December 20, 2011 (Endthekilling.ca) – Recently, my co-worker stumbled across this video of a young girl delivering her testimony of a near-abortion experience. The girl’s mother was set to have a sex-selection abortion at 8 months. There happened to be a pro-life activist standing outside the clinic hoping to talk to women before they entered. She approached this girl’s mother and begged her not to kill her child. The girl’s mother was determined to have the abortion (even violently so) until…the activist got on her knees, begged her not to abort, and showed her what abortion would do to her child. At that point, the girl’s mother began crying desperately and told the activist, “No, I don’t want to do this to my child, but what else can I do?” The activist took the woman by the hand and brought her to her church and eventually that little baby girl was adopted into a loving family.
As the director of training for our street activism project called “Choice” Chain, which many pro-life groups have taken on as part of our EndtheKilling plan, I found myself deeply touched by the perfect mixture of courage, compassion, and truth that this pro-life activist exemplified outside the clinic. What this mother needed was love, a helping hand, and truth. She was not swayed by only the love, or only the offer for help, but also by the truth.
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Our attitude in street activism needs to mirror what this activist did. She literally laid down her life for this woman and her child, all the while communicating with love, what abortion would do to her child. We should never be afraid of proclaiming the truth, but we should be afraid of communicating the truth without love. During the time of the civil rights movement, Martin Luther King Jr., said, “Whom you would change, you must first love. And they must know that you love them.”
When we are trying to convince women not to abort, what is our attitude and what are we communicating as a whole? Are we angry at them because they are not being logical? Are we too afraid to tell them what abortion will do to their child? Are we too afraid to show them because it could hurt their feelings and make them feel guilty? We should be asking ourselves these questions as we are moving to ending abortion in our country. Do the people you are trying to change know that you love them? Compassion without truth is a lie. And truth without compassion is fruitless.
I was adopted as a small baby from an orphanage in Bangalore, India. My biological mother was poor, young and alone. She must have been also courageous and incredibly strong. When I listen to this young woman give her testimony, I cannot help but wonder what someone must have said to my biological mother when she discovered she was pregnant. What advice was she given? Did her family condemn her? Was she scared? Why did she choose life? Did someone beg for my life?
As I wonder about the circumstances that surrounded my biological mother, I sincerely hope that someone was kind to her. That someone told her she was brave and gave her the encouragement she deserved. It would break my heart to find out that the opposite was true for her.
In the same way, I want to ensure that I treat all the women I meet on the street with compassion, truth and love. Why? Because she could be a mother. The mother of a dead child is still a mother. Therefore, regardless of whether or not the woman I am speaking to on the street has a secret she is holding close to her heart because she is pregnant, giving her baby up for adoption, has miscarried, or is post-abortive, I want to give her the love and respect that she deserves- that I hope my biological mother received.
As we extend our hand to show the truth to women of what abortion really is, let our other hand be ready to show them the assistance they so desperately want, and the love they so desperately need.
Given the recent promotion of India’s introduction of the Two Child Policy, I want to echo the words of this young woman: I will give my life to end abortion in my lifetime for the sake of the women and children who will succeed us in the generations to come.
Reprinted with permission from endthekilling.ca