|
Becoming a Pro-Life Generation
by Stephanie Wood
On January 22nd, we’ll
commemorate the 33rd anniversary
of the Roe vs. Wade Supreme Court decision,
which legalized abortion in the United
States. This month is a good time for us to
be challenged that the pro-life battle is
our fight. One third of our
generation has been murdered by abortion
since 1973; that’s over 45 million babies in
America alone.
The battle for the unborn is truly our
generation’s civil rights movement. Jesus is
calling us to take up this cross in the 21st
Century and turn our society right-side-up.
Following are five practical ways that you
and I can be effective warriors for Christ
in the pro-life movement.
1. Practice chastity
The number one thing our generation can do
for the pro-life movement is stay chaste and
save sex for marriage. The Roe vs. Wade
decision was fueled in large part by the
sexual promiscuity of the Sixties. The
primary way to end abortion is to start a
counter-sexual revolution: to restore the
sacredness of sex to the sacrament of
marriage and the procreation of children.
A recent poll discovered that 52% of
American young people view pre-marital sex
as neither right nor wrong. That’s a
tragedy, because it means our peers are
buying the lie of “safe sex”, and haven’t
heard the sobering truth that those who have
sex before marriage have a divorce rate
70-80% higher than those who wait for
marriage.
Living out the virtue of chastity means
making a commitment to remain chaste in all
areas of our lives: the way we talk, act,
dress, what we view in movies, music, books
& TV shows, and the way we interact with the
opposite sex. Practicing chastity will not
only foster a culture of life and end
abortion, but it’s also the best thing you
can do to ensure your future happiness in
marriage.
2. Prayer and Sidewalk counseling
You don’t have to be an adult to pray, hand
out literature, or do sidewalk counseling
outside an abortion clinic or Planned
Parenthood center. Many of the girls and
their boyfriends going into these clinics
are in their teens. The presence of young
adult peers outside the clinic, to encourage
them, pray for them, and let them know there
are other options, can have a powerful
effect.
Check out this success story: For the past
six years, students at Thomas Aquinas
College in California have gone each
Saturday morning to pray and sidewalk
counsel outside the Planned Parenthood
center in Ventura. In March 2004, the
Planned Parenthood center closed its doors.
In an interview, TAC freshman Arianna
Grumbine said, “In speaking with girls
leaving the clinic and with boyfriends
waiting, we learned that no one had been
given another option either in the clinic or
before we arrived. So I know it made a
difference for us to be there.”
Your prayerful presence at abortion clinics
can have this same life-saving effect.
3. Wear pro-life t-shirts
The average t-shirt is seen three
thousand times before it becomes a
cleaning rag. When you wear a t-shirt that
proclaims a pro-life message, you become a
walking advocate for the unborn. You might
not be ready to go stand outside an abortion
clinic and do sidewalk counseling, but could
you wear a pro-life tee to school? You never
know what 16-year-old girl will be walking
down your hallway, pregnant, scared, and
wondering what to do. The message on your
shirt could literally save a life. There are
lots of great pro-life tees out there. Some
of my favorites are from the
American Life League Store.
4. Start a pro-life or chastity club at your
school
Two excellent pro-life organizations that
help young adults start local/school
chapters are
Generations for Life
and
Rock for Life. Both of these
organizations will send you literature and
materials on how to start a local pro-life
group, and how to get your peers involved in
the pro-life movement. Also, Jason Evert
from Catholic Answers has started a new
outreach called
Pure Love Club to educated
teens about the message of chastity, and he
provides info on how to set up a Chastity
Club at your school.
5. Participate in Pro-life events
I encourage all of you to attend the Annual
March for Life in Washington, D.C., or the
Walk for Life West Coast in San Francisco,
this month. The only event I can compare it
with is the feeling you get at a World Youth
Day gathering: standing with thousands of
your peers, gathered for the same purpose,
with the same goal. Events such as the March
for Life and the local Life Chain are also
effective ways to let our voices be heard on
behalf of the unborn.
God Wants Courageous Defenders of Life
God is calling us to take a radical step out
of our comfort zones; to stand up in the
face of persecution and godlessness; to
defend life and live for him in the 21st
Century. But He hasn’t left us alone in this
great calling. He has given us great
spiritual leaders like our late Holy Father,
John Paul II, to stand with us, and motivate
us with this challenge:
“Young people: the challenge is to make the
Church’s YES to life concrete and effective.
The struggle will be long, and it needs each
one of you. Place your intelligence, your
talents, your enthusiasm, your compassion
and your courage at the service of life.
Have no fear. The outcome of the battle for
life is already decided, even though the
struggle goes on against great odds and with
much suffering. Christ has already conquered
sin and death.”
–
Pope John Paul II, World Youth Day 1993,
Denver
|
