{"id":34128,"date":"2013-05-01T05:55:14","date_gmt":"2013-05-01T09:55:14","guid":{"rendered":"\/news\/?p=34128"},"modified":"2013-05-01T12:47:28","modified_gmt":"2013-05-01T16:47:28","slug":"an-action-plan-in-the-face-of-gosnell-and-other-atrocities","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/an-action-plan-in-the-face-of-gosnell-and-other-atrocities\/","title":{"rendered":"An action plan, in the face of Gosnell and other atrocities"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>

by Rebekah L.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Editor’s Note: This article was first published at Family Missions Company<\/a> and is reprinted here with permission.<\/em><\/p>\n

I don\u2019t usually write about controversial topics.\u00a0 When it comes to confrontation in general, I run the other way.\u00a0 And abortion is at the top of the list for controversy.\u00a0 But the Holy Spirit and a no-nonsense homily have prompted me to speak up.<\/p>\n

\"gosnell-question\"<\/a>When the Kermit Gosnell trial hit the social media world, I heard the facts: Third-trimester abortions.\u00a0 Women abused and even killed.\u00a0 Tiny spinal cords snipped. Jars of severed baby feet.\u00a0 I was shocked.\u00a0 At the brutality, yes.\u00a0 But also at my reaction.\u00a0 Or lack of reaction.\u00a0 I skimmed my Facebook newsfeed, browsed the articles, and went about life as usual.\u00a0 Then my sluggish conscience pricked me.\u00a0 More like slammed me into a brick wall.\u00a0 I had just read about the murder of innocent babies and five minutes later was skipping along to make lunch and run errands.\u00a0 Why wasn\u2019t my heart aching with sorrow and righteous anger?\u00a0 How could I so casually hear such gruesome truths?\u00a0 What had happened to me?<\/p>\n

A Hard, Desensitized Heart<\/h2>\n

My heart had grown hard.\u00a0 Desensitized.\u00a0 Blinded to the reality of abortion.\u00a0 Maybe you\u2019re like me.\u00a0 You tell yourself that pro-life ministry is great\u2026for some people.\u00a0 You believe abortion is wrong, but don\u2019t join the active outcry.\u00a0 When you\u2019re really honest, you get a little fed up with all the pro-life emails and posts.\u00a0 Your mind can\u2019t process statistics like \u201cover 50 million abortions since Roe v. Wade<\/em>\u201d and \u201c4,000 babies aborted each day.\u201d<\/p>\n

I remember the day I learned what abortion is.\u00a0 My mom and I were driving home from dropping my brother off at soccer practice.\u00a0 The spring sky was clear blue and the newly sprouting fields unfolded into the distance.\u00a0 A beautiful day for such an ugly lesson.\u00a0 \u201cSometimes when a woman is pregnant, she doesn\u2019t want her baby,\u201d my mom explained.\u00a0 \u201cA doctor uses metal tools or a special vacuum to kill the baby inside of the womb.\u00a0 Those little babies are thrown away like trash.\u201d\u00a0 I felt like crying, throwing up, and hiding in a corner.\u00a0 My palms poured sweat and my mind reeled.\u00a0 Images of dismembered babies and bloody surgical instruments haunted my imagination.\u00a0 Abortion was clearly evil.<\/p>\n

The Heart of the Issue: LIFE<\/h2>\n

Somewhere over the years, the term \u2018abortion\u2019 became clouded.\u00a0 It was disguised as a voting issue rather than an attack on the sanctity of human life.\u00a0 I occasionally prayed outside abortion clinics and wore pro-life tee shirts because this was what \u2018good Catholics\u2019 did.\u00a0 But my instinctive horror grew dull.\u00a0 My heart began to atrophy.\u00a0 The evil of abortion was hidden behind biased news reports and op-ed columns.\u00a0 It was a social topic dictated by policies and legislation.\u00a0 Pro-life bumper stickers and rallies.\u00a0 Heated conversations between opinionated coworkers and friends.\u00a0 This was a constant national debate that I was tuning out.<\/p>\n

But abortion isn\u2019t about politics.\u00a0 It\u2019s not a social issue.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a moral one.<\/p>\n

About life and death.<\/p>\n

Good and evil.<\/p>\n

The mainstream media turned a blind eye to the Gosnell case.\u00a0 But how often have I remained silent about abortion?\u00a0 Before we point fingers, let\u2019s take an honest look into our own hearts.\u00a0 What do we find there\u2014stone or flesh?\u00a0 I won\u2019t have to answer for the media\u2019s inactivity, but I will be held responsible for continuing in my sins of omission.<\/p>\n

Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a German theologian who bravely opposed the Nazis during WWII, wrote that, \u201cSilence in the face of evil is itself evil: God will not hold us guiltless. Not to speak is to speak. Not to act is to act.\u201d<\/p>\n

Our Action Plan<\/h2>\n

In the homily that helped to awaken my lapsed conscience, Fr. Bryce Sibley outlines seven steps of action:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Educate ourselves on the reality of abortion and contraception.<\/li>\n
  2. Stop equivocating about semantics.\u00a0 Call a spade a spade\u2014abortion is bloody murder, not a right or a choice.<\/li>\n
  3. Be passionately vocal, especially on social media.<\/li>\n
  4. Get angry!\u00a0 Anger is the correct response to injustice; it compels us to act. [Of course, violent action is never the answer.]<\/li>\n
  5. Stop supporting pro-abortion politicians.\u00a0 We need to be single-issue voters on the issue of murdering babies.<\/li>\n
  6. Pray.\u00a0 Laws will change only with the conversion of hearts and minds.\u00a0 Beg for God\u2019s mercy.<\/li>\n
  7. <\/strong>Show genuine support for women.\u00a0 Mothers who are pregnant, scared, and alone don\u2019t need judgment or condemnation.\u00a0 They need love.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Each of us has a part to play in the fight for life.\u00a0 Some are called to counsel women outside abortion clinics.\u00a0 Some can share their own stories of brokenness, healing, and forgiveness.\u00a0 Others will enter the political arena.\u00a0 Many battle the powers of darkness through prayer and fasting.\u00a0 What will YOU do?\u00a0 Everyone must defend life, especially in its most vulnerable form.\u00a0 I\u2019m still asking God to show me how I can join the fight.\u00a0 The first step is allowing Him to change my heart.<\/p>\n

    \u201cI will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.\u201d\u00a0 -Ezekiel 36:26<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    by Rebekah L.\u00a0 Editor’s Note: This article was first published at Family Missions Company and is reprinted here with permission. I don\u2019t usually write about controversial topics.\u00a0 When it comes to confrontation in general, I run the other way.\u00a0 And abortion is at the top of the list for controversy.\u00a0 But the Holy Spirit and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":16368,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nAn action plan, in the face of Gosnell and other atrocities - Live Action News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/an-action-plan-in-the-face-of-gosnell-and-other-atrocities\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"An action plan, in the face of Gosnell and other atrocities - Live Action News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"by Rebekah L.\u00a0 Editor’s Note: This article was first published at Family Missions Company and is reprinted here with permission. 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