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Abortion

It Wasn’t My Body, But It Was My Baby

In the summer of 1998 a friend and I spent an evening together. A few weeks later she told me she was pregnant, and it was mine. Neither of us expected it, and neither of us felt ready to raise a child together. We were not in love and thought it would be better to go our separate ways with a clean slate. So we choose to have an abortion. We gathered $400 from a friend and went to a clinic that prescribed us a pill. We drove to someone’s empty home where we would spend the night. I got her a glass of water to take the pill. I held her hand while she cramped and cried. I was there as we ended the life of our unborn child. Some choices leave scars. Our abortion was one of those choices. In the years since our decision, I’ve often reflected on what happened that summer. It has changed me. It has given me more compassion toward those who face the fear of an unplanned pregnancy. God has brought healing and shown forgiveness that I do not deserve. You can read more about that here. My experience with abortion is one reason I often speak

Garret Kell December 4, 2023

Abortion

God Can Use Your Church To Help Heal Post-Abortive Women – My Story

Statistically, it was inevitable that I would find myself outside the doors of an abortion facility. I was twenty years old and three months postpartum with my first child. I did many things I shouldn’t have done to end up in that position, and my life felt void of hope. Even so, like over 70% of women who have had abortions, I often think I would have made a different decision if the father of the child had been supportive. I sat in the lobby with the other women and didn’t make eye contact, already feeling the weight and grief of the choice that I was making. I didn’t know what a sidewalk counselor was at the time and don’t remember seeing any. The only thing I do remember is refusing to look at the monitor during the sonogram. I pinched my eyes closed and turned my head as far away from the screen as I could, and the words, “about six weeks,” are all that linger in my memory. I desperately wish I could go back to that moment and say, “Stop.” After it was done, I was taken into a recovery room. There wasn’t a protein bar in

Lorien Hershberger November 18, 2023

Abortion

To End the Killing of Babies, We Need a Loving Revolution

Editors’ note: This article was published on the Gospel Coalition and republished here with the author’s permission. It was originally adapted from Rebecca McLaughlin’s The Secular Creed: Engaging 5 Contemporary Claims (TGC, 2021). Get it in the TGC bookstore or on Amazon. One of the brute facts by which we can judge how the ancient world valued women is the common practice of abandoning baby girls. The practice of leaving newborn girls to die led to a gender imbalance in the Greco-Roman empire. We gain a sobering insight into this from a letter by a Roman soldier to his wife in 1 BC. The otherwise affectionate letter includes this instruction: “Above all, if you bear a child and it is male, let it be; if it is female, cast it out.” Babies with disabilities were also discarded. In fact, the Greek philosopher Aristotle had pitched for eugenics legislation: “Let there be a law that no deformed child shall live.” The idea of abandoning baby girls is alien to us. But even today, we see this practice continuing in the two largest countries that haven’t yet been significantly shaped by Christianity. The Chinese church is growing so fast that it could reshape Chinese culture in the next generation. But selective

Rebecca McLaughlin October 18, 2023

Abortion

Talking About Difficult Topics (Like Abortion) in Student Ministry

My role as a Student Pastor places me right in the heart of a traditional corner of our country, in a staunchly Southern Baptist Church, surrounded by parents deeply rooted in conservative values. This church and community stand arm-in-arm on numerous pro-life platforms. Yet, the week Roe v. Wade was overturned, I was taken aback to find a flurry of distressed and fiery posts from my students on Instagram and TikTok. “Reproductive freedom lost!” they exclaimed, expressing outrage over perceived “women’s rights” being stripped away. These are the same students who, in many ways, exemplify theological conservatism, fervently exalting Christ in their lives. So, why the surprise reaction? The core issue here is the vacuum left by a lack of intentional discipleship within the church—a void that is promptly filled by the relentless discipleship of social media and secular culture. As those called to disciple and care for these students, we cannot shy away from plunging into these complex discussions, especially when it comes to controversial subjects like abortion. We might be tempted to sidestep such hot topics, but that would do our students a disservice. The reality is, there are plenty of voices already attempting to influence our students

Will Standridge July 21, 2023

Abortion

How We Can Be Motivated By Love in Pro-Life Ministry

Throughout history, humans have been motivated to do dangerous things for heroic reasons. One recent example is Bridger Walker, a six-year-old boy who stepped between his younger sister and a neighbor’s charging German Shepherd. The dog’s owner was able to restrain the dog and call for emergency responders, but not before the dog latched onto Bridger’s face and left horrible gashes. The resulting two-hour surgery on Bridger’s face required ninety stitches. “Bridger, in his own words and without hesitation, declared: ‘If someone had to die, I thought it should be me,’” his parents wrote. Great love motivated Bridger to action. Jesus expresses this sentiment most poignantly: “Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.” – John‬ ‭15:13 What does it mean to be motivated by love? The word motivated is an adjective that describes someone who is moved to action by something. For example, athletes are often motivated by a trophy to train. Actors are often motivated by fame to memorize a script. Unlike these two examples, however, Christians are not primarily motivated by what they receive. Christians obey the commands of Jesus because of His great love for them. Jesus is

Matthew Harper June 16, 2023

Church Ministry

3 Ways Sidewalk Counseling Can Be Applied in Post-Roe America

The sidewalk is empty in front of my city’s abortion facility. On a typical morning last June, dozens of women, companions, and pro-choice escorts would tread toward the building’s concrete awning. Our sidewalk counseling group walked alongside them toward the facility, offering them Gospel hope and help. We would see hearts harden and doors slam shut. We would see lives saved and souls transformed. And every day we were on the sidewalk, we saw a cosmic battle raging for the souls of men and women and the lives of precious preborn boys and girls. But there’s an abortion ban in my state. What use is there for sidewalk counseling now? Though sidewalk counseling will become less common in pro-life states, there are several profound reasons why it is still essential in today’s post-Roe America. First, sidewalk counseling is vital in states where abortion is legal. Thirty-eight states currently allow abortion at varying stages, and some even perform abortions up to birth. Click here for the updated list. A couple of years ago, our group saw a couple walking toward us with an escort prompting them toward the entrance. We offered words of hope, but the mother went inside without

Matthew Harper March 23, 2023

News

What’s Coming in 2023?

2022 was a massive year in the pro-life movement; in fact, in the political sphere, I assume that the Dobbs decision will be one of the biggest forward advances that we see in our lifetimes. Since the end of June, Speak for the Unborn has been working to continue to serve our Network Churches to become gospel-centered voices for life in their communities. Many of our churches have been met with the beautiful challenge of how to continue serving abortion-minded women and men with the gospel when the abortion clinic closest to them is closed. How do we continue to connect with them in order to bring them gospel hope and into the lifelong care of the local church? After all, while we know that while many states now have abortion bans, there will still always be people in our communities who think that abortion is their only hope. There will still be women trying to access the abortion pill or driving out-of-state for surgical abortions. What is the answer? How do we continue to share gospel hope and help when it is no longer as “simple” as being present on an abortion clinic sidewalk? We began the process of

S4U Team February 3, 2023

Marriage

Honoring Motherhood is a Pro-Life Ministry

“I’m majoring in Journalism… but I really want to be a stay-at-home mom someday.” This was my answer for the first two years of college every time someone asked. But by the third and fourth year, with a dozen close female friends who were all very career oriented, I had learned to amend my answer just a bit. “I’m majoring in Journalism, but I don’t necessarily want to work as a journalist. I just know I want to write.” This was true, and it still is, but you notice that the motherhood thing had totally dropped out of my “nice to meet you” spiel. I was slow by that time to admit that even after my four years of education, I’d give up every career goal in two seconds if a man came along and asked me to marry him, bear his children, and homeschool them. Having It All? My career-driven friends and I didn’t analyze our deepest assumptions about our futures. We didn’t realize that our vision for life was deeply impacted by the air we were all breathing, which was a confusing blend of 90’s purity movement and second wave feminism. We only knew that we were expected

Tilly Dillehay October 6, 2021

Gospel

Trusting God When Our Plans Are Different from His

My ideas have rarely coincided with the Lord’s plans. I had dreams of how my life would turn out and did everything I could to make them happen. Some things went as I had hoped, but then life started to unravel. Mistakes, medical issues, and unforeseen problems came up, leaving me bewildered and frustrated. This was not the life I signed up for. When my infant son, Paul, died because of a doctor’s mistake, I was sure that the Lord had abandoned me. If God cared, how could he have allowed that to happen? Was God punishing me? The questions and doubts so crowded my mind that I became confused and distant from God, unsure of where to turn. In my desperation, I finally called out to the Lord for help. Though I wondered why God let my precious son be taken from us, I knew there was nowhere else to find peace. And God comforted me, pouring his extravagant love and a supernatural sense of his presence over me. While my situation had not changed, I knew God was with me in my grief. I needed that same reassurance six years later when I was diagnosed with post-polio syndrome

Vaneetha Rendall Risner September 7, 2021

Church Ministry

Caring for the Single Moms in Your Church

Dear Church, Imagine how different our world would be if a young woman holding an unexpected positive pregnancy test thought first of the church: “I know who will help me with this baby.” Imagine if she knew single mothers who told her, “The church will help you raise your child.” Imagine if she went to church, alone but for the baby in her arms, and that church welcomed them in a big bear hug of love, commitment, understanding, and grace – and held them close all the years of their lives. Imagine if the evangelical church got a reputation for being the place where single parent families could grow and thrive. Imagine how enriched the body of Christ would be because those families are there. Sounds amazing, doesn’t it? Church, we’ve got some work to do. It starts with knowing that it’s not easy to be a single parent in the church. The average evangelical church is a very “married” place. Most of the adults over a certain age are married, and those who are not often (not always) want to be married. Many adults fulfill the creation mandate, “be fruitful and multiply,” and the biblical path for this occurs

Anna Harris April 19, 2021

Motherhood

How to raise children who honor human dignity

During the past 12 months at home, my children and I have enjoyed learning about and imagining faraway places through books and documentaries. We like to talk about where my three young sons would like to go, which animals they would see, and the people they would meet. This thought experiment is not far from the truth. I pray my children will have the opportunity to travel the world and meet many people from all walks of life. As a parent, it’s both thrilling and challenging to consider how my children will engage a future world, one they will inhabit without me by their side. How can I prepare them for the diverse experiences, opportunities, and relationships that lay ahead? In addition to instilling a faith in God, my husband and I are committed to teaching our children to see and value the inherent dignity of every person. We believe this reflects God’s character and His care. And we pray that our children learn to see those in need and respond in love and service for the vulnerable. Here are a few ways we are aiming toward this. Instill Personal Worth Before a person can show honor to someone else,

Jill Waggoner April 5, 2021

Abortion Arguments

When Walls Cave In

The walls were slowly closing in around her. The air drained from the room. Dead ends stood before her in all directions. She struggled to breathe. The one-night mistake that she had with her boyfriend followed her from under the covers. She had hoped she had a virus of some kind. She prayed that working longer hours than normal explained the fatigue. Maybe stress at home explained her odd aversion to her favorite ice cream. But deep down she had known all along. She kept glancing down at the unmistakable line staring up at her from the pregnancy test. With every tearful glance away, her eyes fell again to the stick, feeling fresh panic that the line remained. “You aren’t ready, she thought. There is no way you can do it, came another. How could this be happening to you? Your life is over. . . If you go through with it.” The last thought seemed to come from outside of her. She felt a dark surprise at the relief that swept over her. Fresh air seemed to come from this discovered door. She began to breathe again. Deadly Emotions Drastic events are always met with amplified emotions. When an

Greg Morse March 22, 2021