Missourians will soon go to the polls and determine if the state will remain steadfastly prolife or enact one of the most radical pro-abortion constitutional amendments in the nation.
“Missouri has been one of the great strongholds against abortion,” said Brandy Meeks, president of the Vitae Foundation. “In fact, after Roe v. Wade was overturned, Missouri was the first state to declare itself to be an abortion-free state. Then the abortion industry did something that makes Roe v. Wade look like child’s play. The people of Missouri now are being asked to enshrine abortion as a constitutional right. If it should pass, abortions will be available through all nine months of pregnancy, for anyone and for any reason.”
Meeks shared the harsh realities of the proposed Amendment 3 at the foundation’s annual Kansas City prolife dinner on October 22.
“A lot of people say, `Brandy, that sounds extreme,’” she said. “Well, it is. Additionally, it will destroy parental rights. In fact, as it stands right now, if this passes, Missouri will be more extreme on the abortion issue than Colorado, which still has parental notification as part of their law. In Missouri, if Amendment 3 passes, you no longer will have parental consent or parental notification for abortion. I’m not for that. I don’t need George Soros to hijack our state Constitution.”
Benjamin Watson, a former professional football player for the New England Patriots and several other teams, challenged guests to fight for those who are not able to fight for themselves.
READ: Ben Watson on being pro-life
“The image of God rests upon every man and woman, boy and girl, from the time of conception until natural death,” he said. “God looked at human beings and said, `I am going to make you in my image, and I’m going to breathe my life into you.’ Because of that, you are different from everyone else. It doesn’t matter who you are. God has placed value on human beings.”
Watson currently is a college football studio analyst with the SEC Network and serves as vice president of strategic relationships for the Human Coalition, one of the largest prolife and pro-women’s organizations in the country. Along with his wife, Kirsten, he is the founder of The Watson Seven Foundation, a nonprofit focused on strengthening families. They live in Georgia with their seven children.
Watson recounted a visit to the Lincoln Memorial with two of his daughters, where they saw a plaque commemorating Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s famous “I Have a Dream Speech.” That speech includes a line that resonates for the prolife movement.
“Dr. King spoke of `the fierce urgency of now,’” Watson said. “I propose to you tonight that there is still a fierce urgency of now on this issue. I have three simple questions. Where is your head? Where is your heart? Where are your hands?”
Where is your head? “Sometimes, we think things that simply are not true,” he said. “How well do you understand the current landscape? Overturning Roe v. Wade didn’t stop abortion. In fact, abortions have increased. A million abortions likely occurred in 2022, and probably more than that. In a number of states, the number of abortions has increased more than 60 percent. We are on record pace.”
Where is your heart? “There is a belief that prolife people only care about babies, not the women, fathers or families,” Watson said. “We know that’s not true, but the underlying question is, how do we love them all? Is this just a political issue to you or do see the hand of God on both mother and child? Do you have a heart of compassion? Our hearts must be filled with compassion for those who are suffering.”
Where are your hands? “Seventy-six percent of the women we engage with who are considering abortion say they would prefer parenting their child if circumstances were different,” he said. “What role can you play in meeting their needs? The ideas that God has given you on this issue may come to fruition in another place and another time, but they will be impactful.
“Remember, there is a fierce urgency of now.”
The Vitae Foundation is an American 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization associated with the prolife cause. Its focus is on engaging in advertising research and developing more effective messaging, and communicating the results of this research to other prolife organizations (such as crisis pregnancy centers) and persons such as doctors and pastors who are or may be involved with pregnant women, to provide them with more effective ways to persuade undecided women to forgo abortion.
For more information, visit www.vitaefoundation.org.
–Alan Goforth | Metro Voice
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