Dear Pro-Life Partners, February 15, 2022

I would like to talk about choice for a moment. Choice is actually a good thing, something to be
protected. But because it has been distorted, like so many things, it has taken on a negative
connotation for us. Tragically, the abortion-minded are raising the stakes and claiming that
abortion in many instances is no longer a choice, but a need, a must. For example, I heard
Whoopi Goldberg say, “I am pro-life. No one I know wants to have an abortion, but they have
no choice.” We are experiencing a paradigm shift from A choice to NO choice; from AN option
to the ONLY option…essential…life-saving. For the woman. But this is not literal. It really refers
to mom’s quality of life. How defeating, how limiting, and how false. There is always a choice.

Whoopi is also inaccurate in her claim that no one likes abortion. Abortion providers such a
Whole Woman’s Health have become so brazen as to post the following, “ ’Nobody likes
abortion.’ Wrong. We do. We’ve provided countless abortions to patients who went on to live
their best lives. Abortion is safe and gives people control of their futures. Abortion is good. We
like abortion” (LifeSiteNews, 1/29/22). The delusion and sense of entitlement in that statement
is staggering. But then again, personal responsibility is anathema to those pushing poisonous
political ideologies.

Speaking of which, “forced pregnancy” has become the new go-to phrase to claim an attack on
choice. A recent campaign ad from the ACLU tells viewers that “Banning abortions is forcing
pregnancy” (LifeNews, 1/31/22). This subtle lie creates a dangerous rationale shift. A pregnant
woman with no abortion access must remain pregnant, true, but this restriction did not cause
her pregnancy. It’s a basic biological fact that engaging in an activity designed to impregnate
may, in fact, result in pregnancy. Apart from rape victims, women have the choice to take risks,
use contraception, abstain, etc., abortion laws notwithstanding.
Meanwhile, Erika Forbes, a Texas pastor, believes she is doing God’s will by fighting to keep
abortion on demand legal. She believes that “God supports a woman’s right to choose. I’m
going to continue to fight this law (Texas heartbeat law) with every breath that I have”
(LifeNews, 10/20/21). Forbes’ two abortions as a teenager may shed some light on her
motivation. She states that she “benefited from the women and the people who have done the
work so that I could get the abortions that I needed to have the life that I wanted to have. Now
it’s my duty and responsibility to do whatever it takes, sacrifice whatever I must sacrifice, so
that others can have the same opportunities that I had.” It’s unfortunate that she doesn’t
channel her passion to empower women to choose life rather than limit them to a one-
dimensional existence.

If Whoopi had said, “they feel like they have no choice” I could agree with that. That is why it is
important for the pro-life population to be ready with the facts, with the truth, with aid, and
with love, to show confused, scared, angry, despondent moms that they are not alone and
there are alternatives for them and their child. Time is of the essence because every time
someone chooses abortion, it pounds another nail into the coffin of a culture of death from
which it may soon be too late to escape.

In Deuteronomy 30, God is wanting to renew His covenant with Israel. Meanwhile, they are
continuing to vacillate…choosing God, choosing idols; going God’s way, going their own way. So
He is giving them an ultimatum of sorts. “15 See, I set before you today life and prosperity, death
and destruction...19 This day I call the heavens and the earth as witnesses against you that I have
set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your
children may live.”

We have the luxury of choice in this nation every day. Unborn children do not. Tragically,
Choice, in America, has become an idol for which we have sacrificed almost 63 million innocent
lives. We who are alive and remain have the responsibility to choose for them and fight for
their constitutional right to life.

Partnering with You for Life,

Linda Verhulst, MRL-WR