When we say we are pro-life, we are standing up for our beliefs. Notice we are standing, not sitting. Being pro-life is actually an action statement, and what each person chooses to do in terms of this action is completely up to the individual.
I often wonder if I am doing enough. I look at my busy schedule and wonder if there is more I could be doing to show my support of the the pro-life movement. It is frustrating to want to do more but finding myself unable to do so. The best thing I can do in these defeating moments of frustration is to find wisdom in others whose stories can both recharge and motivate me to press on.
A great example comes in the form of two people who stood up and took action in support of the pro-life movement – David and Barbara Green, co-founders of Hobby Lobby.
Rather than caving into the Affordable Care Act, mandating them to offer all forms of birth control and pregnancy prevention, they took a stand. The Greens took action and went to court to defend their pro-life beliefs. They stood up to effectively change the system.
In the now famous case of Burwell vs. Hobby Lobby (spanning from September 2012 to June 2014), the Greens and two other companies fought the government against a violation of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act.
Owners of a well-known Christian-run company, the Greens objected to insure four products: Plan B, Ella, and two types of IUD devices. Each prevents a woman from becoming pregnant after conception. In effect, the Greens were objecting to insuring abortions for women.
David Green explains, “Being Christians, we don’t pay for drugs that might cause abortions. Which means that we don’t cover emergency contraception, the morning-after pill or the week-after pill. We believe doing so might end a life after the moment of conception, something that is contrary to our most important beliefs.”
The case went all the way to the Supreme Court, and the Greens won.
The most inspiring part of this story is what they were willing to risk by standing up for their beliefs. They were willing to put it all on the line – even their company. They showed all of us that their values were more important to them than anything the world had to offer.
They could have sat back and done nothing or even simply opted to not offer insurance to their employees. Even after taking this to court, they could have backed down after getting defeated. However, they were determined to take action and to press on to enact change.
David Green’s new book Giving it All Away . . . and Getting it Back Again: The Way of Living Generously, hits shelves today (April 25th) and puts this into perspective. He writes about the day the Green family decided to fight in court for their beliefs on this issue.
“We should be ready to embrace whatever hardships come as the price of obeying God.”
“Everyone thought about these words. We knew we had come to a moment of destiny for our family. I think we all felt the same thing. Whatever might come, we wanted to do the will of God. I asked that everyone say whatever he or she had to say. There were some questions, but most who spoke expressed their fierce belief that we had to stand for life, that God had allowed us to be in this situation so we could take just such a stand. . . . Even if we lost, it could be a win for God’s glory if he used the loss to call people around the nation to prayer and action.”
I give the Greens as an example of inspiration and true action, but most of us are not business owners who can challenge the system in this sort of way.
We can, however, find encouragement in their actions and try to apply this to our lives – on our scale – by asking ourselves what sort of action we are taking to help promote the pro-life cause.
Are we sitting, standing still, or standing with full action? How are we giving? How are we loving? What are we willing to risk? Are we using our talents, time, and/or treasures to support our values?
David Green writes, “I hope that the decisions my family made will inspire others to lock down the core values that will define them and the next generation. That will make it possible for them to go through crises in peace, and, ultimately, in true prosperity.”
From this, I can glean that if we truly determine our beliefs and virtues and live to support these, we can live in the knowledge that what we are doing is worth the effort and sacrifice.
Therefore, if we become discouraged or overpowered by the pro-choice propaganda that permeates our culture, we should find comfort in the knowledge that what we stand for puts us on a firm foundation to act from a place of peace and love.
Green is content in knowing that “this crazy kind of heavenly peace requires that you, or in this case I, be willing to give everything up. No guarantees. No safety net. Getting it all back again is not part of the equation. Only the willingness to lay it all on the line. In this story, the all was my entire company.”
I don’t know about you, but when I think of people like the Greens, I feel inspired to make it an action when I declare, “I am pro-life.”
