Life Chain 2008... and Election 2008

Last Sunday afternoon, my family and I had the privilege of standing on a busy street corner in the rain with about 25 other people for a little over an hour... probably the most important hour of this past week. We quietly, prayerfully held signs asking people driving by to consider an unborn baby's right to life. People all over the United States joined us on similar street corners as we participated in Life Chain 2008.

Unborn babies were created, given life, by God.

Roe v. Wade made it legal across our country for that life to be taken away.

There are many issues facing Americans as we vote for a new President this year... Iraq, the economy, healthcare, leadership, experience and vision. I am excited by Barack Obama's candidacy as it deals with many of those issues. HOWEVER, in my opinion, the one issue that trumps them all is abortion. When my son and I were discussing the presidential candidates and I expressed a leaning toward voting for Obama, he indicated that he too thought Obama would make a good President and would want to support him EXCEPT for the fact that the President appoints Supreme Court Justices. With those words, I knew that I would have no other choice than to vote for the presidential candidate who would seek to protect the life of all unborn children.

My son-in-law's cousin wrote a moving letter that I would like you to read:

Dear family and friends,

I woke up the other morning with this on my mind, so Rusty watched the girls and I went to the library for an hour to get it out of my head and onto paper. I'm passing on my thoughts to you.

I have been doing a study on the life of Moses and am struck by how God had a plan for him from birth. When the ruler of the land commanded all baby boys to be cast into the Nile , the midwives and Moses’ parents feared God, saw that he was an exceptional child, and spared his life. Years later he would go on to deliver a nation.

We have before us a most important election. One in which there are many issues and causes that push people onto one side or the other. Emotions run high. Many “firsts” are at stake. Yet, on the other hand, to hear them talk, it is at times hard to distinguish where they differ—both wanting to appeal to the other side.

There is one issue in my mind that rises above all others. And that is the issue of the sanctity of life. The two tickets could not be further apart on this particular issue. Senator Obama, while a state senator here in Illinois, was an outspoken opponent to legislation that would protect newborn babies from being killed or left to die if they were born after a failed abortion. NARAL even opposed such legislation as infanticide. He has voted against the ban on partial birth abortions in the US Senate as recently as Oct. 2007. To hear his campaign speak to this issue today they will skirt, hem and haw. But his record is clear.

So what? you may ask. Abortion and pro-life issues may not be your “cause”. Perhaps you are excited to be able to cast your vote to put the first African-American in the White House. I agree it would be very cool and a huge step to further racial reconciliation. Or perhaps you are most concerned about the stewardship of the earth. Or maybe it’s the violence and bloodshed involved in the War on Terror. Or maybe the economy makes you nervous (believe me, I’m nervous—my husband works for himself in the real-estate market). These are issues near and dear to my heart as well. But I can’t help but put them behind the cry of nearly 4000 (say that out loud) babies being killed in our country every day. 4000! That is nearly the same number of American deaths in the war since we began in March of 2003.* The total number of Iraqi civilian deaths since March 2003 is estimated to be between 89,000-96,000—that’s the number of babies killed in less than a month here, year after year.** We have allowed more than 40,000,000 babies to be killed by abortion. Today’s hot issues pale in comparison to the thought of the damage that will be done by putting activist justices on the Supreme Court (as Biden made it quite clear his ticket will do). It will be decades before there is another opportunity to get a fair hearing with the Supreme Court.

With McCain, there are no guarantees, but there is a chance he could appoint one or two new justices that would re-visit the poor conclusion of Roe v. Wade. It would not immediately stop abortion in America as the far left would have us think. Rather it would send the decisions back to the states. More importantly, it would raise the question in the minds of Americans, “Is it right or wrong to end the life of a baby in the womb?” When our law says it is ok, people stop questioning it for themselves, because, yes, all laws legislate morality, by definition, good or bad.

So what is at stake in this election? If your issue is racial reconciliation—what about the thousands of minority babies killed daily who will never vote, much less be fine presidents? If it is non-violence—what about the horrid bloody violence done to the most innocent and defenseless? If it is the economy—think of all the contributions all of those who have been aborted or will be aborted would bring to this nation: industry, jobs, new services needed, housing, etc.? What ever your issue is this election, does it compare to the atrocity of the massive number of killing happening under our noses?

Well, back to Moses. There is a common thought in our land that some lives would be better off unlived. I’ve had two babies in recent years, and thankfully, they are healthy. But I know what they test for, the questions they ask, and I know their recommendations should tests come back abnormal. Trig Palin, by our country’s set of morals, should not be here. Yet his parents feared God and welcomed him. Could it be that he was born “for such a time as this”? That he might grow up in the spotlight of our country, and therefore the world, to deliver us from such selfish and wrong thinking. Might we see, the once unthinkable, overturning of Roe v. Wade in our lifetime? Oh, for the day, that the womb would no longer be the most dangerous place in America .

*The statistics I am drawing from were found on antiwar.com stating there have been 4177 American deaths since March 2003-October 3, 2008.

**On iraqbodycount.org I found that they estimate between 89,000-96,000 Iraqi civilian deaths from Mar ’03-Oct’08. This is horrible, but again, the same number of babies die every 24 days here.