A Journey to Life
Dear Co-Cathedral Friends,
This Sunday is Respect Life Sunday, and I would like to share with you a little more about my journey from my previous understanding of the issues of freedom in the context of women’s health decisions to praying for the unborn and their families. As I mentioned a few weeks ago, four years ago during the early stages of my first pregnancy, I began to realize how “real” a human baby is in the womb. This life was my daughter keeping me company during my otherwise lonelier hours. I could feel her hiccups, her regular movements of each limb. I would feel her rotate her head, back, or knees, which surprised me. I learned easily what types of food, music, and movement she was sensitive to from her obviously increased movement patterns in response to anything sugary, swimming, walking the dog, and the playlists I often played.
As I experienced these marvels, I began to desire to pray for all babies at all stages of life, and I wanted somehow to become a help to moms around me who felt unsupported and alone. This was truly a change of heart for me. In high school and most of college, I thought I could call myself pro-choice, just to not have to decide anything on this matter, even though I personally would never want to have an abortion. I only felt fear and concern to make sure that I would not ever have to make a mistaken decision. For me, I’d decide based on my own circumstantial, temporary lifestyle preferences, instead of considering that choosing life (or not) is a lifelong decision impacting myself and all the lives around me.
Meeting someone via their living in my womb, rather than just reading about the concept of perinatal life from news sources, had me feeling compassion and generally thinking about unborn babies in a new way. I became encouraged, confident, and hopeful in the Truth – especially as I finally began to reflect on how I have been created with a beautiful feminine genius and the implications of this reality. The Holy Spirit helped me through prayer to recognize the underlying fear that had guided me previously, and in turn replaced that fear with this new confidence in recognizing the human dignity of the unborn.
Like I mentioned before, I felt unsure how to act at first, especially as I felt sensitive to how politically charged many opportunities for advocating for life appear. Yet the words of others who have answered the call to join this peaceful social justice movement to uphold human dignity began to give me great hope. Kelly Lester, a client advocate at LoveLine Ministries, offered these thoughts to pro-life advocates in Minnesota: “you never know the impact that you are having,” including by prayer. People who pray outside Lester’s former employer, an abortion clinic, did not have close access to the clinic where Lester used to work, so few people participated, she said. But she still remembers a man and his children who did regularly pray near the clinic. Years ago, there were days her coworkers arrived at the abortion clinic to find their medical equipment not working, “and someone would say, ‘Is that man and his kids outside praying?’ Staff would look outside to where the family regularly prayed. You never know the cars that drive by and don’t turn in,” Lester said. She recalled that a former employee of Planned Parenthood, Abby Johnson, who later founded ProLove Ministries, said that staff at Planned Parenthood were told that when people prayed outside the abortion clinics, their “show-up rate” declined 75%. “You never know the effect you’re going to have,” Lester said. “I believe that when we get to heaven, we’re all going to be meeting people that are like, ‘You don’t know what impact you had’ and … we’re going to find out the rewards. So, keep up the battle.”
This October, which is Respect Life Month, you may notice several different opportunities to participate in. I invite you to consider joining me in prayer on Thursday October 24 from 5:00pm-6:00pm on the public right-of-way outside Planned Parenthood, which is the sidewalk across the large parking lot from Planned Parenthood (1212 7th Street NW, Rochester, MN). Please note that parking in the private lot just outside Planned Parenthood at Northgate lot is not allowed. Please park on the street or at the nearby public park (Cooke Park). I hope to see you there.
Julia Brown-Ferrero