Recently, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) issued a mandate that nearly all private business who offer health insurance to their employees will have to include coverage for sterilization and contraceptives, including those that cause early abortions.
As a Christian, there is no way I personally can approve of this by sitting back and doing nothing. Yesterday, I visited the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops website and wrote an email to the Department of Health and Human Services recommending that they do not enact this mandate. It violates my freedom of religion by forcing me to pay for a practice my church and I personally condemn.
Pro-choicers claim that it’s the woman’s right to do what she wants with her body. I totally agree with them on that. A woman can either choose to be abstinent if she doesn’t want to get pregnant, nearly unheard of in this era of sexual debauchery. However, once she’s pregnant, it’s not just her body. Every human being’s life begins at conception. Modern medical science has proven that a baby has 46 of its own unique chromosomes at conception. There is another human being growing and living, and its heart is beating.
As Dr. Suess says in Horton Hears a Who, “A person’s a person, no matter how small.”
I also can’t imagine the longterm effects an abortion has on the mother-physically, emotionally, and spiritually.
I am currently attending a weekly bible study on the book of Exodus. Click here to read a summary on the story of Exodus. A few weeks ago, we discussed that there are three times in human history when major infanticide* has occurred.
Jesus said, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these." Matthew 19:14
- In the book of Exodus, when Pharaoh orders the death of all male Hebrew babies.
- In the Gospel stories, when Herod orders the death of all males under the age of two shortly after the birth of Christ.
- Now.
It is an absolute horror that the practice of abortion is so accepted in our society.
We have been accepting the normalcy of abortion for far too long, nearly 40 years in the United States.
And now, if this law passes, we will be forced to spend our money on the murder of our children. We need to cherish the lives of our children, not destroy them.
So what can we do? Several things –
“Pregnancy is not a disease, and drugs and surgeries to prevent it are not basic health care that the government should require all Americans to purchase. Please remove sterilization and prescription contraceptives from the list of ‘preventive services’ the federal government is mandating in private health plans. It is especially important to exclude any drug that may cause an early abortion, and to fully respect religious freedom as other federal laws do. The narrow religious exemption in HHS’s new rule protects almost no one. I urge you to allow all organizations and individuals to offer, sponsor and obtain health coverage that does not violate their moral and religious convictions.”
We only have until September 30th (TOMORROW!) to write to HHS, so get a move on! Do it now, it only takes a minute or two.
2. Write to Congress supporting the Respect for Rights of Conscience Act (HR-1179).
3. Spread the word. Get everyone you know to bombard the HHS and Congress with emails opposing the preventive services mandate. As Christians, we are called to show love for others at all times. If someone disagrees with you, act graciously and show them love.
4. Attend pro-life events. The National Life Chain event will take place this Sunday, October 2, 2011, at 2:00PM CST. Locally, pro-life supporters will be standing at the corner of 48th and Broadway holding signs** and praying in silence from 2:30-3:30PM. LifeChain.net describes the Life Chain event like this:
LIFE CHAIN is a peaceful and prayerful public witness of pro-life individuals standing for 90 minutes praying for our nation and for an end to abortion. It is a visual statement of solidarity by the Christian community that abortion kills children and that the Church supports the sanctity of human life from the moment of conception until natural death.
5. Pray. Pray for an end to abortion. Pray for the children lost. Pray for all pregnant women. Pray for the parents and doctors of aborted children that their hearts will be changed. God still works miracles. He listens to our prayers. If you don’t do anything else, please just pray.
*Infanticide is defined as the practice in some societies of killing unwanted children soon after birth
**The approved Life Chain signs wills say
- ABORTION KILLS CHILDREN
- JESUS FORGIVES AND HEALS
- ADOPTION: THE LOVING OPTION
- LORD, FORGIVE US AND OUR NATION
- ABORTION HURTS WOMEN
- PRAY TO END ABORTION
- LIFE—THE FIRST INALIENABLE RIGHT
