By: Ali Elizabeth Turner
It has been one week since the most important Supreme Court decision in my lifetime was made, that of overturning Roe v. Wade and returning that decision making process to the citizens and legislators from each of the 50 states. In the State of Alabama, you can no longer kill your kiddo, period. No more “products of conception” or “just a cluster of cells” arguments. No more of the particularly horrific type of rhetoric that came forth in the legislature during the 2019 debate process of the Alabama Human Life Protection Act, wherein it was said by John Rogers, a Democrat member of the AL State House: “Some kids are unwanted, so you kill them now or kill them later. You bring them into the world unwanted, unloved, then you send them to the electric chair. So, you kill them now, or you kill them later. But the bottom line is that I think we shouldn’t be making this decision.” That is the type of pragmatism that is embodied in the sci-fi thriller film, Minority Report, wherein people are arrested, tried, and punished before they commit a crime, and it falsely assumes that an unwanted or unloved child will invariably commit a capital crime worthy of death.
Such a statement brings forth images of symbolically stomping on a moral compass and then wondering why it won’t help you find true north, or even magnetic north. That being said, it does beg the question of the man or woman in the mirror who would ask, “OK, what are you going to do now that you have ‘gotten your way’?”
What am I getting at? Many years ago, prior to the passage of Roe v Wade, and when I was unashamedly pro-choice, er, pro-death, I thought that pro-life people were all hypocrites. Why? Because there had been a continual stream of propaganda that asserted that a person who felt that abortion was wrong was not about to “get their hands dirty” by supporting anyone in a crisis pregnancy. In other words, you could look down your nose on the girl that had gotten herself “in trouble,” justifiably judge her, and go back to playing Bingo or watching NASCAR or any other stereotypical smear.
How about if we prove them wrong? How about if there is an armada of anti-abortion activists who know how to put their money where their mouth is? First of all, what if those of us who love babies, mamas, papas and families find a way to tap into the love of God for those who think the Constitution says that it’s OK to kill the unborn for any reason, and are hollering, “Abort the Court!”? Tough gig, but “love your enemies” is still in the Playbook. What if those of us who believe that life is precious start opening up our homes to those who might need a place to stay while they are figuring out what they are going to do, get on their feet, and decide if they are going to keep their child or give that little one up to a new family? How about if those who gave up on adopting long ago get back in “the game,” as unfortunate as that term may be? What about adopting a child yourself? What about taking a pregnant mom to her OB exams, or help her figure out her birth plan, or guide her toward eating well and taking care of herself so her baby has the best chance, irrespective if she chooses to keep the child?
But wait, there’s more… What about getting involved in ministering to men who had their babies aborted against their will? I have a friend whose children were aborted despite his pleas directed toward the would-be mother that he would be willing to raise the children, and has never gotten over their deaths. When a man cannot defend and protect, it really wrecks them, but that’s a story for another day. How many millions of men out there are deeply wounded and without any resources that are custom made to help them heal?
What about parents, grandparents, aunt, uncles, friends, strangers, or as in my case, teachers who helped facilitate an abortion because they honestly thought it would be the lesser of two evils? Doctors or nurses who took years to get their heads around the fact that this was actually a baby that had screamed before laying in pieces for examination on their surgical table? Who could have anticipated the ripple effect of abortion on demand upon our nation?
Last Saturday I took some teenaged kids that are like grandkids to Kreme Delite to celebrate the overturning of Roe. I looked at them while we had ice cream and said, “You guys, this is a big deal. I am not trying to play the drama card, but 60,000,000 others didn’t have the chance to be born, and you did. Make it count.”
It only took close to 50 years to bring us back from the edge of existential madness, but be prepared for the law of unintended consequences to kick in full force as we as a state, and hopefully a culture, go through the messy process of course correction. As of this writing, I have officially unbuttoned my sleeve and have started to roll it up. Care to join me? We have work to do.
December 20, 2024
