19I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live;20that you may love the Lord your God, that you may obey His voice, and that you may cling to Him, for He is your life and the length of your days...
That's the template. It's been said that if we get the life issue right, then it affects so many of the other choices that we make. I believe that is so true - if we value other people as creations of God, valued by Him, I believe that will govern how we treat them. If we believe that God has ordained all life, including the lives of pre-born children, it will give us a motivation to stand with those defenseless children and to love their parents and show compassion toward them, too. The Lord is calling us to choose - to choose life - and to live in a manner that reflects that perspective. Life is sacred, life is precious - it is a gift of God - do we value life it has been brought forth by our Creator?
In Proverbs chapter 24, we see a clarion call to protect and preserve life for the defenseless. And, I believe that applies to pre-born children:
11 Deliver those who are being taken away to death,
And those who are staggering to slaughter, Oh hold them back.
12 If you say, “See, we did not know this,”
Does He not consider it who weighs the hearts?
And does He not know it who keeps your soul?
And will He not render to man according to his work?
Every child is a creation of God, and who are we as humans to determine which child lives or dies? To do so essentially is a feeble attempt to put us in the place of God. That's one of the reasons that abortion, I believe, is so offensive - it terminates the life of a precious child, yet to be born. It runs contrary to the principles of the Word of the God, who is the giver of life.
And, children who have been projected to be born with special needs are especially at risk. In a Breakpoint piece this week, John Stonestreet quoted Tucker Carlson, who said two decades ago that children with Down Syndrome are "targeted for elimination".
John outlined this week the story of Paisley, a child with Down Syndrome. Her father had initially been in favor of taking the life of this child, which 90 percent of parents who receive the same diagnosis do, but her mom disagreed - and dad had a change of heart.
Jennifer, the mom, held fast and gave birth to Paisley. After the child was born, Heath, the father, withdrew emotionally. Stonestreet says that when Jennifer gave birth to Paisley, she might as well have been a single mom.
But all of this changed a few months after Paisley’s birth. Something very simple, so “normal” and yet so beautiful and yet it changed Heath in an instant: Paisley smiled at her Dad. Suddenly, Heath understood that she was just as precious as any other child. And he wanted the world to know the same thing.
So Heath chose an unusual way to show how precious kids like Paisley are: He began competing in road races—ranging from 5 kilometers to marathons—while pushing Paisley in a stroller.
His goal, he said, was to show “how proud I am of her and that she's just like every other kid.” His message to parents of children with special needs is to love them like every other child, one day at a time, and to realize that “you’re going to get so much back.”
Recently, he and Paisley completed their 321st and last competitive mile together. The number was intentional: Down Syndrome is the result of three, instead of two, copies of chromosome 21. Thus 321 miles.
And, this week, an example was seen of compassion toward a pre-born child with special needs. ABC News reports that Rev. Thomas Vander Woude of Holy Trinity Catholic Church in Gainesville, VA found out about a need and the church posted an urgent plea Monday on its Facebook page.
It read:
"There is a couple in another state who have contacted an adoption agency looking for a family to adopt their Down Syndrome unborn baby. If a couple has not been found by today they plan to abort the baby. If you are interested in adopting this baby please contact Fr. VW IMMEDIATELY."Martha Drennan from the church office said, "I came in Monday morning and the phones were ringing off the hook. We got calls from Puerto Rico, Canada, the Netherlands. There were calls from all over the United States." She went on to say, "Our culture says some babies aren't wanted and that is not true. This proves there are hundreds of families...It was so fast and from all over. It's a beautiful use of social media that something like this could spread all over the US."
There are opportunities RIGHT NOW to adopt children with special needs. Recently, we focused on the availability of special needs children who are in the foster care system. For parents who are seeking to love a child and nurture him or her in a Christian home, this is a very unique opportunity - and God will provide the strength to meet and exceed the unique challenge.
Life is precious, and it is so gratifying to see couples step up and choose life. Those that have contacted the church in Virginia demonstrate the love of God and compassion of Christ by being willing to choose life. Paisley's mom, Jennifer, chose life, and Heath came around to see and now proclaim that message.
As believers in Christ, servants of the living God, who has given us life, we can look for opportunities to help perpetuate the culture of life and to glorify God by standing to protect the lives of pre-born children and to help their parents live abundant and meaningful lives.
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