I want to thank the prolife movement who has done a fantastic job of getting abortion out of the federal realm and developing a network of pregnancy centers across the country that help mothers give birth to their children. However, I would suggest adding a second prong to the prolife movement. Maintaining and adding more pregnancy centers should remain a vital mission of the prolife movement, but we also need to focus our attention on helping mothers and families after a child a is born. That is where the biggest barriers remain to eliminate abortion.

 

I am prolife but I do not believe that making abortion illegal is the only or even most effective solution. That would not end abortion but continue fighting in an area that repeatedly changes depending on which political party has the upper hand. According to Joni Williams Shepherd, the CEO of Hope and Grace Global, “Suddenly making abortion illegal here in this liberal state after it has been legal so long would result in not ending it at all.” She reiterates, “I can think of two countries in which abortion on demand has never been legal. Jamaica is one of those, and they have a rate of abortion matching that of New York City, the highest in our nation.” Hope and Grace Global equips the church to address sexuality, pregnancy, and abortion proactively and redemptively. I agree that there are more effective ways to accomplish a prolife goal, including empowering moms and dads with the support and resources they need to choose life for their babies. 

 

Furthermore, I believe society is better equipped than the government to provide mothers the tools they will need to support them and their children. The government is the worst charity on the face the planet; only 28% of what is earmarked for a particular objective gets spent on that objective. Most of the costs are lost to inefficiencies from redundancy, waste, fraud, and overhead. Christian charities and churches are the best avenue to break down barriers and eliminate the need for abortions because they are more efficient, and Christians love to volunteer their time to protect life. It is just a matter of getting Christians united in the cause, pooling resources, and providing them the right guidance.

 

The solution must come from society by knocking down the barriers that exist for women with unplanned pregnancies. The first barrier is making people realize abortion is about much more than babies losing their lives. That is where much of the prolife community have gone off course and lost the battle. The issue includes protecting and securing the futures of mothers and families. The issues facing scared mothers do not end after the birth of the child. The journey has just begun.  

 

The crux of the first barrier is that if a mother chooses life for her baby, she is often on her own during her pregnancy and once the child is born. She could be abandoned by the father, face an uncertain financial or housing situation, or be left alone with no help or guidance to raise their child. If she chooses abortion, she also deals with the fallout on her own. She will be abandoned by the same clinics that provided the abortion. These clinics (as well as other clinics) are nowhere to be found when mothers are battling lifelong mental issues surrounding the trauma, shame, burden, loss, pain, and the anguish of aborting a child. Either way, the moms are on their own. A society that neglects and diminishes the vital role of mothers is a society doomed for destruction.

 

The second barrier to overcome is that women are often not given a true choice because the decision is usually made under great duress and with the deception that abortion will solve a problem. Yet it creates many new problems. If pro-abortion advocates truly believed in the right to choose, they would not hide prolife options from patients. They misuse the word “choice” to only refer to the right to abortion.

 

Since ending abortion is the goal of the prolife movement, let us put our efforts into finding solutions that meet the needs that cause many women to choose it. A law requiring abortion clinics to supply mothers, who are unsure if abortion is their best choice, a referral to agencies that provide other options, would give them the ability to make a truly informed decision without the pressure. There are many agencies that provide valuable and readily available information and support for adoption or pregnancy and early parenting. In addition, as with any other medical procedure or medication, abortion clinics should also provide information that details the short- and long-term physical, mental, and emotional effects of abortion. The book, Complications: Abortion’s Impact on Women, includes a meta-analysis of over 650 worldwide scientific studies that prove these effects. The abortion industry should not be allowed to not inform women of scientific information they would receive for any other medical procedure or medication.  

 

That said, many of the options that should be made available to pregnant woman are not in place, including hot lines with trustworthy, non-partisan answers for mothers with questions. We need Christians to step up and unite to pool their resources to accomplish the task of eliminating those barriers that still exist. Churches and schools could begin to proactively inform men and women, as well as young people, about the scientifically proven ill effects of abortion. Additional resources must be made available for moms for housing, better education, employment training and opportunities, teaching life and parenting skills, and providing childcare options for their work and education that remove the false belief that having a child will hinder their success in life. We can empower women to fulfill one of the most vital roles from which every human benefits – that of being a good mother. Couples with untimely pregnancies should not have to figure things out on their own. Churches and other religious institutions could be empowered to provide a lot of these things with the right training and guidance. Every church has most of the resources needed to end abortion in their community. They just don't know it. Begin putting programs in place that provide maternal care (help during and after the pregnancy), and abortion numbers will begin dropping organically without ever changing a law.

 

A third barrier is that men must be taught their impactful role in protecting women and children, beginning with not putting them at risk to begin with. Men put women of child-bearing age at risk for pregnancy every time they have sex with them. Whether they are married to the woman or not, fathers need to be taught to be accountable and responsible for the care of both mother and child. Pressuring a woman, with the inborn instinct of preservation and protection of her child, to abort is abusive to both mother and child. Let us speak the truth about pro-abortion slogans such as “My Body, My Choice” that push men away and leave women alone in the process. Even doctors tell me the choice of handling a pregnancy lies solely with the mother. This does not empower women but makes them more vulnerable.

 

I believe the prolife movement is still in its infancy because a lot of work remains to address these barriers. If we take abortion out of the political realm and provide societal solutions that meet the needs of mothers, the problem of abortion will largely solve itself. The only ones hurt by these solutions are the abortion providers who will lose business. However, this is not about business but about caring for our fellow human beings. Changing the law will not matter nearly as much because we have solved most of the problems surrounding unplanned pregnancy. With proper education, a healthy community, and resources, life should win out to abortion 99.99% of the time regardless of the law.   

 

To eradicate abortion, we must first petition the government to provide mothers with all information on where they can find resources for them to make an informed decision. Second, provide informed choice by enacting laws that require abortion clinics to refer women who are unsure about abortion to resources for other choices and to fulfill a patient’s right to be fully informed about all possible effects of abortion. Along with that, equip churches and other religious entities to provide healthy community where new moms and dads can be mentored, in a non-judgmental environment, to become productive and thriving citizens.  Third, foster the idea that pregnancy is not just a mother’s issue, but equally a father’s issue, and that pressuring a woman to abort a baby that the father helped create is a form of domestic abuse. Rather, empower men to be trustworthy partners and fathers.