A New Generation Gap (Pro-abortion parents are discovering they have pro-life kids)

townhall ^ | April 9, 2003 | Chuck Colson

[1stFreedom]

I know quite a few people who are pro-abortion.

My sister-in-law wrote a pro-life essay as a senior in High School. She was brought up Catholic and so forth.

Her friend got pregnant while in college and had an abortion. My sis-in-law already knew the facts of life. Because of her experience with her friend, it changed her values. This happens time and time again.

The opposite happens also, but only with help from pro-lifers working on campus. In my years of placing newspaper inserts into campus newspapers, dorm literature drops, showing of videos, and public displays, I saw people's hearts changed -- and others hardened.

It is true the facts do break through the abortion distortion. But many young women who have abortions know the facts. They simply rationalize it away and have their baby's killed.

IMO, pro-life and abstinence education have really helped in turning peoples minds around.

However, I really give credit to the recent reduction in abortions and pro-life sentiment to the drop in demand for abortion.

This drop in demand comes from the fact that many people are avoiding risky sexual behavior. Abstinence, "alternative sex" (oral sex,etc) , and prophylactic usage were/are on the rise.

Like it or not, increased prophylactic usage has led to a reduction in pregnancies and HIV transmission.

IMO, People have reduced "unintended" pregnancies out of self preservation. That's extremly sad. All the years of protesting, sitting in, carrying posters of dead babies, and sidewalk counseling didn't have a dent in saving babies compared to the realization that one could die from catching AIDS.

It's so sad because people didn't abstain or avoid pregnancy out of concern for the life of an unborn baby. They stopped getting pregnant because they wanted to avoid catching HIV and dying of AIDS.

The college campus has seen a reduction in the demand for abortion for the same reasons. But it is still the college campus, where KIDS are unsupervised, that hearts are turned from pro-life values. Kids are alone for the first time, and their only real guidance in emergencies are their peers.

Experience with an "unplanned" pregnancy in college has a tremendous erosive effect on peoples values. One can't reason with someone about abortion who has been affected by it. It's one of the reasons why the pro-abortion groups stress experience and relationships. Facts don't overcome friendships. Friends gloss over abortions and instead of ending a friendship they reduce their values so as to continue the friendship.

My sister in law is pro-abortion because her friend had an abortion in college. Since her friendship is so valueable, the only way she maintained that friendship is to accept what her friend did.

Kids have to be taught that friends don't drive friends to abortion clinics. I've seen tons of people, with WWJD strings or rosaries hanging from the rear view mirror, drop friends off for abortions. Friends don't tolerate friends killing babies. Friends don't drop their friends baby off to be butchered. Friends don't change their values because of the behavior of others. Yet we aren't teaching these values to our kids.

IMO, the battle has been and still remains the college campus.