The Prolifestyle
Abortion is so evil. It is a quiet, secret murder of tiny, helpless people and the stigma induced quiet wounding of parents. All the while, robbing the world of our greatest treasure, abortion destroys people. This pales in comparison to the fact that our Creator has called heaven and earth as witnesses against us, that He set before us life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore, we are told, choose life, that both you and your descendants might live. Life is connected to blessing and death to cursing.
Euthanasia is another quietly executed form of murder. In the name of dignity, people are put to death to spare them or their family or caregivers the discomfort of protracted illness. When it comes to relieving pain and allowing someone to slip away into eternity, the line can sometimes be fuzzy. Suffice to say, for me, as a nurse the ability to relieve suffering is a tremendous blessing. In our time intractable pain is very rare. We have lots of choices for pain relief, both physical and emotional pain. Intentionally ending someone’s life is unacceptable.
There are occasions when a person is unable to take nutrition on their own. New babies must be fed. Some disabilities require interventional feeding. This is different than an elderly person who may have a natural shutdown and comfortably enter rest. Bottle feeding or tube feeding are only different ways of feeding a person who cannot eat by themselves. I believe we have a responsibility to do what we can to provide nutrition. Natural death will occur regardless of nutrition in most cases, if age or disease has progressed to the point of shutting down one’s body. It can be complicated, but I believe it is morally unacceptable to starve and dehydrate people death.
First, do no harm. Whenever it is within our power to provide comfort and support, we should. It takes resources to do that. It takes money and in some cases housing to provide for a scared, pregnant teen for example. To rescue those drawn toward the death, to hold back those who are stumbling to the slaughter takes resources. Even standing at the abortion clinic with educational pamphlets takes resources. Taking time out of work, gas to drive there, to print the papers or purchase professionally produced pamphlets, then if they are able to turn away, providing a place to go and meet the real needs they have can be very costly.
As president of NH Right to Life, I poured my heart and soul and my resources into the effort for three years. I began to really sense the overwhelming magnitude of the problem. I felt like I had been involved in a massive train wreck. I was trying to help people and bandage their wounds, direct others and rally people, but there weren’t enough resources. I thought that if I found a replacement that I could go into real estate investing, make some money and then return better equipped. I was wrong.
Maybe it’s a calling that only trusting God can provide for. As our family works to get out of debt and provide for our family, my husband and I realize that we can be prolife and not just do prolife things. Sometimes, being prolife means taking care of our family and saying, “No.” to events, petitions, fundraisers and other prolife activities. Thank God for social media, where we can share our views with others. I also thank Him for opportunities to send money to help people, to go to events, present speeches, write letters and to do interviews. I had the great privilege of speaking with Ellen Kolb this morning. She writes a blog from here in New Hampshire called Leaven for the Loaf. leavenfortheloaf.com She writes about lots of prolife issues, from parental rights to political viewpoints. Her perspective is fresh and inviting. I hope you’ll check it out.
Meanwhile, we work. Together we can change the culture of death to a culture of life, one heart at a time.
What will you do?