Commentary

Pro-Life advocate Norma McCorvey passed away in Texas this past week, after spending almost two decades defending preborn children. She was 69.

McCorvey’s life is a prime example of God’s love and mercy. She was brought into a relationship with Christ after spending about half of her adulthood advocating for abortion rights.  In fact, Norma is the woman around whom the Supreme Court concocted its infamous “Roe v. Wade” edict in 1973.

Norma revealed to the world in the 1980s that she was “Jane Roe” and that the factual basis for the lawsuit out of Texas was, in fact, not factual at all. Though she was still “pro-choice” at the time – Norma told the public that she lied about being raped, which was a key ingredient in a public relations campaign to seduce people into accepting the crime of abortion as the new normal in America.

McCorvey even went to work for Planned Parenthood for a time.

But in 1995, the Lord rescued her and she became a Christian.

By 1998, she was prepared to proclaim that she had become pro-Life:

“I am 100 percent pro-Life. I don’t believe in abortion even in an extreme situation.  If the woman is impregnated by a rapist, it’s still a child. You’re not to act as your own God.”

We were honored to have Norma McCorvey as our guest speaker at the annual Christmas Dinner in December of 2010.

I don’t believe Norma ever underwent an abortion, but the horror of abortion largely defined her life. She became the poster child for abortion rights at just 22, and spent her remaining time here struggling with the moral and emotional consequences of being sucked up into that evil vortex.  It was clear from our time together that she still carried wounds and many scars.  There was a sadness about her, as well as a powerful strength.

It is good that she has now received her complete healing and is at peace with the Lord who always loved her.

We have previously expressed concern about Congress fulfilling its commitment to defund Planned Parenthood. The much anticipated vote on a Reconciliation bill to both defund the Abortion Giant and Repeal ObamaCare seems to be on hold. Rather than cap the pipeline of federal funding, the Congress appears to be shifting responsibility back to the states for action.

This last week, Rep. Diane Black (R-TN) introduced a measure to repeal rules Obama punched through at the end of his presidency to protect Planned Parenthood’s tax subsidies. The House Rules Committee will meet next week to consider HJRes 43, which would restore the ability of states receiving Title X monies to direct those funds away from Planned Parenthood.

While this is a positive trend, it suggests that Congress is far from ready to strip monies from the abortion provider. It seems odd, for example, to go after an underlying rule – which will take weeks to successfully repeal – rather than the whole program.

It also suggests that Congressional leaders may be trying to shift the battle with Planned Parenthood from Washington, D.C. to the various states.

Hopefully, we are misreading the dynamic at work.

The simple fact is, Congress has created the behemoth which is Planned Parenthood through its decades-long steady subsidy of millions in tax dollars. Particularly in light of the corrupted federal court system now oppressing America – containing Planned Parenthood’s toxic effect on American culture will require genuine, courageous leadership from the U.S. Congress.

Let us pray they find the will to act.

We are about to witness another temper tantrum of Planned Parenthood & Co. as they gather to protest the election of Donald Trump. Their hope is to convince Americans that he is anti-woman, a campaign they failed to win over the past year or so.

The “Women’s March on Washington” is designed to offer succor to the Left as Mr. Trump takes the Oath of Office. Similar events are planned in several cities – including Boise.

Organizers of the March have been working since the election to build a big turnout by describing it as “inclusive” of all women, representing a broad spectrum of women’s concern. But yesterday, those same organizers announced that pro-Life women would not be welcome at the event.

They want everyone to know that they are marching for Planned Parenthood and abortion rights.

Of course, pro-Life women are not the only ones being shunned. Those daughters in the womb who won’t survive 2017 are not welcome either.

The new Republican Congress has begun work to make good on a critical pro-Life agenda item: Ending the coerced partnership between taxpayers and Planned Parenthood. It is our understanding that language is included in the current “reconciliation” bill which will end Planned Parenthood’s outrageous access to the U.S. Treasury.  This is the same bill which will obliterate ObamaCare.

The defunding language cannot get to President Trump’s desk too quickly.

Approximately 40% of the abortion giant’s funding comes from taxpayers – now something like $550 million each year. It is that massive subsidy which has allowed Planned Parenthood to have such a devastating effect on the nation’s culture and the lives of millions of vulnerable women and girls.

Already the organization is brandishing sabers in the media, trying to persuade Americans that Republicans are waging a “war on women”. PP President Cecile Richards, still recovering from the loss of her White House desk next to Hillary Clinton, recently appeared on the Comedy Central channel.  She argued that the end of public funding for Planned Parenthood is really “an end of access to care for a lot of folks in this country”.  Pure balderdash.

The truth is, Republicans are likely to increase funding for women’s health care – but they are going to insist that public dollars are spent with legitimate health care providers. You know, the kind of professionals who put the patient – not their abortion ideology – first.

Short of overturning Roe v. Wade itself – the current defunding effort in Congress is the greatest single blow we can strike for Life. It will result in the saving of hundreds of thousands of preborn children.  You can be sure that the enemy is well aware of the stakes, and will wage both political and spiritual warfare, at levels rarely seen, to protect the revenue stream of Planned Parenthood’s death machine.

Pro-Lifers must be in earnest prayer for the success of this effort.

The magic of Christmas is all around us. And the core of that wonder is not great, sentimental Christmas movies, presents or even lights.  The center of that enduring magic is the baby Jesus.  And that makes Christmas the ultimate pro-Life celebration.

There is the obvious point to be made: Jesus as a newborn makes the connection to the pro-Life movement clear enough. But there is a greater depth to that fact.  The God of the Universe humbled himself to become a human baby, vulnerable and dependent in every respect.  He joined himself in a miraculous way to humanity, to the human condition.  He experienced that helpless, dependent condition – trusting himself to the care of a new mother and father in a dangerous world.  Jesus, the Son of God, became every baby; he became “every man”.  That is, no doubt, why he continually referred to himself during the years of his public ministry as “the Son of Man”.

Jesus made his identification with babies, children, a core part of his teaching. He made clear that our care for the innocent, vulnerable child was essentially a testament of our respect and care for Him.

This helps explain why the Lord takes the scourge of abortion so very seriously.

But there are other elements of the Christmas Story which can inspire us and teach us.

We have a mother who bravely overcomes her fear to embrace the gift of life. Mary accepts the problems of an unplanned pregnancy in a self-sacrificing way, becoming the very model of motherhood for all women.

We see a man who struggles with the sudden responsibility of caring for a wife and child, leaving behind his own notions of how his life would unfold. Joseph humbled himself to trust God and accept the blessings that an unplanned baby would bring.

And from those decisions and events, we see the power of God’s blessing spread from a humble manger to encompass all of humanity, through all the epochs of history.

The magic of the Christmas Story calls us to reaffirm God’s great gift of Life, and to defend that blessing with vigor, conviction and courage.

We pray that the power and warmth of God’s goodness fills your home this Christmas Season.

Following their devastating defeat earlier this month, the Democrat Party is searching for leadership going forward. It appears there are three top candidates: A radical Muslim congressman from Minnesota (Keith Ellison) , a former chairman (Howard Dean) and the president of the National Abortion Rights Action League (Ilyse Hogue).  This is the professional association of abortionists.

What a cast.

The most honest choice would be the abortion champion. As we saw in the presidential election, the new Democrat Party has become a subsidiary of Planned Parenthood and the Abortion Lobby.  Ignore the middle class, scorn blue collar families, and deride traditional values: This is the philosophy driving the modern Democrat Party.  All in the name of a hyper-sexualized politics built around their “sacred rite” of abortion.

It would be quite fitting for the head of the country’s abortionist network to become the official head of the new Democrat Party. It would save her a lot of texts and cab rides across town.