Dear Friend of Life:
It’s never a dull moment in the battle to save lives and end abortion.
Even though it’s not directly related to sidewalk advocacy, I was reminded, yet again, of the spiritual battle — as we all seek to build a culture of life — while reflecting this morning on the story of Alfie Evans.
As you may know, Alfie was a 23-month old baby in the UK with a rare degenerative neurological condition who was denied the opportunity by Alder Hey Children’s Hospital and the socialist healthcare system in Britain — over the cries of his parents — to be flown to Rome, Italy, to receive proper medical care and experimental treatment.
Instead, the hospital held him hostage, removed life-support without his parents’ consent, and waited over 28 hours after yanking life-support to feed him.
As his father said after they finally started feeding his son, “…It’s disgusting how he’s being treated. Not even an animal would be treated like this. He’s proving them wrong. It’s time to give him some grace and dignity and let him go home or to Italy.”
Despite being granted Italian citizenship and the opportunity to live longer or witness a miracle in his condition through Italy’s help, Alfie passed away nine days ago, five days after Alder Hey pulled life-support. Ultimately, Alfie and his parents received victory as Alfie entered into eternal life with Christ.
Still, I remember being so angry as this story was developing… How could this happen? How could parents be stripped of their God-given right to protect their son and do everything possible to give him a chance to experience a miracle — and one that may have been literally waiting for him in Italy?
As my friend, Kristan Hawkins of Students for Life of America said, “And here is the fatal flaw of socialized medicine; someone else, other than the patient or the family, determines when a life no longer has value. A bureaucrat or a judge determines who gets to live and who gets to die. We have enough recorded history to know that letting a small group people determine which lives have value and which do not is a standard we want to avoid.” (Read more here: http://dailycaller.com/
Michael Tanner, writing for the Cato Institute, reflected, “Europeans are now learning some hard facts of life about socialized medicine: there’s no such thing as a free lunch. The question is whether Congress will learn from Europe’s mistakes as it takes the next steps in reforming the American health care system.”
We in America are called to learn from this situation. It was a reminder to me, personally, to continue pray and stay on our toes — or we could see another Alfie situation develop soon, clothed in false compassion.
I was also reminded that this disrespect for human life — again, clothed in false compassion for a mother-in-crisis — reflected the spiritual battle we see every day on the sidewalk, and that’s why I posted this on social media and reminded everyone to remember to pray for our Sidewalk Advocates on the front lines each and every day…
At times, our National Team and Sidewalk Advocates witness division in the pro-life movement, health scares, persecution from passersby or local police, pro-abortion protesters and escorts who try to interfere with outreach, and more. While we celebrate the 4,000 babies saved in this ministry thus far, we’re often reminded that we are in a true battle for lives and souls, and someone doesn’t like what we’re doing— and there’s nothing more he would love than to discourage us or get us to quit!
This is why we provide full-time staff support to our 147 locations around the globe — because without spiritual, strategic, and legal support, the best of pro-life advocates might be tempted to give up. Recently, Susan and Nate on our National Team visited two locations that were dealing with very difficult abortion center escorts; these escorts kept trying to get between Sidewalk Advocates and clients, steal their literature, or yell at clients not to stop and take information. Thankfully, Susan and Nate, leaning on the power of prayer, were able to give Sidewalk Advocates effective tips to still reach abortion-minded clients!
Through your prayers and support, we’re able to persevere through the difficult times on the sidewalk and troubleshoot the inevitable challenges that come up so that we can witness victory. When you read this, will you join us in prayer for our people on the front lines and for an end to abortion? And please know you are in our prayers, as well!
Thank you, dear friends — we appreciate your prayers and support more than you know!
In Christ, for Life,
Lauren Muzyka
Executive Director
Sidewalk Advocates for Life
lauren@sidewalkadvocates.org
sidewalkadvocates.org
P.S. – By the way, INCREDIBLE NEWS! We made goal in our Spring Matching Fund Campaign last week, praise God! We cannot thank you enough for your sacrifice, dear friends, and for allowing us to update you via social media and email as we worked hard to ensure that we had the resources to continue this mission strong. We are now able to move full steam ahead on all the life-saving plans we announced at the beginning of the campaign! To God be the Glory! Thank you for being part of our family and team —we appreciate you!
