THE FALSE DICHOTOMY by Randy Alcorn

It’s never in anyone’s best interests to kill a child. When a child is hurt by his mother, it brings harm not only to the child but to her. It’s impossible to separate a woman’s welfare from her child’s. Precisely because the unborn is a child, the consequences of killing him are severe. It’s the identity of the first victim, the child, that brings harm to the second victim, the mother. That’s why we need to begin our treatment of abortion with the identity of the unborn.

PRO-WOMAN OR PRO-CHILD? by Randy Alcorn

My wife and I became involved in pro-life work out of concern for women who’d been devastated by abortion. In 1981 we opened our home to a pregnant teenage girl. I served on the board of one of the first pregnancy centers on the West Coast, offering help to pregnant women who were needy, confused, and desperate. Our objective was to help women in every way possible. And the best way to help these women was to provide them alternatives to abortion.

As time went on, I became involved in pro-life education, political action, and peaceful nonviolent intervention outside abortion clinics. Some pro-life ministries focus more on saving unborn children, some more on helping pregnant women. I found both kinds to be vitally necessary and completely compatible.

The fact is this: thousands of pro-life organizations around the country and throughout the world provide free pregnancy tests, ultrasounds, counseling, support groups, childcare classes, financial management education, babysitting, diapers, children’s clothes, and housing. Add to these tens of thousands of churches donating time, money, food, house repairs, and every other kind of help to needy pregnant women, single mothers, and low income families. Countless pro-lifers adopt children, open their homes, and volunteer to help children after they’re born. Together these efforts comprise the single largest grassroots volunteer movement in history.

While those who offer abortions charge women for them, those who offer abortion alternatives give their assistance freely, lovingly, and almost entirely behind the scenes. Contrary to some caricatures, these people are not just pro-birth—they are pro-life. They care about a child and her mother, and are there to help them both not only before birth, but after.