Five. That’s the number of abortion facilities there will be in Oklahoma by the end of 2017, according to reports. In 2016, there were two abortion facilities/businesses.
Meanwhile, the number of abortion facilities/businesses across the country actually are on the decline.
So Oklahoma is seeing a sudden rise in the supply of surgical and chemical abortions in the state, even while there are abortion facility closures happening in other parts of America. To add to this troubling news, chemical abortions are becoming much more widely available. This means the average abortion in the future may happen at home, after a trip to the pharmacy, unreported and unseen.
Over and against this challenging and troubling news in Oklahoma, there is some really good news. The number of faith-based pregnancy resource centers (PRC) in America is growing. In Oklahoma, we now have 39 centers, which includes our very own effective Hope Pregnancy Centers. Moreover, through technologies including ultrasound, polls suggest that more people understand that the unborn truly is a child, from the moment of conception.
In many ways, it is the best of times and worst of times, for the pro-life movement. Knowing this, what can Christians do? I can think of five things.
1) Participate in Sanctity of Human Life Sunday. “President Ronald Reagan issued a presidential proclamation on January 16, 1984, designating Sunday, Jan. 22, 1984 as National Sanctity of Human Life Day. Sanctity of Human Life Sunday is nationally recognized on the third Sunday every January.”
Set for Jan. 21, 2018, churches across Oklahoma are encouraged to emphasize the value of human life that day. Get resources and find out how you can take part in this Sunday emphasis at www.bgco.org/shls.
2) Support your local Pregnancy Resource Center. The call to protect human life rests with the local church and Christian believers. One way we answer that call is to support our local PRCs, which offer help and hope to people in a crisis pregnancy. Go to pregnancynet.org to find the center closest to you. Look for ways to support these centers with your prayer, time and treasure.
3) Pray for an end to abortion. Since abortion was legalized, millions of unborn children have lost their lives to abortion. Oklahoma alone sees thousands of abortions each year. Pray daily that God would end abortion, and pray specifically that people would choose life until legalized abortion can be ended.
4) Make your views known at the Capitol. At the Oklahoma State Capitol on the first Wednesday each February, join other pro-life Oklahomans at the annual Rose Day Pro-Life Indoor Rally. The 2018 Rose Day is set for Feb. 7. Find out how you and your church can take part at www.bgco.org/roseday.
5) Promote foster care and adoption. Christians are pro-life before and after birth. One way we show this is through involvement in foster care and adoption. Oklahoma Baptist Homes for Children’s One Such Child foster care program can help you or your church make an impact for life through foster care. Find out more at www.obhc.org/services/foster-care.
Christian author John Ensor said, “The only women among us who have lived through their childbearing years without abortion being both legal and easily accessible across the nation, are 85 years old, or more. For everyone younger, the right to abortion is all they know… By now, every family in America has been directly affected by abortion.”
If we are not careful, Christians will allow abortion to have a permanent home in our culture, and we will lose many more treasured children. Don’t grow weary in the task to protect life. Ask God to give you a refreshed spirit.
As Russell Moore said, “It’s time for the reborn to stand for the unborn.”
