Featured Resources - Deformity and Abortion

Featured Resource for Equipping Yourself:

Click on the image above (from JFA's Original Exhibit Brochure) to link to all resources listed in this blog post.

In “We Don’t Deserve This” (JFA’s Jan. 2018 Impact Report), Susanna shared a story of a conversation about spina bifida.  See these resources to prepare for conversations about deformity and abortion:

• JFA’s Original Exhibit Brochure (Page 4, pictured right) refers to Samuel Armas, a boy with spina bifida who received a surgery in utero. Review the story and download the image.
• Read dialogue tips. (Pages 160-162 of JFA’s Interactive Guide)
• How many babies diagnosed in utero with spina bifida and Down syndrome are aborted? Two articles discuss this.

Conversation Starter - “Eliminating Disabilities or the People Who Have Them?”

Click on the image above to read “Eliminating Disabilities or the People Who Have Them?”

Featured Conversation Starter:

Share Joanna Bai’s recent post, “Eliminating Disabilities or the People Who Have Them?” to start a conversation in a natural way about unborn children diagnosed with disabilities in the womb. The post features a video news story on Iceland’s treatment of unborn children with Down syndrome, gives links to helpful commentary, and asks a question to start the conversation.

Resources for Your Local Church

Sanctity of Life Sunday - 2018

(Scroll down for full resource list)

When Kim told her friend Amanda that she was pregnant and planning to get an abortion, Amanda didn’t know what to do – except pray.  The very next day, when Amanda saw Justice For All volunteers holding an outreach on her campus, she wondered if it might be the answer to her prayers.  So when one of her classes that day was canceled, she spent most of that class hour receiving a crash-course in learning how to talk about abortion from Catherine Wurts (JFA Trainer from 2009-2017).  Then she again prayed. 

Later that same afternoon Amanda shared the JFA Exhibit Brochure (which contains photos of unborn children before and after abortion) with her friend Kim.  After talking with Amanda and seeing abortion in the JFA Exhibit Brochure, Kim said,  

“I realized that getting an abortion would be worse for my baby than the bad situation I’m in with my boyfriend.”  

(Click here to read the full story, and see Kim’s baby, “Lucy.”)

So many people like Kim are all around us.  As Christ-followers, how can we be the hands and feet of Christ to our vulnerable neighbors, those facing unwanted pregnancy (or who will face this in their future) and those in danger in the womb?

Justice For All is committed to coming alongside churches in their discipleship work, specifically preparing Christians to respond to unwanted pregnancy.  JFA is here to help you turn the abortion debate into a dialogue in your everyday life, in a way that can change hearts and minds.  You can pray for, prepare for, and create heart-changing conversations like the one I mentioned above. Here are just a few resources to help you and your local church get started:

Learn at Home Program

JFA’s "Learn at Home" program gives busy moms, dads, and professionals something they can do in just one hour (four 15-minute exercises) to learn to dialogue about abortion in a way that changes hearts and minds.

Guide for Students and Clubs

JFA’s guide for pro-life students and clubs (“Conversations Change Campuses”) is full of free resources and helps students to prioritize pro-life activities that actually make a difference. It also includes step-by-step instructions for creating a small outreach event with a big impact.

Resource Bulletin

JFA’s monthly resource bulletins provide practical ways for you to pray for conversations about abortion and prepare for conversations of your own.  A blog post written with pro-choice people in mind is included each month to help you start conversations in a more natural, less-awkward way.

Explore All Resources

Explore JFA's online educational resources, including statistics, explanations from scientists and philosophers, dialogue examples, video, and much more.

Links to Help During and After Dialogue

This page provides quick links on topics ranging from abortion-related statistics, to locating a local pregnancy resource center, to finding post-abortion care.  Don't miss the See Baby Pregnancy Guide app (under "EHD Apps"), which includes video of the unborn in the womb, week-by-week, on your smartphone for free.

Training Events & Mission Trips

At JFA’s core is a mentor-led training program called “Abortion: From Debate to Dialogue” which includes a seminar (Seat Work) and an outreach event (Feet Work) at a college campus. This complete training experience is the best JFA has to offer when it comes to preparing Christians to change hearts and minds in their communities. 

We Don't Deserve This

Impact Report, January 2018

My experiences at our outreach events over the past 15 years have taught me again and again a lesson we now emphasize to every person we train: you can’t judge whether or not you’re successful in a conversation by looking at the results.  Sure, if you get a bad result, it might be a clue that you are doing a bad job of articulating the truth or loving the person with whom you’re speaking.  It might be a clue you need to work on some aspect of being an ambassador for Christ.  There may be other reasons, though, that the results you saw were either bad or nil.  For example, the person may think things through privately when you are long gone.

When we share stories where we do see some specific good result or moment of impact, we try to keep this reality in mind.  Even still, we enjoy sharing stories where God seems to be making his presence clearer or when people seem to be especially open to our work of kindling affection for the smallest humans on earth and women in distress.  As we share these stories from JFA staff members Susanna Buckley, Jeremy Gorr, and Rebecca Haschke, we’re mindful that we don’t deserve to see what God is doing.  Stories like these are simply a special grace from our loving Father, partly shared with us and you for our encouragement.  Let’s enjoy his work! 

- Steve Wagner, Executive Director

Georgia, October 2017

While in Georgia, I had an amazing conversation with a young man who approached the exhibit.  We agreed that abortion should not be legal in the last two trimesters and should not be done for just any reason.  He said that a good reason to have an abortion would be if the unborn was diagnosed with a disability.  With permission, I shared with him the story of a baby with spina bifida who had received surgery in utero to fix part of the baby’s spine.  In the corner of my eye, I saw a lady in a wheelchair coming down the sidewalk in our direction.  I kid you not ― as we were talking, this woman approached us and interrupted our conversation. She passionately shared that she had spina bifida and was afraid for unborn babies with that diagnosis.  Many of them are aborted.  She said, “Never let disability be the reason you have an abortion.  Never.  We can have good lives too.”  The young man listened in awe as the woman told her story.  He left an hour later saying he had a lot to think about.

- JFA Intern Susanna Buckley

Oklahoma, November 2017

I met Sharon at the University of Oklahoma (OU).  She thought there should be no legal restrictions on abortion even though she personally believes the unborn are human and abortion is wrong.  She said it is situational, and even she may end up in a situation later in life where she would choose abortion, so she doesn’t want to take away the right from others who may be in tough situations.

I proceeded to “trot out the toddler” and tried to convince her that there are no situations that justify killing innocent human beings.  We talked about this for a while, and at the end of the conversation she said:

“This is a very eye-opening conversation.  I like this.  I see people on our campus all the time with signs I disagree with, and I pre-judge them and don’t speak with them.  And then I don’t have the opportunity to have conversations like this, where it really makes you question things and think about your own moral judgements.”

- JFA Trainer Jeremy Gorr

“Zoey” shared that she would never choose to have an abortion but that abortion should be legal because women need to be given the right to choose.  As I asked questions about what she believed, I discovered she didn’t have confidence that the unborn was biologically human at conception.  Throughout the conversation she asked me a lot of questions about the things that didn't seem convincing to her.  After that part of the conversation she agreed that the unborn was biologically human from conception.

Indiana, September 2017

We then discussed whether or not those human beings deserved equal treatment.  I used the Equal Rights Argument just as we teach it in the JFA seminar.  After that discussion, she agreed that abortion should not be legal for any reason throughout the entire pregnancy.  Of course, it was a joy to witness the fruits of our conversation, but it was the end of the conversation that surprised me:

Zoey:  Wow, I’m excited to finally have the same opinion as my family!

Becca:  I’m excited for you too. Are a lot of your family members pro-life?

Zoey:  Yes, they are all pro-life, and I’ve been the one who has the “different” ideas.  My aunt and my grandma have tried to talk to me about this but it never goes well.  You and I had differing opinions but I felt safe asking you the questions that I had because you didn’t get mad at me.  This conversation was different because you helped me process through the information to help me understand your position.

What a surprise it was to find that Zoey actually wanted to have the same opinion as her family and that it was a relief to her that she could now honestly hold the same view her family held.  This conversation was a reminder that I can’t conclude that someone is close-minded just because she holds a view that is different from mine.

- JFA Trainer Rebecca Haschke

Eliminating Disabilities or the People Who Have Them?

In this portion of the CBS feature on Down syndrome in Iceland, the reporter looks at footprints of an aborted child imprinted next to a prayer as she speaks with a hospital worker who counsels women through their abortion decisions. The counselor states, "We don't look at abortion as murder..."

On August 14th, CBS News released an article entitled "What kind of society do you want to live in? Inside the country where Down syndrome is disappearing," along with a 10-minute feature video on the topic.  For pregnant women in Iceland who find out their children have Down syndrome, the abortion rate appears to be incredibly high - nearly 100%.  

View fullsize

JFA's "Stop and Think" Exhibit features this panel, prompting discussion about what our attitudes should be towards those, like Dylan (shown above), with Down syndrome.

Many criticized the CBS article for being too celebratory, making the distinction that Iceland is eliminating those with a disability rather than the disability itself.  (Note: The CBS video did go into more detail than the article that accompanied it, making it somewhat more representative of a broader set of views.)  BreakPoint was one news outlet that responded.  You can read or listen to its response at the following link: "Iceland 'Close to Eradicating Down Syndrome Births': They're Killing, Not Curing."

What do you think?  

Do you agree with Breakpoint that Iceland is not really removing a disability, but rather removing disabled humans?

Or,

Do you think the unborn are not human beings, and therefore find Breakpoint's criticisms to be unfair?