Heartbeat Press - February 2025 Edition

Aunt Edna - The Texas Adoption Crusader 

    It's early on a Sunday morning in winter as the warm rays of a rose-gold sun rise to peek curiously through the bedroom blinds of a large, stately house in Northeast Texas. Propped up in a chair softly stirring, a woman blinks back the sleep she hadn't realized she had fallen into before glancing over at the pristine white crib rocking silently to her right. A tiny child, two years old at most, rolls over just enough to catch the woman with its bright blue eyes which then glitter with recognition at the sight of her. Gracefully reaching out a finger for the baby to grasp, the woman smiles a broad if distant smile at the innocence of this tiny life that is so totally dependent on her. She wishes she were not its only lifeline in the world, but perhaps with time that situation will change. For now, she can offer the comfort and care that is essential for a happy childhood and the promise of doing all she can to find this child its forever home. Reaching into the crib, the woman picks up the cooing baby that grasps a whisp of the woman's bright red hair before snuggling into her shoulder to fall into peaceful sleep. 

    This was not the standard image of (aunt) Edna Gladney of the Texas Children's Home (now the Gladney Center for Adoption) in Fort Worth, though she certainly spent as much as she could spare nurturing the children under her care. Rather, the image most would picture when thinking of Edna Gladney is that of a demure and sparky crusader who quite literally changed the course of adoptions in the state of Texas and, in pursuit of that goal, walked enough miles to make the most devoted marathoner stop to catch his breath. 

    Born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin in 1886 Edna Gladney was the daughter of a working-class mother and a father who didn't stay long enough to even know he was a father. Later adopted by a stepfather who did not care about her illegitimacy and instead gave her every chance to succeed in life, Edna's early knowledge that the world had rejected her from birth may have been a key indicator of the work she would devote her later life to. Roaring into Texas in 1903 for health-related relaxation, Edna quickly demonstrated that she was far from the wilting wallflower ill young women were expected to be. Instead, she took up a part-time unpaid position as the superintendent of a small children's home that was on the verge of closing forever, where she industriously set to work changing that reality. 

    Originally focused on survival alone, the home Edna took under her wing soon began to blossom into a life-saving powerhouse under her parentage. It took in every child in need of a home, including thousands orphaned by The Depression and World War II. It pioneered new methods of pediatrics and healthcare through its partnership with local Fort Worth doctors, changing the medical status quo and necessitating the construction of a maternity hospital adjoining the home. Edna personally championed the admittance of single expectant mothers with the goal of empowering them to keep their babies or place them in loving homes. She walked hundreds of miles raising funds door to door. And, most notably, Aunt Edna went after Texas legislation that required the specification of "illegitimacy" on birth certificates, a practice that was common across the entire United States and summarily doomed those bearing the title to a lifetime of shame and ridicule. 

    Perhaps due to her own status as "nameless," this cause remained a driving passion of Edna's up to and after the revocation of the legislation in 1936, at which point she went after similar unfair laws and backwards thinking. One reporter once wrote of these acts that, "Mrs. Gladney usually won." Edna's work was so impressive that it even caught the attention of Hollywood, prompting the creation of the 1941 film "Blossoms in the Dust," starring the fiery redhead Greer Garson as Edna. In hindsight, Aunt Edna appreciated that the film brought awareness to the plight of her children.

    Over the course of her life, Edna Gladney found loving homes for over 10,000 children (the majority of whom she placed and delivered herself), with many of them tracking her down years later to thank her for the start she gave them in life. Spurred on by this, Aunt Edna continued her work almost up until her death in 1961. Had she been given the choice, Edna certainly would have chosen to keep going until the end of time, or until every "unwanted" child in Texas, if not the entire world, had found a perfect home. 

    Many considered the death of "Fort Worth's Angel of Mercy" to be a tremendous blow, worthy of deep mourning and sadness. However, even after her death, Edna was fondly remembered as a spitfire who changed the lives of thousands for the better. A fact that is best summed up by a reporter's quote that said of her: "Mrs. Gladney's ministry of mercy has captured both the imagination and the admiration of the nation...for the undying place she has in 10,000 hearts, for the admiration she has earned in millions of lives...(and) for her reminder that human life is the supreme of all values." 

Sources: Wikipedia (Edna Gladney) (Gladney Center for Adoption), Texas Adoption Activist Edna Gladney by Sherrie McLeRoy, TSHAonline.org, Texoso66.com,

Photo Credit: Find a Grave.com

Heartbeat Press - January 2025 Edition

January First - Ready...Set...Resolution  

    "I'm going to exercise more this year!" "I'm going to read more books." "By July I'm going to be eating healthier!" "We're really going to start saving money this year." Listen to that chorus of resolutions! It must be January 1st, aka, the day when the world's entire population realizes another year is beginning and feels the sudden compulsion to better themselves with new, if predictable, habits picked with almost religious reverence. Unfortunately for the resolve-driven masses, statistics reveal that over 80% of all New Year's resolutions fail midway through February before ever making a useful impact. As staggering as this calculation sounds, the truth in it is understood by everyone who has tried, and inevitably failed, a bold New Year's goal. 

    Making changes or bettering yourself is difficult, sisyphean at times, so one could ask why try to change at all? Because, if it's really important...the difficulty will be worth it in the end, says the short, gift-wrapped answer to this question. While fundamentally correct, this idea is really only good for early motivation, and has to be backed up by real, concreate details in order to actually end in finished goals, motivating enough to surmount road blocks and slip-ups once encountered. Details reveal starting places, offer opportunities to pick up from short of returning to the absolute beginning, and help flesh out goals through more finish-line oriented thinking. For instance, it is more inspiring to say, "I'm going to spend two hours on Mondays and Wednesdays praying outside of Planned Parenthood," than "I'm going to pray outside of abortion clinics more often this year." The fleshed-out goal paints a picture of what the task looks like and allows the resolutioners to attack the new habit with more practical enthusiasm than ever before. Now, with all that in mine, let's set some Pro-Life goals for this coming year. 

    Take a moment to consider what you can do for the Pro-Life Movement. What skills, passions, or knowledge can you offer to the cause? Is there a unique or dedicated part of yourself that can enrich your own experience, that of those around you, or the people you are trying to help? Picture that contribution as clearly as you can and manifest the motivation to use it over the course of the next year. Now, what does that contribution look like, broken up into manageable steps? Does it include a first act? A scheduled timeline? A collaboration with your fellow Pro-Lifers? Can you begin to follow those steps? Do so and you will have taken the biggest and most difficult leap towards a completed goal. One you can be very proud of at this time next year. Not every step in between start to finish will be smooth or profound, but they all mean something if they are taken in the name of continuing your goal and contributing to one of the most important movements of our time. Remember to keep moving, return to the work should you stumble or miss a step, and (like every important change) keep in mind that The Hardest Goals are Completed Because They Were Important Enough to Endure. 

Pray Outside an Abortion Clinic for Two Hours, Twice a Week.

Read Four Pro-Life Books and Recommend Them to Two Friends.

Volunteer at a Pro-Life Organization for Two Hours, Once a Week.

    Finally, regardless of the goals you set, their attainability, or your ability to seem them through, the most important idea to take with you into this next year is the understanding that a new year is beginning, carrying with it the chance to do some truly dedicated if not profound work for the Pro-Life Movement. As long-time or newly-minted Pro-Lifers, we have all been placed at a unique point in history that will define the current of society now and for years to come. When all is said and done, what would you like to have contributed to that definition? Will you be able to hold your head up with the knowledge that you did all you could (inexperience, fear, and mistakes included), or will you have lacked the courage to take that big first step at all? Just as this is a moment in history, it is also a crossroads in time for you.

    Beyond any talk of goal-setting and the like, it is very important that you pick which side of this history chapter you want to be on. You are already Pro-Life (you wouldn't read these words if you weren't), but do you hold your values esteemed enough to actually act on them or are they to remain proud words forever resigned to the dust bin 80% of good intentions end up in? What can you do for the Pro-Life Movement? Is it worth the time, dedication, and difficulty? Are you ready to take a leap big enough to span time and a cause? Ready...Set...Resolution! 

Sources: Inc.com 

Photo Credit: FlatIcon.com

Heartbeat Press - December 2024 Edition

Joseph - A Father's Calling  

    It's snowing outside...the first of the season. Students buzz, hoping the weather will delay or cancel school tomorrow; office workers grumble as they trudge to their cars, anticipating shoveling when they reach home; one frazzled mom speed-walks through store aisles trying to expedite her shopping in order to beat the slick roads. And, in a deafening silence matched only by the hush of snow outside, two blue lines peer up from a drug store pregnancy test at the stock-still young man who can only stare back at the tiny white stick in dumbfounded disbelief. A thousand questions crash into each other, but none of them can find words. For the first time in his life, no rational thought will form...or any thought for that matter. But, even so the young man is horrifyingly aware that nothing he might come up with would be sufficient to manage his tumbling emotions or end this eternity-long moment. And she's looking at him, with those big brown eyes...waiting for a response. Something, anything. But, what can he give her? Complete and utter loss is hardly what she needs right now, but it's seemingly all he can manage. That or fear, but how can he offer her that? Personal terror would only fail her more than he already has.

    Mirroring the situation three million couples find themselves in annually, the scene above also played out (albeit with a miraculous twist) over 2,000 years ago in a little Israelite backwater called Nazareth. The couple? A young girl newly and unexpectedly pregnant named Mary and her baffled and fearful soon-to-be-husband, Joseph. While often retold from Mary's point of view, the Christmas Story is already a Pro-Life story, its beats highlighting the unexpected but amazing nature of Jesus' birth, the joy Mary found in trusting the Lord for her provision, and the truth that no life (abrupt in origin or otherwise) is useless. But beyond that, the Christmas Story also has a powerful Pro-Life message for men, as told through the eyes of Joseph. 

    Joseph wasn't ready to be a father. In fact, it never occurred to him that he could become one so quickly and, like many men in similar situations, he didn't know how to make it past the next moment, let alone ponder the implications of raising an unexpected child. He was tempted to abandon the situation all together, and in Israelite culture at the time he would have been perfectly justified in leaving Mary for (apparently) dishonoring him so completely. Doing so would have left Mary utterly alone, saddled with the "consequences of her actions," but would have allowed Joseph to move on with his life without a second thought. Yet Joseph didn't abandon Mary. Instead, after a divine message, he answered the call that had been placed on his life long before he understood it or its implications, taking Mary as his wife and, essentially, adopting her son. 

    While seemingly backward to our modern way of thinking, Joseph's actions fill a void in the Christmas Story and becomes an early picture of self sacrifice for love of another (a picture that would be made complete in Jesus Christ thirty years later at Easter). Joseph's choice to love Mary despite her unusual circumstances meant he agreed to protect her from the judgement of a world that didn't understand the divine situation. He agreed to walk with her through life's ups and downs, sheltering her and giving her every bit of his strength should she need it. And, showing incredible trust in the calling placed on him, Joseph's choice also meant he wholeheartedly agreed to love Mary's son (taking him as his own) despite the whispers surrounding the boy. Caring for him, loving him, promising to help him grow into the man he was meant to become because Joseph (laymen though he was) understood what fatherhood meant and willingly took up the job when it was asked of him. 

    The same should be said of all fathers - expected, unexpected, devoted, and found. No matter how they become fathers, every man that finds himself the shepherd of tiny lives has a beautiful calling and a powerful testimony of purpose should he take up the call God has given to him. Too often discounted in modern society, fathers are the bedrock of families, the builders of homes, and (quite often) the first line of defense against sugar-coated abortion lies (do not discount the influence of men in this arena). It's a special profession defined by its diligence just as much as by its strength. As such, taking up the responsibility is an act of bravery that should not go unappreciated or forgotten. 

    Finally, a small encouragement for those men discovering they are going to be fathers, perhaps in a scene like the one at the beginning of this article, fraught with fear and uncertainty. Know this: God doesn't make mistakes. He knew he wanted Joseph to be his earthly father, and God wants you to be the father of this child. He picked you personally before time began, gifting you with this little life and the ability to protect it. He trusts you to be its father and He will be with you every step of the way. Your job in this moment (fears and all) is to trust Him in return. 

Sources: Wikipedia, Google, Live Action News 

Resources: Pro-Choice Men

Photo Credit: Catholic To The Max.com

Sugar Snow

Sugar snow,

The Christmas kind,

That drifts in sparkling mounds.

Upon the hill...against the house, 

Leaving traced patterns, 

Across the frosted pane. 

Photo Credit: Pinterest

The Hush

The hush of a college commons,

Late on a Wednesday night. 

Is held by steady breathing, 

And the soft falling snow outside.

A world of its own making,

Made up of quite minds. 

A feeling of focused melancholy,

And the anticipation of homebound trips.

A week before Christmas break,

A holy calm ensues.

The hush of a college commons,

Filled with the hopeful few. 

Photo Credit: Art Station (pinterest)

Heartbeat Press - November 2024 Edition

Britney and Jamie Lynn - A Tale of Two Sisters

    "I need to have purpose in just about everything I do," wrote Jamie Lynn Spears in her 2022 autobiography, Things I Should Have Said, that, among other things, detailed the actress's early career, family climate, and the birth, life, and near death of her daughter Maddie, in February 2017. An accident at a family home, cooly described by the media but emotionally explained by Spears in her book, saw young Maddie pinned under a crashed ATV and submerged in a backyard pond long enough to require intensive hospitalization and ventilation assisted breathing for over 24 hours. Thankfully, because of dedicated doctors and buckets of prayer from friends and family, the eight-year-old miraculously recovered - suffering no ill effects to this day. A survival that Jamie Lynn credits to the Lord's hand on her daughter's life before, during, and after the ordeal. However, this was not the first time the Lord had protected Maddie. In fact, her life started with an act of protection. 

    Unexpectedly pregnant at sixteen and unsure of how parenting a child would affect her relationship, career, and celebrity standing, Jamie Lynn recounted that, once the news of her condition broke, everyone around her was less than thrilled that a baby was on the way. Foregoing encouragement, tabloid magazines (that live on celebrity "mistakes") declared that the young star had "ruined her career" and had behaved life white trash. Fans agonized over the story and friends and family jovially suggested that an abortion was in Jamie Lynn's best interest. In retrospect, abortion would have been the "smart" option had Spears wanted to maintain her glitzy flashbulb-illuminated life. Going through with the procedure would have been extremely "easy" given its promotion by everyone in her inner circle. And Jamie Lynn's own sister, Britney Spears, had gone through the same problem with her own unplanned pregnancy in 2000, eventually going through with a chemical abortion, thought later writings by Britney revealed that it was a coerced decision. 

    But, young as she was, Jamie Lynn still saw the inherent value of the child slowly growing inside of her and, more importantly, recognized it as a human being, a beautiful daughter, who was not a curse but rather a great blessing despite the surprise of her existence. Battling the "Abortion is the Best Option" crowd and the relentless media, Jamie Lynn kept her daughter, never regretting her decision once. In fact, raising Maddie has enriched Jamie Lynn's life a hundred times over. The choice wasn't easy, with the constant media bombardment and her realization that she had to grow up very fast in order to be a proper provider for Maddie. But, by all accounts and with years of hindsight, raising an unexpected daughter gave Jamie Lynn a greater life's purpose than a decades-long career would have given her. And the unwavering love that forever links mother and daughter has healed many scars both of them had and would receive. 

    When contrasted with the reality older sister Britney Spears had endured, the miracle of Jamie Lynn and Maddie's lives becomes even more profound. Many things have played a role in the downward spiral that has been Britney's life. The world-famous star was exposed to the damages of fame at a very young age, existed in multiple abusive relationships (with boyfriends, husbands, and her own father), and has suffered from untreated  and aggravated mental health problems for the majority of her adult life. The abortion she submitted herself to at the age of nineteen is not the only instigator of her tattered existence. But, it was coerced, kept secret for years, and horribly bloody (mirroring the experiences of hundreds of women who endured chemical abortions alone in their bathrooms with the full knowledge that they had ended their baby's lives). Detailed in Heartbeat Press's February 2023 edition, Britney's abortion may not have been the end or even the beginning of her problems, but it was certainly a huge contributor to them, especially since the star endured it uncomforted and has never (to the knowledge of this newspaper) delt with the emotional fallout of an act that eats everyone who goes through with it from the inside out. 

    At its core, the story of Britney and Jamie Lynn is a comparison between the two ways an unexpected pregnancy can play out and the way each impacts a woman for years to come. Jamie Lynn resisted an abortion even though it was difficult, which necessitated the postponement of her career plans. But, ultimately, she has experienced a fuller life and has a beautiful daughter to go through every up and down with. In contrast, Britney was forced into an abortion and has endured the physical, emotional, and lonely scars of the procedure her entire life without much comfort from her "flourishing" career and fame. Case and point? Children do not ruin the lives of their mothers. They are often the greatest blessing ever given, the destruction of which is more damaging than anyone wants to admit. 

Sources: People.com, Goodreads.com, Rolling Stone.com, Live Action News.com, Things I Should Have Said by Jamie Lynn Spears, The Woman in Me by Britney Spears

Photo Credit: 

Heartbeat Press - October 2024 Edition

Dead Eyes - Windows to Troubled Souls 

    A cold wind whistles low across the leaf-barren trees, and the murky darkness grows ever so slightly. A distant door slams, raising all the hairs on the back of your neck. A low chuckle rises from an unseen throat hidden somewhere in the shadows moments before a bolt of lightning suddenly illuminates the sky above you. For one brief moment you are face-to-face with a horrible, shallow-faced figure with beady dark eyes that flash with the lightning but reflect absolutely no light. In another instant, the world is dark again and you are seemingly alone. Except you know you're not. That thing with the empty eyes is still there, its presence permeating every fiber of your being, letting you know that it is sickeningly real and very close by. 

    Have you ever looked into someone's eyes only to see nothing looking back at you? Not a thought, not a hope, no soul to speak of...simply an empty vessel? As the description above suggests, this type of creature is something you would normally only expect to encounter in a gothic, black and white horror movie (see anything Universal or Hammer House of Horror ever made), accompanied by special effects and precisely-timed jump scares for the best entertainment. Yet, more and more, this type of creature can be seen in the real world and is more common then anyone may realize. You only need to look into its eyes to identify it. The abortion doctor is one of these creatures. As melodramatic as this sounds, one look into the eyes of any abortion-committing individual proves my point, as even the deepest of stares reveal only a beady emptiness and a total lack of empathy that stretches to the black pits of these individuals' souls. Abortion history also proves my point.

    - Kermit Gosnell, previously covered in Heartbeat Press' October 2022 Edition, had no humanity behind his eyes, only an inky blackness that sucked inward indefinitely. Years of legally-committed murder and deftly-hidden serial killer behavior rotted his soul, eventually leading to his imprisonment without possibility of parole, but not before hundreds of children and at least one woman met their ends at the hands of the former doctor. 

    - Dr. Josef Mengele, the Holocaust's notorious "Angel of Death," who experimented on captive Jews during World War II, escaped The Nuremburg Trials of 1945 but went on to apply his "talents" to "women's healthcare" in Argentina. Operating out of back-alley clinics and keeping a low profile, Mengele preformed abortions and also had empty eyes that were ever-glinty in the pursuit of his trade of death. Mengele never faced justice for his crimes, Holocaust or abortion, and, like many abortionists, never showed remorse for his intentional ending of human life.

    - Even Margaret Sanger, Planned Parenthood's founder and golden child, covered in Heartbeat Press' October 2023 Edition, had ebony eyes that whispered of the deadly intent the woman had. Her work alone irreversibly bolstered abortion in the USA and led to the corruption of the 1940s Women's Movement. 

Every one of them willingly destroyed life and every one of them had dead eyes reflecting the absolute blackness of souls that were willing to murder children and destroy mothers in the name of "good," "progress," or "healthcare." But more than the act, the optical calling card (still seen in doctors today) is solidified by the explanation for it, expertly summed up by former abortionist, Dr. Anthony Levation. When asked if he saw humanity in aborted babies, the doctor remarked, during a panel discussion for Live Action News, "Did I know those were human being? Absolutely. I...didn't...care." That is what abortion does to those who commit it. It kills their souls and leaves them with nothing behind their eyes but the depth of their sin. 

    But my purpose here is not to demonize these individuals. Their actions are theirs to answer for with or without my condemnation. Rather, my heart cries for each of these monsters because, behind their dark souls and horrendous acts, I can also see the children of God they were meant to be before they sold themselves to evil, as strange as that fact is to realize. Consider for a moment that, under the rot and decay of mechanically-committed murder, the heart of a Child of God, one capable of great good, is still softly beating behind the hollow eyes of every abortion doctor. They just have not yet encountered the all forgiving, world rocking, grace of God. A grace He offers for every sin...even theirs.

    Like every gothic horror monster artfully presented with crackling lighting and foggy stars illuminating their dark eyes, these modern monsters are capable of redemption. If they weren't, Abby Johnson, Dr. Bernard Nathanson, and Dr. Noreen Johnson wouldn't have the awe-inspiring testimonies that make them Pro-Life powerhouses today. A complete soul change is possible; it is God-timed, but until it occurs I encourage you to remember Jeremiah 33:8 and meditate on God's plan for everyone's redemption. As foreign as it sounds, I encourage you to pray for the modern monster that is the abortion doctor. Pray that their hearts would begin to beat again and that the blindness would fall from their eyes. God has a powerful plan for each one of them; their redemption stories just haven't started yet. 

Sources: Live Action News, Google, Wikipedia, YouTube

Photo Credit: Dr. Health Clinic.com

Leaves

Never has death smelled so sweet,

Or bestowed such music on still, attentive ears.

And yet the leaves live this contradiction,

Every fall.

                

Would that man could do the same. 

Photo Credit: Renee Kurilla

Summer and Autumn

Autumn's glassy fingers have come over the sun,

And rush to wave good bye

To his love, the Summer, as she slips away.

Allow them an embrace of chilly warmth at the horizon.

Summer flees the chill of her love,

Though his embrace is crisp and dear of old.

A parting caress is all she can give his cheek - stay...

"Until next year my beloved."

Photo Credit: Vincent Mallie

Heartbeat Press - September 2024 Edition

A Moment in Time - The Voice of a Culture Saved from Death 

    On a warm, slightly breezy spring day in 2019, dozens of Pro-Lifers milled around behind the curtain of a large out-door stage in New York City. A hundred more stood out front, waiting for the next speaker who was scheduled to appear that day...and Christina Bennett took a moment to breathe and offer up a silent prayer before stepping out from behind the curtain. She wasn't nervous. She had spoken at enough of these events to forgo any pre-speech jitters, but every time she spoke she was reminded of just how powerful her message was. Like everyone here, she cared deeply about the fight for life. But, unlike the majority, this fight was extremely personal to her. She had to convey the depth of this cause every time she spoke, a feat she knew she could only accomplish with the Lord's strength, not her own. 

    Born and raised in Hartford, Connecticut, Christina Bennett almost didn't make it to her birthday. If you were to ask her about it, Bennett would point out that this nearly happened because her mother, a young, single, lower-middle class, Black woman was part of the key demographic Planned Parenthood geared its abortion propaganda towards. To this day, the nation's biggest abortion provider routinely targets "disadvantaged" groups, reasoning that they need access to abortion more than other demographics and providing guilt-free murder enables the company to engage in essential social justice. In 1981, Bennett's mother fell for their highly-polished sales pitch.

    Unexpectedly pregnant and unsure what she should do, Bennett's mother scheduled an abortion, believing it was the only option left to her. She had no support system to speak of, so the facade of care oozing from her neighborhood Planned Parenthood offered a sickly-sweet shoulder to cry on and a "comforting" voice to assure her that the decision she had made, no matter how she might wrestle with it, was the right one. But, when her appointment day arrived, Bennett's mother couldn't shake a nagging feeling of hesitation. She wasn't sure she wanted to go through with the abortion, but as she sat in the doctor's office half-listening to the laundry list of pre-procedure paperwork being rattle off by a facility counselor, she had no time to ask herself what she actually wanted.

    Stepping out into the hallway for a moment, Bennett's mother found herself suddenly overcome with a rush of sadness slamming into her like a wave, causing her to drop to her knees to release great rolling sobs in a desperate attempt to relieve even a small amount of the pressure building inside. She didn't know what she wanted and she had no time to change her mind. What if she made the wrong choice? It was there, in that moment when Bennett's mother was only aware of her own grief, that a soft hand placed itself on her shoulder, causing her to meet the determined gaze of an older African-American woman kneeling on the floor in front of her. "Do you want to have this baby?" the woman asked. Bennett's mother could only stare at the woman through tear-stained eyes, but, almost unconsciously, found herself nodding yes. "Then the Lord will give you the strength of walk out of here." In the holy hush that followed the woman's words, two lives changed forever. Amid a severe onslaught from the abortion doctor, Bennett's mother left the neighborhood Planned Parenthood and kept the baby who would grow up to be a powerful voice in the Pro-Life movement. 

    Christina Bennett knows she should have died that day, and she has never stopped praising God for allowing her to live and share her story with millions of people. Building on the facts mentioned above, Bennett's platform focuses on the "Black Experience" with abortion, namely that it is the culture most targeted by the abortion industry. Research reveals that 16 million Black babies have been aborted since Roe's installation in 1973 (360 every day). Black women (15% of the childbearing population) receive 33% of abortions. And the abortion giant, Planned Parenthood, was founded by a racist who unapologetically promoted the extermination of the Black community through eugenics. And yet abortion is still promoted as a necessity "graciously" given to the Black community. 

    Bennett disagrees. Social justice does not demand the deaths of the innocent as payment for forward movement. The destruction of children and, by default, their mothers' hearts cannot build a brighter future. And the Black community doesn't need abortion to thrive. In fact, it has routinely proven it is more powerful when building its next generation. "This is an extension of the Civil Rights Movement," Bennett proclaimed on that spring day in New York City. This time it will be characterized by the saving of lives instead of a fight for equality. As such, it's time to pick which side of history everyone is going to be on. 

Resources: YouTube.com, CURE

Photo Credit: Focus on the Family.com