Journal entry from January 21, 2017.
Today, my son, Noah, and I attended the San Diego Walk for Life, a smaller venue than the other California Walks for Life — a robust Los Angeles gathering and a powerful Walk for Life West Coast in San Francisco— yet it was heartwarming to be a small part of the effort to stand up for something so vital and important — the celebration of life from its truest beginning — the moment of conception. The themes of the Walks for Life are in stark contrast to the March for Women’s Lives that also took place in cities across the country today, which startlingly, (when you consider the title of the March), but not surprisingly (when you know the sponsors of the event), does not include protection for the most vulnerable and defenseless females in America — the thousands of unwanted, unborn baby girls. In reflecting upon the pro-life movement, I was remembering how I needed to explain to each of my three sons, at different times, about the tragedy of legalized abortion that exists in our country. My clearest memory is of the conversation with my youngest child, Cody. The reaction of quiet disbelief in the face of a young child says it all. The immorality of taking the life of an unborn human being cannot be hidden from a child. It is an instinctive knowledge that has to be twisted and rationalized in pretzel-like fashion by someone older (but not wiser) to accommodate a woman’s conscience in pursuing and allowing abortions to take place. The more I learn about the history of abortion and the origins of the movement to legalize it, the more I hear the voices of women who have been terribly hurt by abortions as well as the beautifully inspiring stories of suffering, healing and survival by the victims of attempted abortion. I realize that everyday there are more babies who will never be able to add their presence to these debates–how can I sit idly by? We as human beings are all called to protect those of us who cannot protect themselves. So I choose to be one more voice in the blogosphere that speaks up for those defenseless children; one more trumpeter that says all life is precious — every unborn child, girl or boy, healthy or special needs, wanted or unwanted, is truly a barefoot blessing.