Open Letter to Right-Wing Evangelical Christians

Dear Right-Wing Evangelical Christians,

You want to know how to stop abortion? [inlinetweet prefix=”” tweeter=”” suffix=””]De-funding Planned Parenthood might be the obvious choice, but it’s just a band-aid.[/inlinetweet] It’s not a real solution to one of our country’s biggest problem.
I agree with you the Planned Parenthood videos are the epitome of evil. The evil of seeing dead baby parts as commodities for “research” is just too much to bear.
I mourn with you, and for the babies. I also mourn for the women that have had abortions.

Running Numbers

Blacks comprise only 13% of the population of America, but account for 37% of all abortions. Black women are five times more likely to abort than white women. 69% of pregnancies among Blacks are unintended, while that number is 54% among Hispanics, and 40% among Whites.

Women with family incomes below the federal poverty level ($18,530 for a family of three) account for more than 40% of all abortions.

Poor black women are having abortions at the rate of 40 per 1000 women.
Poor Hispanic women are having abortions at the rate of 29 per 1000 women.
White women are having abortions at the rate of 12 per 1000 women.

Black women have unintended pregnancies at the rate of 91 per 1000.
Hispanic women have unintended pregnancies at the rate of 82 per 1000.
White women have unintended pregnancies at the rate of 36 per 1000.

These numbers tell my story.

Driving Across the Tracks
One only needs to go into the inner city, and you will find thousands of black and Hispanic impoverished women. But hey….I know it’s just easier to stay in the nice side of town.

I guess it’s just easier to take their unwanted babies, instead of delving into their messy lives in hopes of loving them, and possibly teaching them to change a long history of cyclic family dysfunction.

I get that reaching out to women coming from broken impoverished families is just too difficult. Getting out of comfort zones to drive across the tracks is scary. To top it off, they probably don’t even want you in their lives. They will probably reject you.

Loving the unlovable is a messy business.
I get that.
I think Jesus knows a bit about that too.

But I plead with you, if you are serious about ending abortion, get to the root of the problem: the women.

Close to Home
I may not have had an abortion, but the statistics above are my own. I had 3 unwanted pregnancies before the age of 30. I lived significantly below the poverty line during all 3 pregnancies.

I was a neglectful mother during those years in my 20’s. I didn’t know how to be a mother, in the least bit.

On top of my horrible parenting skills, I grew up with 5 siblings and a single parent mom that lived off government assistance for my entire childhood and teenage years. Living off the government was all we knew. It kept us alive. And in our circle of friends, it was the norm.

With no baby daddy in sight, I attempted to keep myself in college, but often dropped out because it was too hard raising kids on one income. In spite of wanting an education and a career to get myself off government assistance, I kept my babies alive and did the best that I could.

Heart of the Matter
[inlinetweet prefix=”” tweeter=”” suffix=””]It was not until God saved me at 33, and changed my heart I began having a desire to be a good mother.[/inlinetweet] The Holy Spirit immediately began working on deep-rooted issues and destructive patterns of thought and behavior.

I am also thankful for the Christian women God brought into my life to show me what a Biblical woman and mother looked like. It was hard and messy. But prior to getting saved, during that tumultuous period in my life, the sad reality is, I did not know any real Christians existed, until I became one.

I reflect on what could have helped me see a different way of living when I was attempting to raise 3 children I never asked for. [inlinetweet prefix=”” tweeter=”” suffix=””]I can only imagine what it could have been like had you driven across the proverbial tracks to reach out to me[/inlinetweet] or the many black and Hispanic friends I knew living below the poverty line, had abortions, or had kids they didn’t want or know how to raise.

We might have been leery of your intentions, at first.
We might have even rejected you.

But [inlinetweet prefix=”” tweeter=”” suffix=””]if you were persistent, and sincerely showed Christ’s love, maybe we would have allowed you into our broken and dysfunctional lives. [/inlinetweet]

I guess it was just easier to picket abortion clinics, adopt our babies, and demonize the entire system that you chose to stay away from.

The good news is it’s never too late to change.
[inlinetweet prefix=”” tweeter=”” suffix=””]If you want to get to the root of the abortion problem, get to the women having abortions.[/inlinetweet]

It’s gonna get messy and hard. I plead with you: pray earnestly, get creative, and start somewhere.

For any woman who finds themselves needing help, or know someone in need, please click here.

Author’s Note: From this post, please don’t think I am against adopting babies from impoverished women. I am not under any illusion all women will change if you pour your life into theirs.
What women need most is to hear the gospel of Christ, who alone has the power to call whomever he wants to himself.
Loving unlovable people is hard work but worth it, if you allow yourself to be an instrument to help a woman see the worth of her baby, encourage her to keep her baby alive, show her how to be a mother and then see the baby thrive under the care of her own mother.
If the Great Shepherd calls her, and she becomes one of his sheep, then you get to call her sister.