Heartbeat Press - August 2023 Edition

40 Days for Life - Everyday People Doing Great Things

One does not have to look far to find the leaders of the Pro-Life movement. Coming from all walks of life and with various beginnings in Pro-Life work, there are dozens of activists that can be pointed to as powerhouses in the fight for life. Some of the more well-known ones are Abby Johnson (the former Planned Parenthood manager who changed sides after seeing an abortion firsthand), Lila Rose (the undercover investigator who founded Live Action News in her parents' living room when she was just 15), and Kevin Sorbo (the star of the 1995 Hercules TV show, who routinely bucks the typical Hollywood stance on abortion). They all had a hand in reversing Roe v. Wade in June of 2022, and their tireless work is saving more children than ever before.

    With the knowledge that so many amazing people are already fighting for life, it can be tempting for an individual to take a back seat in the fight. And many do. Individuals, organizations, and even churches claim to whole-heartedly support the work, but then do nothing to aid it themselves. But, on such an important issue, which literally holds the lives of millions in the balance, sitting back in placid agreement is simply not good enough.

    Jim Ball knows this problem all too well, not only because he sees it every day in his work with 40 Days for Life but also because he struggled with the same reluctance fifteen years ago. If asked, Jim would have called himself Pro-Life. He thought the killing of innocent babies was wrong and he was reminded of the cause every time he drove past the abortion clinic in his city and saw people protesting in front of it. But it took a particularly dedicated Pro-Lifer (an old man who was seemingly always on the curb) to get Jim out of his car and asking what the movement was all about. In a few simple words, the old man helped Jim see that sentiment meant absolutely nothing if not backed up by action. Arguments fill up the air, but initiative taken changes hearts. The old man could have shouted the Pro-Life message from the tallest rooftop, but it was his continual presence on that curb that truly spoke volumes. Convicted beyond the shadow of a doubt, Jim joined 40 Days for Life and hasn't looked back since.

    In a sense, 40 Days for Life, founded in 2007 by a Jewish man who was inspired by the Texas prayer vigils, was the perfect organization for people like Jim. The whole group is made up of former sideline-sitters who put aside their hesitation and fear after feeling a Divine push to put action behind their convictions. And that action has been powerful and richly rewarded. 40 Days for Life has chapters all over the United States, encompassing over 600 cities. Its prayer vigils (aka, the easiest way to be involved in the Pro-Life movement) attract over 300 volunteers each year. The organization has been present if not instrumental in numerous events that either broadcast the Pro-Life message or influence legislation in favor of the unborn. And 40 Days for Life is recognized as the largest Pro-Life organization in the world. 

    40 Days for Life's sidewalk counselors are on the corner of every abortion clinic they can locate. Its affiliate group, Sleep No More (an organization that focuses on getting men involved in the work), marches in the dead of night to prove that, no matter the conditions, Pro-Lifers will always be ready to protect the unborn. Even simple contributions like hand-knit hats aid the organization in proving that it cares before, during, and after birth.

    While all this is amazing, it is only possible because "everyday people" got off the sidelines and contributed in simple but impactful ways. A step taken outside of an abortion facility. A hat knit for a child you'll never meet. A prayer whispered at a vigil. Grace shown to those who hate the movement. Small things piling on top of each other to slowly but surely create a mountain of testament to the value of life and the movement's devotion to protecting it. 

   

    Jim Ball's proudest moment while working with 40 Days for Life came in February 2013, when a doctor from the abortion mill Jim used to drive past personally told him that the facility would be closing in a few short months. "Your presence outside is the reason we're closing" he said. While permanently shutting the doors of that building was always the goal, Jim couldn't quite fathom it when he first heard the news. Years of marching, hundreds of volunteers, thousands of steps taken, simple people doing what God had asked them to do...had all culminated into something wonderful. Faithfulness rewarded. And, while the closed doors were by no means the end of the Pro-Life movement or Jim's involvement in it, after so many years it was nice to see palpable progress.     

Photo Credit:

40 Days for Life.com

Sources: Interview with Jim Ball

Heartbeat Press - August 2022 Edition

    

In our modern age, it is not an understatement to say that television is America's favorite pastime. A quick Google search shows that nearly 80% of Americas are watching some sort of programming on any given day, 58% use one or more streaming service to get their fix, and 52% use Netflix as their primary service. It is not surprising that Netflix holds this statistic since, over the last few years, the company has put a great deal of effort into slowly but surely building itself into an entertainment juggernaut. It offers hundreds of mainstream movies and shows, while also rapidly producing its own original content that has become popular enough to catch the attention of the greater public and even garner dozens of award nominations. It is estimated that, since 2013, Netflix has produced over 1,500 original titles, and it shows no sign of stopping anytime soon. 

    So how do you even begin choosing what to watch in this sea of high quality, mass produced entertainment? You could spend hours browsing through endless titles and reading description after description, but I'll save you the trouble. There is a least one episode of a popular Netflix show that I can recommend to you as quality entertainment, but also as a stirring message that should be understood by everyone. 

    

    Set in a far flung dystopian future, Pop Squad - Season 2, Episode 3 of Love, Death, and Robots - follows the three-day journey of a hard edged man named Briggs as he searches for redemption and an answer to the question, "Do the whims of the many outweigh the very lives of a few?" Briggs is asking this question because he is a police officer who is charged with hunting down and eliminating children who are deemed "illegal." In this version of the future, mankind has discovered the key to near immortality but, now faced with the reality of overpopulation, the vast majority of society has decided that it is best to stop having children all together and that punishment is necessary for those who defy that decision. Briggs willingly accepts this reality, playing dumb to the dire plight of the people around him as he focuses on his own life and desires. But, after a particularly challenging encounter with two small children, he finds himself questioning the morality of the society he is a part of. Hardly knowing what he's looking for but following the trail of a small toy that one of the aforementioned children lost, Briggs goes to an "antique store" where he briefly meets and then follows a woman named Eve. Briggs discovers that Eve is the mother to an illegal daughter but, despite everything he's stood for his entire life, he cannot bring himself to eliminate the child. Instead, he simply asks, "Why do you do it? Why do people like you keep having kids?" Eve, who can see that Briggs' soul is in turmoil, gives an answer that finally breaks through the last layer of his heart, causing him to smile ever so slightly. "Because I'm not so in love with myself that I just want to live forever and ever. She makes everything new. I love seeing things through her eyes. They're so bright. They're so full of life." Having seemingly found his answer, Briggs leaves Eve and her daughter in peace and even protects them when they are discovered by another police officer. In the ensuing fight, Briggs is left with a fatal gunshot wound but, as he takes his last few breaths, he looks up at the sky and sees that it is bright blue and more beautiful than he has ever noticed before. Having seen real innocence in the world that has a chance to grow, Briggs dies, finally at peace with himself. 

    

On a surface level, Pop Squad's meaning can be interpreted many different ways, but I can personally see one that I don't think the developers meant to create. Pop Squad is an accidental allegory about abortion and what becomes of a culture that creates and actively sustains the practice. 

    A society that kills its children (whether they are born or pre-born) is a society that is doomed to selfishness and willful ignorance. Its citizens do no care who lives and dies as long as their immediate needs are met; they do not take the time to look into what they are actually endorsing, and the lives and potential of those who die are unimportant if they interfere with the status quo. 

    Sadly, I would like to tell you that Pop Squad is just allegory, but the reality of its story is all too real. Every single day, thousands of babies are ruthlessly murdered on the whims of their parents and the society (our society) that has told them it is fine to do so. We have created this reality by devaluing legitimate human life because it did not come conveniently or in line with our own desires. How many little lives have we thrown away because they "weren't wanted?" How much potential has been lost to a single moment of selfishness or ignorance? How much innocence have we denied the right to grow because it was unvalued? Pop Squad isn't an allegory; it's reality and it's here and now. What are you going to do about it? 

Photo Credit: What to Watch.com, What's on Netflix 

Sources: statista.com, fiercevideo.com, www.bls.gov, Wikipedia (list of accolades), Heavy Spoiler - YouTube

Note: I do not recommend the rest of Love, Death, and Robots due to its excessive and unnecessary violence, language, nudity, and suggestive themes. 

 

Hearbeat Press - July 2022 Edition

   

    The movie "Gone in 60 Seconds," is a pretty average Nickolas Cage movie from 2000. It centers around a former car thief (Cage) who, after retiring from a life of crime, is forced back into the game in order to save his brother from a crime syndicate run by a particularly nasty crime boss. It's not a movie that is meant to make you think and is instead filled with all the explosions, high octane car chases, and general B movie material that you would expect from a low budget action film. It's dumb, cheesy, and hardly worth the two hours and seven minutes that it takes to watch it. By comparison, Abby Johnson's story of "Gone in 60 Seconds" is much different. 
    Abby Johnson was at the top of her game and well on her way to getting everything she ever wanted. At just 29 years old she was the director of a well performing Planned Parenthood clinic in Bryan, Texas, she had just been awarded the 2008 employee of the year award, and she was in a perfect position to rise higher in the ranks of the greater Planned Parenthood corporation. And then she was asked to assist in an ultrasound-guided abortion on September 26, 2009.
    Though she had been director of her clinic for years and had been volunteering with the organization since college, she had never seen an ultrasound-guided abortion before. And, because she had never seen or participated in the procedure before, she didn't think anything of it. She stepped into the procedure room eager to help; little did she know she would walk out of that room a changed woman. 
    At the request of the visiting abortion doctor, Abby took up the probe on the ultrasound machine and held it to the abdomen of the woman who was resting on the examination table in front of her. The machine purred as it sprung to life and began transmitting grainy black and white images onto a nearby monitor and, as the doctor and the attending nurse prepped the patient for the procedure, Abby glanced up at the screen. What she saw glued her eyes to it. In her own words Abby recalls, "When I looked on the screen I saw a baby on the screen." There it was, pixelated and yet in clear focus, the outline of the tiny thirteen week old baby calmly nestled inside of its mother's womb. Abby couldn't help but look closer. This didn't look anything like the clump of cells or inanimate tissue that was suppose to be present at this stage of the pregnancy. It was human. 
    As she continued to watch, another form appeared on the screen just inches away from the baby: a suction tube barely bigger than two inches. For a split second, as the alien-looking device moved closer and closer to the baby, Abby remembers thinking that it didn't belong, that this whole thing was wrong, and she had the horrible realization that she was helping it happen. "I saw the probe going into the woman's uterus, and then at that moment, I saw the baby moving, and trying to get away from the probe." Abby recalls. But it was too late; without a second thought, the abortion doctor turned on the suction machine and, after a short and futile struggle against the vacuum, the little body crumbled and disappeared. In a moment, in 60 seconds, it was gone and Abby was left staring at an empty screen. 
What she saw in the procedure room that day radically changed Abby Johnson. She couldn't get the form of that little baby fighting for its life out of her mind and she began to realize that this baby was no different than the thousands of other abortions that had occurred at her clinic. A tremendous guilt welled up inside of her when she remembered all the women she had counseled onto that very same abortion table. Within the walls of her workplace and through her diligence, thousands of little babies had been brutally and quickly killed just like the one she had seen but never given a second thought. Racked with guilt and shame, Abby could no longer justify her work as she once had and, in October of 2009, she left Planned Parenthood. She went to the Coalition for Life, a pro-life organization that, up until recently, Abby had despised for hamstringing Planned Parenthood's work. But now, with nowhere else to go, she turned to her former rivals. They welcomed her with open arms and in true Christ-like love, helped her move past her former profession into a new, pro-life mission.

Abby Johnson is now one of the most outspoken advocates leading the charge against abortion in America. She routinely speaks on the issue and shares her story; she has joined the Coalition for Life in its prayer vigils in front of Planned Parenthood facilities including her former clinic; and she founded the organization And Then There Were None, a halfway program for former abortion workers who want to leave the industry. It was once said of Abby, "God touched and opened her eyes...she saw through the deception of the enemy and she came back to God."

Story details courtesy of abbyj.com, texasoberver.org

Photot Credit: Vitae Foundation 

 

Heartbeat Press - June 2022 Edition

  

 January 22, 1970, was the day that changed everything. While it seemed like a normal gray winter day, during which people went to work, studied in school, and lived their daily lives as usual, this day was entirely unique because it was the day that Russell Sacco, a noted Oregon urologist, took a few simple pictures. 
    Dr. Sacco was what you could call a nominal pro-lifer. While he would call himself pro-life and though he was aware of the process of abortion, which had been legalized in Oregon in 1969, he was not an outspoken advocate for life and more often than not he let the issue slip to the back of his mind. In an interview years later, Dr. Sacco would admit, "As a doctor, I knew that abortion kills children," but at the time it wasn't real to him. 
     Despite his indifference towards abortion as a whole, Dr. Sacco did want to learn more about the actual procedure and, a few months before the fateful day in January, Sacco had started researching and asking questions about the actual process. He spoke to friends and other doctors, he asked them what they knew and thought about the procedure. Where did other medical professionals stand on the issue? 
    Sacco's research brought him to a local hospital one morning, where he was introduced to a pathologist who also seemed interested in the abortion issue. The two men talked and, as their conversation continued, it became more and more apparent that this pathologist was not only interested in Sacco's questions but he had his own information to include. Sacco recalls, " After talking awhile, I remarked how bad it was and he said he wanted to show me something." 
    The pathologist produced a plastic bucket and allowed Dr. Sacco to look inside. What he saw cut him to the quick and took his breath away. Inside, perfectly preserved, were the bodies of five or six aborted babies in some of their earliest stages. Equally fascinated by the subject of abortion and awakened to its horrors, the pathologist had saved and preserved these little bodies, unable to let them be destroyed like so many others. 
    Sacco couldn't believe what he was seeing. These children were a clear indication that even early in the gestation process humanity exited within the womb. Contrary to popular belief, these were not just clumps of cells or lifeless tissue. While it was difficult to determine an exact age, Sacco estimated that most of them were around ten weeks old. They were tiny and fragile and yet perfect and undeniably human. 
    Given permission by the pathologist, Dr. Sacco began taking pictures of the little bodies, in the hope that they would serve as a hard-hitting example of what was lost during even the earliest abortions. But, as he worked, Sacco realized that without a point of reference no one would be able to tell just how small these children were. An idea struck him. Carefully picking up one of the bodies, Sacco gently placed its perfectly formed feet between his fingers and, with tears in his eyes, snapped a photo. In a later interview, Dr. Sacco said, "I really didn't think the photo would be anything, but God must have taken the picture because it was perfect." 

~

Dr. Sacco would go on to share his "Precious Feet" photo with thousands of people, speaking to the fact that from the moment of conception a baby is human, detailed, and worthy of life. He said, "I knew that this would be one powerful way to send a message to the world."
    The Precious Feet have been in circulation for 52 years now and they have been a monumental tool in the fight against abortion. The little child who died did not die in vain. 

Sources: Medium.com, Catholic Herald.org

Photo Credit: Medium