Last night, my husband and I went Christmas shopping for our boys and out to a movie, our first evening without Gunner and Bear in months. Which movie did we chose to see? Lincoln.
The movie picks up immediately after President Lincoln’s re-election in January 1865. Against the advice of his Cabinet members and advisors, President Lincoln decides that before the end of the Civil War, the House of Representatives must pass the 13th Amendment, permanently abolishing slavery once and for all.
The story details President Lincoln’s epic fight to get the Amendment passed in the House, building a coalition of Conservative and Radical Republicans and a few Democrats to obtain the two-thirds majority necessary for passage. It was a loose coalition, with the majority of those voting preferring to pass the Amendment at a different time or to go further than simply abolishing slavery. At every turn, diplomacy was needed.
It was an uphill battle, one that the majority thought to be impossible, but having a leader in President Lincoln made the impossible Amendment a reality.
During the entire movie, I couldn’t help but think of our fight to end abortion in our nation. Replacing the word “slavery” for “abortion” during the movie gave me chills.
Last week, the Washington Times asked me to write an op-ed about the future of the Republican Party and abortion. In the article, I asked where the William Wilberforce (the British politician who led the fight to end the slave trade and slavery in Great Britain) of our day was, the political leader who could lead our nation of our the darkness of abortion. And during last night’s movie, I couldn’t help but think what could be possible if only we had a President 100% determined to make abortion a thing of the past.
I truly believe this day is coming. I see it in the young people we inspire and train every day on the campuses.
And while the next four years will be a challenge for our movement and nation, I believe they will be a turning a point. A time when our movement will look back and note that things changed after the election of 2012. The fight to end abortion got more strategic, sophisticated, and intense than ever and mobilized millions.
And this Thanksgiving, while our team is busy finalizing our strategy for 2013 and beyond, I am thankful for so many things – not for material things but for the inmeasurables – my family who allows me to do this work and sacrifices time away from me as I travel this country, our movement of over 700 fearless pro-life student groups across the nation, our passionate, dedicated team at SFLA, and for you, our spiritual and financial supporters of this mission work.
You allow our work at Students for Life of America to be possible. You have walked alongside of us for these past 6 years as we attempted to do something never before done. And because of you, lives are being saved every day where abortions happen the most – on our nation’s college campuses – and we are ending abortion daily by reducing the “demand” for the horrific act by identifying, inspiring, and training young people to be Ambassadors for Life.
And if you ever want to see first-hand the progress we are making in training our nation’s pro-life generation, please come out and join us on a campus, at a regional conference, or at our national conference on January 26th. I would love to show you this generation’s abolitionists.
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I hope today is a wonderful day for you and your family – a time of thanksgiving and remembrance.
As you gather for prayer today, please include a prayer for those mothers who are, today, deciding whether or not to allow their child to live; for healing for those who have already chosen abortion; for those birthmothers who have selflessly placed their babies with adoptive families; for those students who stand bravely, no matter what the costs, for Life on campus; and for the current and future leaders of our nation – that we will inspire and support a leader in the mold of William Wilberforce of Abraham Lincoln to rise up and work with the millions of pro-lifers across this nation to finally end abortion in our lifetime.
