Someone recently asked me if I get tired of talking about Life. My answer is yes, I do get tired of having to discuss Life. I wish it wasn’t necessary and that everyone understood how precious and deserving each life is, born or unborn. This woman was surprised that I continue to engage in a discussion that she believes is hopeless. A discussion where no one is paying attention and every one’s mind is made up. There is no point, she told me, you should give up.
There was a time in my life when I would have agreed with her, as I’m sure many of you do now. You think that, realistically, minds and hearts will not change, that society will continue to become more and more permissible of the immorality and evils that exist. It is tempting to believe we can’t make a difference on monumental issues. My belief is that with continued prayer, discussion and education more and more people will begin to honor Life as God intended. It will be slow and hard fought, with ups and downs, but worth every moment.
With this recent discussion in mind, I am encouraged upon reading this Pew Poll from April 30, 2009, on societal views on abortion. The poll revealed the public’s support of legal abortion is at its lowest levels in 15 years! It is working, the tide is turning.
“Between August and late October 2008, the proportion supporting legal abortion ranged from 57% (in mid-October) to 53% (in late-October), before declining to 46% currently. Though opinion among some subgroups varied significantly across those surveys, some trends are apparent, aside from the falloff in support among men.
There has been notable decline in the proportion of independents saying abortion should be legal in most or all cases; majorities of independents favored legal abortion in August and the two October surveys, but just 44% do so today. In addition, the proportion of moderate and liberal Republicans saying abortion should be legal declined between August and late October (from 67% to 57%). In the current survey, just 43% of moderate and liberal Republicans say abortion should be legal in most or all cases.Among religious groups, support for abortion has steadily declined since August among white mainline Protestants (from 69% then to 54% currently). And just 23% of white evangelical Protestants now favor legal abortion, down from 33% in August and mid-October and 28% in late October. “
Many analysts on the internet disagree on what exactly the trends in this poll mean for the future, but I believe the results reflect the many voices reaching out in prayer, discussion and education. You will never find these results in the main stream media. They want us to believe we are in the minority and Life is a hopeless cause, when in actuality, this poll shows us not to give up. With God, anything is possible.
Do we get tired of having to discuss Life? Yes. But we will never tire of spreading the beautiful message and inspiration of Life.
***Update***
Today, May 15, 2009, Gallup released a new poll that further supports the trending towards a pro-life majority. The headlines read, “More Americans Pro-Life than Pro-Choice for the First Time,” as the results find 51% of Americans call themselves Pro-Life and only 42% label themselves Pro-Choice! Take a moment to read over this poll analysis. It is stunning and reaffirms that the recent Pew Poll was not a fluke. Our prayers are working.
