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January is Sanctity of Human Life month. This is a time of year to bring attention to the more than 58 million unborn children who have lost their lives in the United States since 1973. To shine a light on our nation’s disregard for human life is difficult and disheartening, but necessary. For the Christian, the sanctity of human life cannot be ignored—and yet the response of many on this issue is a rousing silence.
Why do so many shrink back from speaking out on this issue? I’ll offer three reasons you might be silent about abortion:
1. You are silent because you think abortion is a minor issue.
We’ve convinced ourselves that abortion is an issue, but not a big enough issue to affect the way we vote or serve or speak up. The world is burning with plenty of other “more pressing” issues—why get all wound up about something that is widely accepted as a woman’s right to healthcare, not to mention legal throughout virtually all stages of pregnancy in many states?
Allow me to submit to you this truth—there is nothing “minor” or “small” about the more than 58 million unborn boys and girls that have been aborted in the United States since 1973. There is nothing minor about a practice that has more casualties worldwide than every war in the history of humanity combined.
Where we see a disregard for the most basic right to life, we see a breakdown of even the most basic of morals. If unborn children can be sacrificed to the idols of convenience and circumstance, then what’s to keep us from disregarding any other laws of morality?
If human life doesn’t matter, then what does matter? If abortion is not wrong, then what is wrong? Everything becomes relative, and right and wrong become a matter of opinion.
Abortion is not a minor issue. It is the issue because it’s a human value issue.
2. You are silent because you think abortion is not your fight.
You don’t agree with abortion. You believe it is wrong. You vote pro-life and you nod emphatically if your pastor addresses the topic in church. But beyond that, well…life is busy. You’ve got a lot going on, and there’s just no time to enter into this timeless debate. And, quite frankly, there are probably plenty of others who are better at engaging this abortion issue, anyway.
“I’m not called to that,” you may have said, or “I’m not gifted in that area,” or the more common, “I’m just not very knowledgeable about all that.” And why should you be?
It’s just not your fight.
I hope it goes without saying that this attitude—this “bystander apathy”—is destructive. Claiming “that’s not my problem” has indirectly prolonged far too many injustices throughout history, including slavery and racism in our own nation. It’s an empty justification, but often makes us feel better for closing our ears to the silent screams of the oppressed, including the unborn.
3. You are silent because abortion makes you uncomfortable.
If you want to suck the air out of a room full of people, just bring up abortion. There’s no quicker way to make everyone feel awkward and uncomfortable, and rightly so. What could be “comfortable” about the dismemberment of unborn children inside the womb? We all know that something is not natural—not right—about this practice. Injustice naturally makes all of us squirm, no matter how much we try to suppress it.
Or maybe your discomfort arises from something much more personal, much closer to you. Maybe someone you know and love has experienced an abortion. Maybe you yourself have had one. Maybe you choose silence because facing the grisly truth is just too painful and heartbreaking.
My hope is that discomfort would not keep you from seeking out healing and restoration, or from extending acceptance and compassion toward others. Pretending that abortion doesn’t exist or isn’t painful doesn’t make it so. If anything, it only serves to further isolate those affected by it.
Silence is Never Really Silent
The funny thing about being human is that the reasons we do or do not do something are rarely so easily compartmentalized. If silent on this issue, your motivation may not be one of the above three reasons, but rather a cross-section of all three—or even something different entirely.
As we approach another Sanctity of Human Life Day, I challenge you—and myself—to evaluate the heart behind the silence. If you are not sure where you stand on this issue, then find out. You have the right to be fully informed, so don’t be afraid to do the research.
When we choose to be silent on an issue such as abortion, we are not really being silent at all. Rather, we are choosing to drown out the silent screams of the unborn with our busy schedules, responsibilities, and endless list of excuses.
No, silence is never really silent. In fact, sometimes our silence—our refusal to speak up, stand up, or show up—is more deafening than we could ever know.
Speak Up
There are several practical ways to speak up for the voiceless and to advocate for the women and men making these difficult decisions every day.
If you’d like to explore what that might look like for you, please consider attending our next Open House on Monday, January 15. This is a perfect opportunity to learn about the Care Center and to discover what role you can play in fueling our mission to empower women and men to face their unplanned pregnancy without fear. Partner with us as we work together to make abortion unnecessary in the lives of our clients.
Mary Holloman is the Communications Assistant at GPCC. She has a ruggedly handsome husband, two ridiculously cute kiddos, and an unfortunate weakness for Diet Mountain Dew. You can read more from her at her blog, AllMySpringsBlog.com.
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