Batons and Bullets, Stand Up for Freedom Rally
A.M.D.G.
I was 15 years old when I marched down Central avenue twirling
a baton with the Michigan Lion’s All State Band on a day much like today. A lot has happened in my life since then
including: baptism, graduation, marriage, & motherhood. Wedged in between
all of these good life experiences is a very painful one: I had an abortion in
1987; a fact that I sincerely regret and that has altered my life in more ways
than I care to imagine. Today, I still march down city streets, but I carry a
sign instead of a baton. Thru the Silent No More Awareness Campaign I try to remind others
that abortion is not only man’s worst invention; it is a preventable evil in
our society.
The contraceptive mandate, if successful, would force people
to violate their most fundamental beliefs. Our first and most precious liberty:
the freedom of religion, is our birthright; not given to us by government, but
gifted to us by God. To be told that we must pay for contraception,
sterilization and abortifacient drugs is beyond the pale and something that we
must not tolerate.
Because we have not cowered under the opposition, we are
labeled as woman-haters, religious freaks, perverts and closed-minded fools. Oh
sure, they will tell you that this is about women’s rights, access to universal
healthcare, & reducing the number of abortions but this crafty rhetoric is
a lie. We do not have the right to take human life. PERIOD. Abortion in all its forms is not a freedom,
it is a license that denies unborn human beings all of their freedoms; and for
this reason, it is intrinsically evil.
Contraception is Abortion’s crazy uncle and they fit
together like a hand inside of a glove.
Allow me to illustrate.
The “glove” of contraception says:
1.
“Women are playthings. Their bodies are objects to be used for
sexual pleasure.”
2.
“A woman’s fertility is a diseased condition and
therefore must be treated with a drug.”
3.
“It does not matter that contraceptives
a.
Are abortifacients
b.
Fail at an astonishing rate (recent studies
indicate that over 50% of abortions are the result of failed contraceptives!!)
c.
are a class I carcinogen (W.H.O.)”
The ‘hand of abortion’ fits snugly inside the glove and says…
“Life, when inconvenient as deemed by a woman and her doctor
is optional. When it’s optional and
unwanted, we’ll kill it.”
After a woman has an abortion, the first thing they’ll do is
hand her a prescription for The Pill. And when The Pill fails she will be back
through the door seeking abortion. The
cycle repeats ad infinitum. Hand in
glove.
Where does this journey take us if we don’t stand up today? Simply
stated: If they can pirate our conscience and loot wallets today, then they
will rob us of our other freedoms tomorrow. Imagine an America where we will
not be able to gather in protest, speak freely, or worship openly. There will
be fewer conversations, fewer conversions. There will be a silent, stunted
church. If they can deny you your personal religious liberties today, they will
hi-jack your other God-given freedoms from you tomorrow.
Let’s not wait for that to happen. Let’s not keep our convictions in our pockets
or away from the pulpits. Remember, we
are not only standing up for ourselves, but also for future generations of
Americans. Post abortive men and women who grieve for their children cannot be
denied the fact of their consciences that these children are real and exist in
the community of saints. After we have
fought so hard to restore our consciences through various healing programs that
our churches have made available, we will not be robbed of them again.
I would be remiss if I did not mention how indebted we are
to the men of the cloth who are standing up with us today. I would not be speaking before you if it
weren’t for the church and her shepherds. The Catholic Church has never
waivered on the issue of contraceptives or abortion. Never.
She has always spoken the truth that we need to hear…a gentle teacher; a
caring guide. What does religious freedom mean to me? It means everything. I used to be pro-choice. For those of you who
courageously speak out Sunday after Sunday about Life and Liberty, we are
grateful to God for you and we encourage you to fight on. We love you & your example and we will
never abandon you.
In the movie, For
Greater Glory, I remember back to the scene of the women who were
instrumental in helping fight the oppressive government by smuggling the ammunition
to the Cristeros. The bullets were a reminder of the violent nature of that
struggle and the fact that people were willing to die for what they
believed. In a similar way, I believe
that the shared testimonies of the healed post-abortive community are the real
bullets in our struggle today. We are witnesses of the horrors of abortion on
personal level. Our stories reveal what
abortion and contraception really does to women & they shoot holes through
the lies of the culture of death. Ask anyone of us if our lives were made any
better by our abortion decision. Ask us
how helpful it was for us to have flashbacks and nightmares of a procedure that
was supposed to free us from an unwanted pregnancy. Ask us about botched abortions that left many
of us sterile, childless, and physically impaired. Ask us how the coveted convenience of an
empty womb has left us imprisoned in our own guilt. Ask the priests who
minister to us how they explain the countless confessions over something that
ought to have the import of an appendectomy.
Why do we confess abortion if it supposed to be likened to cyst removal?
Why do our consciences rebel? It is
because our children are human beings and not diseased gall bladders. Our
unborn children have captivated our attention. And I believe they are here with
us in a special way, too.
We have all taken a bold step today to stand up for
religious freedom. Let’s not let it end
here, though. There are people that need
to hear this message and you know who they are. There is an election coming in
November that will demand more unity from us than ever before. Let’s awaken to
the important voices that speak the truth: the church, our conscience, the unborn;
and let us pray for this great nation, that her leaders respect the sacred
trust that we place in their hands.
May God bless America.
Wish I would have been able to hear you speak today...I agree totally with your courageous and true comments.
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