Abraham Lincoln once famously said, “give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe.”
Lincoln knew that before he could accomplish a great task, like felling a tree, he must prepare and equip himself with the right tools for the job.
If the tree we have set out to chop down is the abortion industry, then our axe is education. As we strive to finally end abortion, we must ensure that all pro-life advocates are sharp and ready to take their respective chunk out of the tree.
This has been the driving philosophy of our new campaign “In Defense of Life” as we work to sharpen your ability to defeat pro-abortion arguments. Now that we have published an extensive catalog of refutations to the most common pro-abortion arguments, we have begun sharing them via short form videos on social media.
These videos have already begun to bear fruit. Today I want to highlight a conversation sparked in the comments of one of our videos.
A pro-abortion commenter, trying to defend bodily autonomy as justification for abortion, said:
“If we ban abortions and force people to carry pregnancies, because you know, those lives are at stake, we need to force organ, blood, and bone marrow donations because those on the donor list are also at stake. Why are embryos, zygotes, and fetuses more important?”
She continued, “If I’m not obligated to give my kids a kidney, I’m not obligated to use my uterus to keep them alive.”
Before we could get to the comment and reply, our followers on social media beat us to it. One user commented:
“You’re discovering the differences between ordinary and extraordinary care. To carry a healthy pregnancy to term is ordinary… whereas organ donation, transfusions, bone-marrow donation, etc. are extraordinary”
Upon reading this exchange I couldn’t help but smile, because this exact conversation was covered in our article refuting the pro-abortion argument from bodily autonomy!
In our article, which the pro-life commenter more than likely read, we highlight the difference between a parent’s obligation to provide the ordinary vs the extraordinary. For example, parents are not required to give their child a Ferrari, but they are required to give their child food.
I share this story with you as a piece of encouragement. We are sharpening the axe every day. With each new heart that is changed, we have one more person swinging a sharp axe at the tree.
In response to a comment thread on one of our other videos, an abortion supporter said: “hey I really appreciate your point of view and how well you said it.. I will think on it more.”
We are watching in real time as pro-life education cuts through the noise and lies, exposing abortion for what it truly is. In marketing, the famous rule of 7 says that before people take action, they must encounter your messaging at least 7 times. The same is true when it comes to pro-life advocacy. As we fight to change the culture, people who are on the fence will likely need to hear compelling pro-life education multiple times before changing their minds.
If we go back to our axe analogy, I don’t believe I have ever seen someone bring down a tree with just one swing. We must keep chopping. Every time we share pro-life education it is one more touch point, one more time that people are shown the truth. It may take time, but the truth will prevail and their hearts will be changed.
As pro-lifers, we have the blessing of standing at the intersection of biology, logic, and morality. To me, it is not a question of if we will end abortion, but when.
In Defense of Life,
Victor Nieves
President, Life Issues Institute
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