the abortion industry said, “It’s all about cash flow. We get $600 for an abortion. We get zero for an adoption placement.”
Amazing.
Like Steve, many people support abortion because they don’t know any better. They’ve been taught to believe that a baby in the womb isn’t fully human, and that the abortion procedure is physically and emotionally safe for the mother. It’s not until they see proof to the contrary that they have a change of heart.
The pro-life movement’s goal is to create opportunities for hearts to change. We want to save babies, and we want to come alongside women in need. We want to serve our communities with the same love and conviction as the first-, second-, third-century church, using 21st century technology to do it. We want to engage the culture’s brokenness while bringing God’s shalom to desperate people.
How do we do that? Where can today’s young men facing Steve’s circumstances go for help? How can men lead in a way that values life and supports women instead of destroying both?
Stephen Arterburn and I had a great conversation answering those questions and others on our Focus on the Family Broadcast “The Crucial Role of Men Standing for Life.” Tune in on your local radio station, online, on Apple Podcasts, via Google Podcasts, or take us with you on our free phone app.
One of the best things you can do to support life is to participate in our Option Ultrasound program. Abortion clinics are interested in abortion. Pregnancy resources centers are interested in the woman, the man, the baby, the family. They minister to everyone involved.
Focus supports these centers through our Option Ultrasound program, which provides grants for sonogram training and technology. To date, more than 800 ultrasound machines have been placed around the country, and nearly 460,000 babies have been saved.
We’re working hard to raise that number to one million babies saved sometime in the near future. With that in mind, I’d like to extend an invitation for you to become a special partner with us through our monthly “Friends of Focus on the Family” program. What’s amazing is that it only takes $60 to save a baby’s life by providing ultrasound machines and additional resources.
Thank you for touching others with the love of Christ.
In closing, I hope you’ll save May 9th on your calendar to attend one of five locations hosting Focus on the Family’s nationwide pro-life event called ALIVE 2020. These live events will feature musicians, special guest speakers, and live ultrasounds of third-trimester babies broadcast on massive digital screens. I hope you’ll join us to show the whole world that a baby is a baby, whether inside or outside the womb. Visit our website for information.
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