Thoughts at the Garden of Hope

I'm in my second hour at the Garden of Hope praying as a part of 40 Days for Life. Several things have struck me while here. First, we're in the 40th year since Roe v Wade. I remember working long hours to defeat Proposition B that sought to legalize abortion in Michigan back in 1972 and how appalled I was in January of the following year when the Supreme Court invalidated all our efforts by making abortion legal during all 9 months in all 50 states. I was devastated. I remember wanting to move to Canada. Here I sit 40 years later still fighting the devastating impact of that decision.

Despite the horrors that people are now aware of, despite ultrasounds that clearly show LIFE, despite many many women who describe the deep pain and scars they bear from their abortions, despite knowing that many people choose abortion because their babies are girls, others are forced into the decision, despite knowing abortions occur at 9 months where the standard procedure is to pull the baby's head out of the birth canal and then STAB HIM OR HER IN THE NECK WITH SCISSORS!!!!!!

Despite all this, here we are with a president who doesn't even support keeping a baby alive who is born via a botched abortion, who promised fewer abortions in his 2008 campaign and in 2012 invites the president of Planned Parenthood to give a keynote speech at his convention, who feels totally confident that showcasing abortion in his campaign will gain him votes. Wake up Democrats. Ask the difficult questions instead of turning a blind eye. Are you willing to look at pictures? Why not? To those who are at least somewhat pro-life but continue to support the Democratic Party - are you willing to face the number of abortions that have occurred under a Democratic president that WOULD NOT have occurred under a Republican? What has to happen to give this issue a face? How can we as a society fill the air waves with commercials to save dogs and cats while close to a million humans lose their lives each year (and we ban commercials that even hint at the benefits of saving them).

And now to another thought that hit me powerfully as I was praying. I wondered how much all the prayers and actions over the years might have saved one very special baby...

whether her mommy might have been influenced by those prayers or possibly impacted by tagging along with her dad and me while we prayed outside abortion clinics over the years... so that years later when she found herself single and pregnant, she took the courageous and difficult road and blessed us and the world with Eleanor Charlotte. And I cried.