Wow, what a way to kick the new year off! Once we got into the first week that was not shortened by a holiday, it was full speed ahead. We wrapped up the previous week FINALLY confirming that Governor Kim Reynolds would indeed speak at the annual Iowa Prayer for Life, then finished this last one not even having the much-anticipated event at all. BUT, I’m here to say that we had a wildly successful week nonetheless and seeds were planted that could lead to fruit bigger than maybe anything the pro-life world has seen in the state, short of maybe the formation of The Greater Iowa Pro-Life Fellowship in 2015, which lead to Coalition of Pro-Life Leaders coming together a year later.
Wednesday, January 10th saw a luncheon with nearly two dozen medical professionals, students, and ministry leaders coming together to learn about Hippocratic Medicine and to swear to the oath that goes along with it from Dr. Donna Harrison, Executive Director of the American Association of Pro-Life Ob/Gyns1. Personhood Iowa2 partnered with Lutheran Family Service3 to organize the event, with Dr. Greg McKernan of Vitae Family Care Clinic4 providing the lunch. New friendships were forged, partnerships imagined, and relationships begun.
On Friday, January 12th, Zion Lutheran Church5 in Des Moines helped Personhood Iowa host Catherine Davis, Executive Director of The Restoration Project6, at another luncheon made up of an entirely different group of twenty or so leaders learning about the evil and eugenic targeting of certain communities by the abortion industry. We heard about disgusting and unsanitary conditions, deaths of young women, and an easy to follow history of our modern day American holocaust with women of color squarely in the cross hairs. While several of the pastors and their wives were somewhat familiar with how bad it is, Ms. Davis’ well sourced presentation was eye opening and heartbreaking.
In between these two events was a day that saw both women passionately sharing for the voiceless. Yes, Thursday saw cold temps, ice, snow, and wind making it too dangerous for us to ask our supporters to travel to Des Moines for the annual Iowa Prayer for Life. While that is disappointing and felt like we wasted all of that work, time, and money, I can’t help but feel confident that God indeed worked through the few days we had our esteemed guests in town. We were unexpectedly able to have Dr. Harrison speak at the Westside Conservative Breakfast7 and the 50 or so attendees there on Wednesday morning. Dr. Harrison and Catherine were able to spend over 4 hours with key officials at the Capitol on Tuesday and Wednesday, explaining the scientific basis for life at conception and the targeting of women of color by Planned Parenthood and the abortion industry.
The relationships made this week have given me the feeling of something really big starting to happen here in Iowa and, potentially, the entire nation. Imagine if these groups, that have not traditionally done so publicly, become involved in sharing the truth of life! What if medical professionals start not only taking the Oath that promises to “first do now harm”, but really take it to heart again? What if they were educating their peers and students about their responsibility being to their patient and not the state? What if a ground swell of new black and Latino pastors started to focus on the eugenic targeting of their own people by the culture of death lead by the blood thirsty Planned Parenthood? What if these leaders were demanding that their elected officials stop peddling the lies that abortion somehow equals healthcare? What if they said ENOUGH as one voice?! These ‘what ifs’ are becoming less unimaginable and more realistic than ever after this past week.
1www.aapolg.org, 2www.personhoodiowa.com, 3www.lfsiowa.org, 4www.vitaefamilycare.com, 5www.ziondsm.org, 6www.the-restoration-project.org, 7https://www.facebook.com/westside-conservative-club-105288034391/
