Today is the last day of 2023 and we are looking at one of my favorite episodes I have made: standing for life! This is part one of a part two series and I will post the link to part two below.
Welcome to Proverbs 31 Wannabe where Alexis Heaslip, a stay at home mother of two and follower of Jesus, shares her personal walk with Christ. Her goal it to help women explore the Bible and walk with Jesus by being a Proverbs 31 Wannabe. In this episode, we begin to explore why it is so important to stand for life in a world of darkness.
Abortion Effects on Women’s Mental Health- https://www.jpands.org/vol22no4/coleman.pdf The American Pregnancy Association- https://americanpregnancy.org/unplanned-pregnancy/abortion/ The American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology 1991- https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/6682630/ Planned Parenthood Annual Report- https://www.plannedparenthood.org/uploads/filer_public/40/8f/408fc2ad-c8c2-48da-ad87-be5cc257d370/211214-ppfa-annualreport-20-21-c3-digital.pdf Abortion Procedure- https://studentsforlife.org/learn/abortion-procedures/
Today is the last day of 2023 and we are looking at one of my favorite episodes I have made: standing for life! This is part one of a part two series and I will post the link to part two below.
Welcome to Proverbs 31 Wannabe where Alexis Heaslip, a stay at home mother of two and follower of Jesus, shares her personal walk with Christ. Her goal it to help women explore the Bible and walk with Jesus by being a Proverbs 31 Wannabe. In this episode, we begin to explore why it is so important to stand for life in a world of darkness.
Abortion Effects on Women’s Mental Health- https://www.jpands.org/vol22no4/coleman.pdf The American Pregnancy Association- https://americanpregnancy.org/unplanned-pregnancy/abortion/ The American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology 1991- https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/6682630/ Planned Parenthood Annual Report- https://www.plannedparenthood.org/uploads/filer_public/40/8f/408fc2ad-c8c2-48da-ad87-be5cc257d370/211214-ppfa-annualreport-20-21-c3-digital.pdf Abortion Procedure- https://studentsforlife.org/learn/abortion-procedures/
Hi there and welcome to Proverbs 31-1 and B, where we discuss Biblical womanhood in our constantly busy and sometimes crazy daily life. I'm Alexis Hieslop and, as a wife and mother of two, I am always striving and praying to be a Proverbs 31 woman of faith. Last week you heard my testimony of how God used my life experiences to draw me back to Him. If you missed last week's episode, please take a pause, go back and listen, because you don't want to miss out. Part of that drawing back to God was seeing whether or not I would stand by my conviction that all life is sacred, from womb to tomb. And although it wasn't easy and temptations were there, I drew into the Word and rediscovered the love that our Creator has for His creation, including myself, my children and others in my community, from the oldest to the youngest. But the world around us doesn't see the value in the most vulnerable in our communities. Although Roe vs Wade was appealed in the Supreme Court, which is a great first step, states still have the ability to decide whether or not to keep abortion legal in their borders. On top of the legal standing in our country, whenever someone even mentions their stance on abortion, you either get one of two things, depending on your stance you either get praise for being a champion of what the world believes or you get the complete opposite you're belittled, you are bashed and you are called a just hypocrite who is behind in the times, and you get cancelled because you go against the tide of the world. I can see why some of you guys, who love life and want all life to be valued at all stages, might be slow to speak out on this. You don't want to lose your friends over this. You don't want to upset family members who disagree with you, and maybe you're afraid of what your boss would do if you took a more vocal stance. You don't want to ruffle the feathers, and I totally get that because I've been there myself. But I also know that Jesus says that we are to go out and teach others and to not be afraid, even if it means you lose some friends in the process. And Matthew 5, verses 11 and 12, Jesus says God blesses you when people mock you and persecute you and lie about you and say all sorts of evil things against you, because you are my followers. Be happy about it, be very glad, for a great reward awaits you in heaven, and remember that ancient prophets were persecuted. In the same way, people who stand up for the gospel of Jesus have been ridiculed. They've been persecuted and sometimes even martyred because they weren't willing to let go of the truth of the gospel. 11 out of the 12 apostles were killed for their faith. People have been arrested for simply praying in front of an abortion clinic in Europe.
Speaker 1:
The beast that is social media tries to ruin people's careers over their stances on abortion. Businesses are providing more attention and more care to providing support and services and time off for women who work in their company to have an abortion, rather than providing support for women who are requesting maternity leave. And yet those who know the truth that life is precious from the womb to the tomb continue to put themselves in the line of fire to protect those who need it most. Some of you are probably thinking oh, you know, all of this sounds right and good, but how can I go about standing for life in our communities and in our world when it's so counter cultural to what everyone believes in nowadays? What are some things that I can do to be an advocate for the vulnerable? Does one person saying no to abortion really make a difference? Today, we are going to start to explore just that. Let's dive on in If you're going to be advocating for the vulnerable in our community.
Speaker 1:
There is so much out there about abortion, whether it's on social media, on a website or even on our new stations, and there's so much information and, from my experiences, a lot of people will give their opinions on abortion without even knowing how an abortion procedure works, how abortion affects the woman who has had an abortion, and without the knowledge of just how much organizations like Planned Parenthood profit from abortions. I have in the show notes links for studies and articles that go in depth on these subjects, so please, after this podcast, take a look and do a deep dive. I'll share with you some of the statistics and facts that stood out to me. Approximately 3,000 abortions take place every single day. Planned Parenthood states in their 2020-2021 annual report that they provided 383,460 abortions in this fiscal year. In their 2019-2020 report, it showed that abortion made up 96.6% of Planned Parenthood's pregnancy resolution services, while prenatal services, miscarriage care and adoption referrals accounted for only 2.2%, 0.7% and 0.5% respectively. The report also shows that Planned Parenthood has more than $2.1 billion in net assets, from $2 billion the previous year.
Speaker 1:
If you are wanting to know how an abortion procedure works, I have a link below in the show notes that explains abortion procedures in great detail. I will not go into details on this show since it is graphic and potentially very upsetting and I know many viewers have small children, but please take the time to learn about how an abortion procedure works so that you can have an educated discussion, or potentially a productive discussion, with someone in the future on abortion, or, if you ever have the chance and opportunity to witness to someone who has had an abortion themselves, then you will be able to understand the trauma that they have gone through. So please take a look at that article that I have in the link down below. Women who have abortions are 81% more likely to experience mental health problems, including, but not limited to, suicide, depression, insomnia and substance abuse. Along with the risks abortion poses to mental health, there are also an extensive amount of risks to the physical health of a woman, including, but also not limited to, damage to the cervix, persistent bleeding, scarring of the uterine lining, future premature births or miscarriage and an increased risk for breast cancer.
Speaker 1:
I know I just threw a bunch of information out to you, but unless we have the knowledge about what is truly going on, we can't use it to change hearts. Proverbs 19-2 tells us that enthusiasm without knowledge is no good. Haste makes mistakes. That is why I am sharing these truths with you, so that you feel comfortable and prepared to have accurate discussions about abortion and provide correction when someone argues something that isn't factual. I love how the Lord put such a verse like this in his Word. He knew that we would be faced with challenges like abortion, and he wanted us to realize that we have to be prepared and put in the work so that we can create change in the world. Now that we are armed with some of the facts and that was just the tip of the iceberg we have taken the time to start becoming aware of what's next. What's the next step? Do we just go out and ramble out all of these facts to whoever walks down the street? I've seen people try to do things similar like that and it just doesn't seem to go over very well. But I have come up with four ways that can help you create conversation, make change in your community and have an impact on the world as we know it. I'm only going to go over one of those ways in this episode and we will continue the conversation next week.
Speaker 1:
The first and I really do feel like the most important thing that you can do to stand for life is actually quite simple, and it's something that is just overlooked you can pray and read the Word of God daily. I know it's that simple. It really is that simple, because you know God wants us to pray boldly. He wants us to praise Him, rest in Him and ask Him for guidance about all aspects of our life. Prayer is our way of connecting with God and growing in our relationship with Him. So why not pray to God about abortion?
Speaker 1:
John, chapter 15, verses 7 through 12, say but if you remain in me and my word remains in you, you may ask for anything you want, and it will be granted. When you produce much fruit, you are my true disciples. This brings great glory to the Father. I have loved you even as the Father has loved me. Remain in my love when you obey my commands. You remain in my love, just as I obey my Father's commands and remain in His love. I have told you these things so that you will be filled with my joy. Yes, your joy will overflow. This is my commandment Love each other in the same way I have loved you. You see, jesus wants us to do His will. He wants us to know His word so that we are able to keep it in our hearts and it have impact our decisions. And when we do that it brings God joy. Did you catch that part of scripture? It brings God joy when we do that. Can I hear? All that makes my heart jump a little inside. My heart jumps because that just shows how powerful God really is and that we should be putting our trust in Him so much more than we do on a daily basis.
Speaker 1:
Just yesterday, I was at my mom-to-mom group at our church and we talked about the importance of prayer. The study we are doing together is one by Chip Ingram, and he is such a wonderful person to hear speak about his journey with God. It's just so powerful. Every time I hear him talk it's fabulous. And the topic was about how we should be praying boldly to God. And you know what a bold prayer we can do to pray for people to realize how destructive and devastating abortion is, and that is something that we can pray for until abortion ceases to exist.
Speaker 1:
Chip gave us a great example at my mom group. He writes out all of his big prayer goals on a piece of paper and he goes back to them throughout the year and when something gets answered by God he'll write a note and he'll check it off. Sometimes his prayers took a long time to be answered and he'd have to go a few years later and look back on that piece of paper and see how God answered the prayer in a way he didn't expect. And although these results of the prayers weren't always immediate and they always weren't seen right away, spanning over the years, he was able to see the change over time in his prayer life, in his life and in the lives of people around him, because of the consistent prayer over the big issues facing him. That is the type of bold and consistent praying we should be doing over abortion, from reading passages in scripture like Psalm 139, verses 13 through 16, which says you made the delicate inner parts of my body and knit me together in my mother's womb.
Speaker 1:
Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex. Your workmanship is marvelous. How well I know it. You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion, as I was woven together in the darkness of the womb. You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out, before a single day had passed.
Speaker 1:
And when you read Psalm 127, verses 3 through 5, which says children are a gift from the Lord, they are a reward from Him. Children born to a young man are like arrows in a warrior's hands, how joyful is the man whose quiver is full of them. He will not be put to shame when he confronts his accusers at the city gate. Or when you read something like Luke, chapter 1, verses 41 and 44, which shows a pre-born baby leaping in the womb, for it says at the sound of Mary's greeting, elizabeth's child leaped within her and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. And she said when I heard your greeting, the baby in my womb jumped for joy. These scriptures are just some of the many that show how much God loves, how much God creates and how he breathes life into the unborn.
Speaker 1:
When we pray for them, we are praying for His will to be done and with our persistent prayer, abortion can and will eventually, in God's time, come to an end. Before we close, I want to practice when I'm preaching and pray with you. So let's bow our heads and talk to our Father. Lord, I come before you as your child. You breathe life into all of us and we should be people who value and respect and uphold and protect your creation.
Speaker 1:
But this is a fallen world and so many people have lost sight of the truth that all people are precious, all people are valued, all people are loved by you, and abortion has become the societal norm and it's even becoming something that people celebrate. Lord, help us to be a light in the world that is so full of darkness. Help us to be vessels for your word and your will. We want abortion to become something that is unthinkable. Lord, help us to find the words whenever we are in a conversation with a friend or with somebody who we know, or a colleague, or even a stranger, when abortion comes up. Give us the peace in our hearts so that we can speak your truth and love to others.
Speaker 1:
Lord, I pray that, as our country continues this discussion of abortion, that our lawmakers hear the voice of the people crying out for the unborn and just laws are passed to protect the most vulnerable. And, lord, I also pray for those who are being constantly attacked by people. Lord, don't let them feel like they're just gonna give up. It's so hard when so many people are screaming at you on social media, being so hateful and spiteful. But, lord, you are the prince of peace, so fill their hearts with peace, and we love you, lord. We know that your will will be done and that abortion will be no more in your timing.
Speaker 1:
So thank you, god, for all that you've given us today. We turn to you. We turn to you, amen. Thank you, guys, so much for listening to Proverbs 31, 1b today. We hope you enjoyed the program. If you enjoy our show, please rate and review us on Apple podcasts and be sure to come back next week as we continue to talk about why and how a Proverbs 31, 1b woman stands for life and all. Please, please, come find us on Instagram, facebook and our website, wwwproverbs311bcom. Come check us out, give us the like, give us a smile, write a little note. We love to hear from you guys. Until then, this is Alexis Heaslip and I hope you have a great rest of your day, god bless.