There is a particular neighbourhood in Calgary that I think about quite often. It’s just an ordinary neighborhood filled with ordinary people, but it reminds me of four things.
The first has to do with something one of the volunteers, who lived in the area, said when he and I started door knocking there. “We’re going to have an easy time, this neighbourhood is mostly pro-life.” By the end of that first shift, he’d discovered that the people who lived on this street weren’t quite as pro-life as he had initially thought. He has since told me it made him wonder how often we, as pro-lifers, assume those around us are pro-life too when they aren’t (or at least aren’t all).
The second thing this street reminds me of is the intrinsic value of each and every human life. Value which doesn’t vanish in difficulty and hardship, but rather should be fought for and protected. It wasn’t long into one of our shifts here that we met a kind, old lady who was watering her garden. When she heard what we were doing and why, she shared that she’d arrived in this world as a tiny two pound baby in the middle of a war zone. Her family faced every difficulty and inconvenience and kept that little baby alive by heating rocks to warm her. I may never have the opportunity to meet her again, but I’m glad she’s alive and I’m glad our paths got to cross.
This neighborhood simultaneously reminds me of just how much abortion has stolen from us. Because I know that a four-year-old should live at the house with the blue door, a seven year old should be helping her siblings with the chalk drawing on the corner driveway, and there should be a two year old child visiting his grandparents who live across the street. Children are missing and this neighborhood is just one of the places they are missing from.
Last week, this neighbourhood made me think yet again when, due to a mistake in directions, some of the volunteers accidentally re-knocked on houses we had already been to. That ‘mistake’ showed us that the person who we’d marked down as “got them thinking” after our conversation a month ago is now fully pro-life and the lady who “become more pro-life but not fully” when we talked to her before wants to continue the conversation!
This was a full summer. I’ve had in-person conversations with numerous people in three different cities and talked with others online. I’ve discussed abortion with Pro-Lifers, Pro-Choicers, and people who had never even thought about this issue before. I’ve listened to the conversations of volunteers, interns and my fellow staff members. I can’t remember the details of every conversation, but the conversations I’ve had on this street remind me of the need that I once didn’t realize was there.
The people who live here have reminded me that all of us, even those born at two pounds and including those who have not yet been born, are valuable human beings. Some of whom, because of abortion, are missing. Some of whom, because of abortion, are dead.
It’s a hard but true reality. One we need to face and fight.
But we should also be reminded that we can make a difference. Sharing the truth about abortion with those around us and taking the time to discuss the controversy of this topic can have an impact more effective than we may ever realize. It can cause minds to change and lives to be saved.
This is inspiration at its finest!! The why, the how and the clarity to keep fighting!!! Thank you!
This article is wrong in many ways. The writer keeps saying their should be a 7 yr old playing with her siblings or with his mother what it should say is 7 yr old girl playing with foster sister, 5 yr old boy with his foster parents or 8 yr old that still lives in a group home. Those children wouldn’t be born into great lives like u make it sound, people don’t get abortions just for the sake of it, it gets done because people are in horrible state drug addict etc.
I agree that every child deserves a loving and stable home life and that it is tragic that many kids don’t get that basic necessity. You mention that these if these kids hadn’t been aborted that they wouldn’t be growing up in their family homes on the street, but instead would be in harder and perhaps unlivable circumstances. We simply don’t know that.
Even if we did know that, would we ever kill a born child who was about to be put into an overloaded foster care system or into an poorly run orphanage? Would that be the compassionate thing to do to save them from a lifetime of suffering? Of course not! How then can we kill the same child a few months earlier in the womb, for the same reasons?
Perhaps your chosen name “Live at birth” indicates you don’t think there is a living human in the womb. That would make sense of your position that abortion is an acceptable solution. However, if something is growing, isn’t it alive? If a living being has human parents, wouldn’t she be a living human being? And don’t all human beings get human rights?
Why won’t you guys allow different opinions on this page? Why won’t you guys allow the conversation to happen,
You guys have so many flaws with what you guys are taking to the public you guys are saying that if a woman is raped or has insest that she should have to go through that pregnancy. Let’s just say if a 5 year old got pregnant would you force that child to have a baby? Maybe instead of shoving abortion down peoples throats maybe the members should take the time to go adopt a child out of foster care and let woman make the decisions for themselves.
You have flaws as taking the stand that rape and insest is ok and stating that a person who gets pregnant with it should have to continue with the pregnancy even if it damages them or kills them. Everyone has a right to their option but you don’t have to shove it down peoples throats and driving around with a moving truck with photos on it is shoving it down peoples throats and forcing parents to have a conversation with their young kids cause they have had to see the truck.
We definitely aren’t saying that rape and incest are okay. In fact, it just the opposite. Rape and incest are HORRIBLE things to happen to someone and we as a culture and as individuals should be supporting, encouraging, and doing our best to make sure that those who go through that find healing.
When we think of the situation of rape or incest, we know that there is a victim and a victimizer. The victimizer ought to be punished to the fullest extent of the law, and the victim should be loved, cared for, and her needs addressed. I’m sure we can agree on that. But isn’t there a second victim here? The unborn child (should pregnancy occur) didn’t choose to be born, it didn’t choose to be conceived in that way. Aren’t we then punishing the child for the crimes of the father? Shouldn’t our answer be to treat them both as innocent victims, instead of killing an innocent child? What are your thoughts on this?
Wow says you’re open to any comments than you keep deleting my comments I think the new would love that
Why won’t you let anyone have a different opinion than you? I have tried to post 4 times and you keep erasing the comments how is that fair or having a conversation if you won’t allow other opinions?
If we want to prevent abortion it has to start with proper education. Everyone needs proper sexual education, needs access to birth control so that unwanted pregnancies don’t happen. They should also have harsher punishment for rape and educate men on respecting women. People who have cut funding to any of the above are the ones that should be protested at and be held accountable for causing unwanted pregnancies by withholding information and access to the tools that prevent unwanted pregnancies. Every animal including humans have sex, it shouldn’t be so taboo to teach people to do it safely.