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I Didn't See This Coming
May 2019 Impact Report
Kaitlyn Donihue shares the brochure in a conversation at Fort Lewis College in Durango, Colorado in March 2019. (Photos shared in this story courtesy of Master Plan Ministries)
Our team was conducting outreach at Fort Lewis College in Durango, Colorado in March 2019. A young man came up and signed the poll table. I asked him whether he thought abortion should be legal throughout all nine months of pregnancy, or just for a window of time in pregnancy.
“Definitely all nine months,” he said.
“Ok. I am really curious. Women get abortions for a lot of different reasons. How do you feel about a circumstance in which a woman wants a boy, but realizes that she is pregnant with a girl—should she be allowed to get an abortion for that reason?”
“Yes,” he said emphatically. “Women should have choices.”
“So you think that abortion should be legal through all nine months of pregnancy for any reason at all? Is that correct?”
“Yes.”
JFA volunteers dialogue with students at Fort Lewis College in March 2019. (Photo courtesy of Master Plan Ministries)
At this point, I wanted to go talk to someone else. I did not want to talk to someone who was that staunchly pro-choice, but instead I said,
“I agree with what you said a minute ago. Women should have the freedom to make choices. Freedom is so important. I am so glad that I live in a country where I have rights and freedom. There are many countries around the world where I, as a woman, would not have rights.”
JFA volunteers dialogue with students at Fort Lewis College in March 2019. (Photo courtesy of Master Plan Ministries)
“Now, this is going to sound strange,” I said, “But I am also glad that I do not have some rights. For example, I do not have the right to walk onto this campus with a gun and start shooting people. My rights end where your rights begin. So I think the question we have to ask with the issue of abortion is, ‘What is the unborn?’ If the unborn is not a human being and abortion does not kill a human being, then I think you are right. If that were the case, then abortion should be legal through all nine months for any reason. But if the unborn is a human being and abortion actually takes the life of a human being, then even though there are really difficult situations in which women find themselves, I don't think those situations can justify taking the life of a human being. What do you think? Do you think the unborn is a human being?”
I pulled out the JFA brochure and showed him pictures of development.
“Yes. Yes, I think it is a human being. You’re right. This is wrong. We can’t kill human beings,” he said thoughtfully.
“Do you think that abortion should not be legal?”
“Yes. I don’t think it should be legal.” He was staring at the pictures of development.
One conversation during the recent outreach at Fort Lewis College in Durango, Colorado (Photo courtesy of Master Plan Ministries)
“The next page of this brochure contains some graphic pictures of what abortion does. Would you mind if I showed them to you?”
“No. That would be okay.”
I opened the brochure, and we stood there in silence for a couple of moments. He was very thoughtful.
“This should never be legal,” he said.
Through this conversation, I was reminded that I cannot really know another person or his beliefs until I take the time to ask questions and hear him out. I never know what God might do, even in the heart of a student that seems closed off.
