43rd Annual Flathead March for Life

Republished with permission from Kristen’s Substack.

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Courage isn’t defined by age, race, social status, or anything else. I got my start in Pro-life advocacy when I was 14 years old in eighth grade social studies class. My teacher was an incredibly left-leaning individual, and thought that choosing the topic of abortion for our debate unit was a “safe” choice because we were mostly all farm kids from the middle of no-where. What she didn’t know is that I had been reading and studying pre-natal stages of development in my mother’s nursing textbooks since I was 6 years old. We had one class period of debate, where she very quickly realized what direction I was taking my argument, and then just as quickly decided to move on to the next unit the next day..

In 2019, I saw the movie Unplanned-the story of Dr. Abby Johnson-and after years of saying “one day” I’d get involved in pro-life work, realized that if I didn’t do something, “one day” would never actually come. So, I started in the only way I knew how–I started posting facts about abortion on social media, and soon thereafter started giving educational presentations in Canadian churches. After months of research and posting and educating, I realized the responses I got from the vast majority of Christians was the exact same, repeated: “I didn’t know”.

Yet, when I was contacting churches about giving my educational presentation–or even just having a table set up in the back of the church to foster conversations–only about 10% of the churches I contacted were willing to host me. The vast majority responded to me that they weren’t interested in pursuing hosting a presentation educating people about abortion and the laws surrounding it in Canada, or that abortion was a topic they simply didn’t talk about.

So, how does this translate to what is happening in the United States?

Those that know me, can attest to the fact that they are frequently subjected to hearing me say “well….statistically…” So, in keeping with that tradition, I’m going to share with you some statistics about the American Church and abortion from Pew Research.

• In 2019, only 4% of churches in the United States spoke about abortion in passing in an 8 week period
• 63% of Evangelicals believe abortion should be illegal in most circumstances
• 47% of Catholics are against Abortion (The Church’s stance as a whole is anti-abortion)
• 45% of those in the Orthodox Church believe Abortion should be illegal

According to an article from Focus on the Family, here are five quoted reasons given as why pastors and churches won’t talk about Abortion:

1. “My congregation will think I’m being political.”
2. “I do not want to be pegged as a crazy right-wing conservative.”
3. “I feel inadequate to address the issue of abortion.”
4. “I’m already overwhelmed, and I know if I preach on the issue of abortion, it will open the floodgates of hurt and bondage, and I won’t be able to handle the fallout of the sermon.”
5. “I am afraid I will alienate and drive away women who have had abortions.”

The root cause that leads to answers like this is a lack of education. We can be educated and speak on an issue, while still doing it in love. Hiding the truth out of fear, isn’t true agape love.

We are given a direct mandate in Proverbs 31:8 to speak up for the least of these: “Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves; ensure justice for those being crushed.”

The Cultural Research Center at Arizona Christian University conducted a study between August 26 to September 6, 2024, concluding that 32% of people who regularly attend church services said that they didn’t hear any kind of sermons or teaching about the Bible’s stand on specific issues. In addition, this study also concluded that 49% of people who identify as “people of faith” were unlikely to vote in the 2024 elections.

In the 2024 election, CI-128 passed, codifying abortion as a “right” into the Montana State Constitution. This happened as a direct result of people keeping silent. In the 2024 Election, only 76% of Eligible voters in Montana voted.

Christians involvement was in politics prior to and leading up to and during the passing of Row versus Wade in 1973. After researching several articles past and present, they all gave me the exact same answer. Christians were largely indifferent, uninformed, and uninvolved in political issues. This is how they got Roe through-the feminists banked on Christians being uninvolved, uninformed, and unwilling. And Christians lived up to their expectations. In fact, Christian Christians are still living up to those expectations.

They call the Right the “silent majority”. Imagine the impact and change that would occur if we became the vocal and loud majority? We would see the evils of abortion crumble incredibly quickly.

The theme of this year’s March for Life is “Abortion: Perceptions & Realities”. The unfortunate reality is that abortion is not only legal, but progressively advancing because good men and women have recurrently kept silent, leading to the slaughter of 63 millions of our pre-born neighbors.

Silence is not Neutral. Not saying something, is still saying something…

Each one of us-each and every single one of us-regardless of age, has the ability and Biblical duty to stand up and speak for the pre-born.

Let the words of William Wilberforce be our echoing battle cry as we go out from here:

“Let it not be said that I was silent when they needed me.”

Citations:

https://www.focusonthefamily.com/pro-life/five-fears-that-keep-pastors-from-preaching-about-abortion/

https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2020/04/29/few-u-s-sermons-mention-abortion-though-discussion-varies-by-religious-affiliation-and-congregation-size/#:~:text=Abortion%20remains%20a%20contentious%20issue,a%20period%20that%20included%20Easter.

https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2018/01/22/american-religious-groups-vary-widely-in-their-views-of-abortion/#:~:text=Members%20of%20the%20Episcopal%20Church,with%20its%20teachings%20on%20abortion.

https://www.arizonachristian.edu/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/CRC-Release-Pre-Election-1-Oct-12-2024-Final.pdf

https://electionresults.mt.gov/VoterTurnoutDetails.aspx

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