Abortion: A Failure to Communicate

I am currently participating in a 21-hour volunteer training at a local crisis pregnancy center. After the training is over, I will hopefully be taking on the role of lay counselor for people coming into the center facing unplanned pregnancies. This is all extremely exciting for me and something that God has been orchestrating in my life for over a year. I again stand in total awe of His work as I look back over the past year and the events that have taken place for me to be at this point in my life. He is more than amazing!

The homework assignment given to us last night was to read an article called “Abortion: A Failure to Communicate” by Paul Swope in 1998.

The article begins by stating:

“For twenty-five years the pro-life movement has stood up to defend perhaps the most crucial principle in any civilized society, namely, the sanctity and value of every human life. However, neither the profundity and scale of the cause, nor the integrity of those who work to support it, necessarily translates into effective action. Recent research on the psychology of pro-choice women offers insight into why the pro-life movement has not been as effective as it might have been in persuading women to choose life…”

Swope goes on to make the point in the article that the reason for that could very well have to do with the fact that in an effort to preserve the life of the unborn, the pro-life movement has forgotten to address the life of the woman who finds herself unexpectedly pregnant. The pro-life movement’s main focus has been on the unborn child and has not been as attentive to the woman’s emotions, circumstances, fears, and her struggle to choose between the “three evils” that stand before her. In focusing so much solely on saving the baby, the pro-life movement has forgotten to address the concerns of the woman carrying the child and possibly have made her feel insignificant.

You can read the article in its entirety at this link: Abortion: A Failure to Communicate.