Time for a turnaround

As most of my readers know, I fall on the pro-life side of the abortion issue spectrum. The reason is relatively simple: if one is to believe that life is one of our inalienable rights, endowed by our Creator as spelled out in the Declaration of Independence, then the right to life trumps the desire of the mother and her so-called “right to privacy” in making a choice to abort a pregnancy.

I’m quite aware not all pregnancies are planned, and I’m also cognizant of the reality that some pregnancies result from rape or incest. Nor am I the type who would take away birth control drugs, since there is a need for some women to take them for medical purposes unrelated to preventing pregnancy. On the other hand, I believe Hobby Lobby has a legitimate case in wishing to withhold insurance funding for certain types of pharmaceuticals associated with abortions. That’s not the government’s business.

But nor is it the federal government’s business to prohibit abortions, so I would not support a Constitutional ban simply because, if anything, it should be a state-by-state decision.

So I’m not sure quite how I would fit in with those who will be attending a Labor of Love dinner next week to benefit the Eastern Shore Pregnancy Center, but I think they’ll take me as I am. Billed as “The Great Turnaround Event,” the featured speaker will be Susan Baldwin of the Women’s Resource Center of Mobile, Alabama. As ESPC Executive Director Jacquelyn Seldon puts it:

We are pleased to be partnering with The Great Turnaround, an organization dedicated to serving pregnancy centers around the country whose founder and president is Dr. Bruce Wilkinson (best-selling author of The Prayer of Jabez and Founder of Walk Thru the Bible). His organization is helping to raise $100,000,000 collectively for pregnancy centers in the United States. God’s presence and blessing has been evident at every fundraising event his organization has partnered with.

The ESPC also describes its mission:

Our mission is still to help the smallest among us by giving women and men counseling and encouragement to choose life.  We work to equip our clients with parenting skills and pre-marital counseling when appropriate.  Last year we met a long term goal by acquiring our own ultrasound machine.  We are now able to offer free ultrasounds to expectant mothers.  We know from experience that once a mom sees her infant in the womb, she is much less likely to choose to abort.

That last sentence is a key, which is why pro-abortion groups argue that ultrasounds are unnecessary. But Maryland is not one of the states which requires this. Another tactic which has tried and failed in Maryland is to require abortion clinics to fully match the standard of ambulatory surgical centers, most recently applied in Texas. The Huffington Post whines about that law here, as did one provider when the law was being discussed. But the idea is to try and prevent another Kermit Gosnell situation.

It’s a cause worth fighting for legislatively, but in the meantime we should support the worthy cause of the ESPC by attending this Labor of Love dinner. It will be held Thursday, October 16 at the Wicomico Youth and Civic Center, with doors opening at 6:30 p.m. There’s a long hill to climb in making Maryland more of a pro-life friendly state, so groups like the ESPC have an important role to play in promoting the family.