Imagine the following scenario. A young woman finds out she is pregnant. She didn’t plan for it. The father of the child in her womb is nowhere to be found. She lives below the poverty line. She has no idea how she will be able to financially provide for this child. She is scared, has nowhere to turn, and doesn’t know what to do. Then, one day, she is walking down a street that is increasingly full of people on both sides. They are shouting at each other across the street. On one side, people are holding up pro-choice signs advocating for the rights of the woman. On the other side, people are holding up pro-life signs advocating for the rights of the unborn. The shouts become deafening. Already fearful, now she feels shame, guilt, and condemnation. Her desperation grows as she contemplates what she should do.
When abortion becomes a politically charged debate, we lose sight of the vulnerable people caught in the middle: women and unborn children. We serve a God who is holistically pro-life. According to Scripture, protecting and preserving life in the womb is imperative. “Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you,” the Lord said to Jeremiah, “and before you were born, I consecrated you; I appointed you …” (Jeremiah 1:5). Similar words are used elsewhere in Scripture. “For you formed my inward parts,” the Psalmist prays, “you knitted me together in my mother’s womb. … Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me” (Psalm 139:13, 16). From the moment a child is conceived in the womb, life begins. And, oh, how vulnerable that child is! But being pro-life is more than being pro-infant. The second of Jesus’ two greatest commandments exhorts us, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself” (Mark 12:31). Love of neighbor calls for a comprehensive mercy that applies from the womb to the tomb. We are called to “visit orphans and widows in their affliction” (James 1:27). Not just orphans, but other vulnerable children. And not just widows, but other vulnerable women as well.
In the case of the woman with the unplanned pregnancy walking down the street feeling confused and condemned between the shouts, we don’t have to pick between woman and unborn child as to who is vulnerable and in need of protection. Both are! And God calls us to contend for the lives of both. This is what we love about First Coast Women’s Services. They contend for the life of the vulnerable unborn child, and they contend for the life of the vulnerable woman. Both are loved and showered with the unconditional love of God. It brings tears to my eyes to envision this scared and desperate woman with an unplanned pregnancy exit the chaos of the picket lines and see a sign for First Coast Women’s Services. She walks through the doors and experiences the grace and mercy of Jesus Christ through the person who greets her. Her fears subside and her despair wanes as she begins to see glimmers of hope. Now, that’s holistically pro-life!
Pastor Keith Dickerson, Christ Church East
Learn more about Christ Church East at christchurcheast.org