See Life Clearly 2020 Inspires and Encourages
Tonight, preborn life took center stage as tens of thousands tuned in to watch Focus on the Family’s See Life Clearly 2020, a telecast featuring prominent pro-life activists, musicians and a 4D ultrasound of a baby.
After the success of Alive from New York, Focus on the Family planned another pro-life event that would occur in five cities across the country—but like so many other events this year, it was retooled due to concerns over COVID-19.
The online event covered issues related to life, from how to talk to women who have had an abortion or are pro-abortion to addressing abortion’s impact on the African American community. It was a powerful night, full of incredible speakers who shared both their personal connection to abortion, and its larger impact.
Co-hosted by Jeanne Mancini, head of the March for Life, and retired football star Benjamin Watson, here are some of the highlights:
One of the most powerful was Alveda King, who shared about how she got an abortion shortly after the procedure was legalized in Roe v. Wade. “Abortion became legal in 1973. I said to my granddaddy, ‘Granddaddy, I’m going down to Planned Parenthood and get an abortion, it doesn’t even hurt as bad as pulling a tooth.’ He’s said, ‘Girl, they’re lying to you.’ I said, ‘Well, they told me it was a blob of tissue.’ ‘No, that’s my great-grandchild.’”
“I began to be a different kind of person. Planned Parenthood convinced me that a baby was a blob of tissue, don’t talk to your pastor, don’t talk to your friends. You got a new friend, Planned Parenthood.”
“I wouldn’t talk to my granddaddy anymore, I wouldn’t talk to my mama, I would not talk to God, I was different I was struggling,” King said. “I was pro-choice. On the outside, I was smiling, and I was fine, but I was changing. So, I became entrenched, but I was suffering silently, and I was suffering inside. (I experienced) pain, emotional, psychological, physical and spiritual. My cervix was damaged, my body was damaged, and my natural biological processes were interrupted, and some of that I still live with today.”
Lila Rose is the founder of Live Action, a pro-life activist group. She said, “One of the greatest lies, is this idea of choice, that Planned Parenthood is offering choice. They don’t offer choice they offer abortion. There is one choice in their facilities. They don’t provide prenatal care, they don’t provide adoption, and they don’t provide parenting classes. You would think from their name, Planned Parenthood, that they’re preparing parents for parenthood. They’re not.”
Former Planned Parenthood employee and pro-life activist Abby Johnson shared about the realities of abortion, “Generally, the price of an abortion is determined on the skull size of the baby. We weren’t going to give her the opportunity to look at the ultrasound, and we needed her sedated for that because we couldn’t take the chance of her popping her head up and seeing what’s on that ultrasound image, because the ultrasound would expose the lie of the abortion industry.”
Conservative commentator Candace Owens shared about how she tries to approach the situation of abortion with as much compassion as possible.
“Even if you were a young woman who got an abortion because you were operating with a limited perspective, you can change your mind and become one of the loudest voices of the pro-life movement,” Owens said. “You could tell your story, and how you were transformed and how you got it wrong and what abortion did to you emotionally because I know so many women who were impacted negatively by abortion.”
In an incredibly emotional moment, Dr. Greg Smalley shared about how he and his girlfriend at the time made an abortion decision, how it destroyed their relationship and the remorse he still has.
“We hear, this is a woman’s body, her choice and it shouldn’t bother me as much as it bothers her. That could not be further from the truth. That is such a lie,” Dr. Smalley said. “The instant shame, the instant guilt, the instant depression, devastation, all of it was there and is still there. There honestly isn’t a day that goes by that I wish it could be different.”
There were many other powerful speakers and stories, including Mike Singletary, Melissa Odhen, Christina Bennett, Jim Daly, musicians and a 4D ultrasound.
Didn’t catch See Life Clearly? You can catch it here. Be prepared to be amazed, convicted and inspired to advocate on behalf of preborn babies, mothers and families.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Brittany Raymer serves as a policy analyst at Focus on the Family, researching and writing about abortion, assisted suicide, bioethics and a variety of other issues involving the sanctity of human life and broader social issues. She regularly contributes articles to The Daily Citizen and has written op-eds published in The Christian Post and The Washington Examiner. Previously, Raymer worked at Samaritan’s Purse in several roles involving research, social media and web content management. While there, she also contributed research for congressional testimonies and assisted with the Ebola crisis response. Raymer earned a bachelor of arts in history at Seattle Pacific University and completed a master’s degree in history at Liberty University in Virginia. She lives in Colorado Springs with her beloved Yorkie-Poo, Pippa.
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