During Women’s History Month, let us remember the women who have made a positive difference in this world by helping us to become pro-life, chaste and pro-God—let us focus on women who exemplify the role of the real woman.
The real woman helps fight for the equal rights of all innocent persons regardless of age or condition. Therefore, a real woman defends preborn children from the moment of creation and she defends innocent persons until they are elderly and die a natural death. She is a woman of God who is not only self-giving, but selfless. In other words, a real woman is a woman of love and truth.
I often think of my mother, whom I hold high in admiration. She has nine children and treats all of us as if each one is her favorite. One of us, my older sister Frances, died while she was in my mother’s womb. As hard as that was, my parents persevered and had a funeral for Frances. Despite their grief, my parents had the words “God came like a spring rain” inscribed on her tombstone.
My mother reminds me of the Virgin Mary, our heavenly Mother. By example, Mary inspires us to be patient, peaceful, faithful, generous, gentle, modest and chaste.
Other exemplary women of my lifetime who have stood for truth include Blessed Teresa of Calcutta, Phyllis Schlafly, Beverly LaHaye, Nellie Gray and Judie Brown. They have gone above and beyond the ordinary to bring peace to our world.
Sadly, however, abortion supporters will focus this month on a woman who contributed to nearly 49 million deaths across the United States. Her part in the decriminalization of birth control and abortion also increased the number of failed relationships and magnified the number of STDs. She did this by promoting promiscuous lifestyles as “normal.” Indeed, because of Margaret Sanger and Planned Parenthood’s philosophies, our society now faces more and more problems. After all, promiscuity often results in adultery, divorce, depression, child abuse, statutory rape, the killing of preborn children and even the suicide of post-abortive mothers. So I have to ask, do we really want to celebrate women like Margaret Sanger for the widespread loss of innocence?
Many young ladies today are sick and tired of deadly agendas and realize that our world needs more examples of real women. Thankfully, some real women are rising to the occasion.
For example, Kristi Burton, founder of Colorado for Equal Rights, is leading the efforts of her state’s proposed human life amendment to protect all innocent persons by law from the moment of fertilization.
From previous generations, I remember Blessed Teresa of Calcutta. She was a real woman of God who gave her entire self for the sake of others, proclaiming truth in everything that she did from caring for the poor and sick to speaking to crowds. Mother Teresa called everyone to the culture of life. That’s why one of her best-known lines is, “I feel that the greatest destroyer of peace today is abortion because it is a war against the child, a direct killing of the innocent child, murder by the mother herself.”
I also look to Phyllis Schlafly, founder of the Eagle Forum. Since 1972, she has been a key leader of U.S. conservatives. She led the successful efforts to defeat the proposed Equal Rights Amendment, which could have resulted in the drafting of women, even mothers with little children, into the military and war.
I also look to Beverly LaHaye, who formed Concerned Women for America in 1972. She challenged us by saying, “Yes, religion and politics do mix. America is a nation based on biblical principles. Christian values dominate our government. The test of those values is the Bible. Politicians who do not use the Bible to guide their public and private lives do not belong in office.”
Another real woman is Nellie Gray, who established the annual March for Life in 1974. Every year on the anniversary of the Supreme Court’s terrible Roe v. Wade decision, more and more people look to her in Washington, D.C. as she continues the fight to end decriminalized abortion in our country. About 20,000 pro-lifers gathered for the first March for Life and this year hundreds of thousands, mostly young adults, joined what is progressively becoming the largest march in U.S. history.
Last but not least, Judie Brown is one of the most inspirational real women that I have ever met. Since 1979, when she co-founded American Life League, Judie has educated people about what it will take to defeat Roe v. Wade. After three decades of stressing the need for a law declaring the personhood of the child from the moment of his or her creation, Judie Brown’s work is coming to fruition with the human life amendments proposed in several states. She is a member of the Pontifical Academy for Life and has received numerous awards, including Outstanding Young Women in America (twice) and the International Human Life Award.
These are just a few real women that we should celebrate, especially during Women’s History Month. May we learn from them and trust in God as He calls each of us to fight for the preborn and live the life of truth and love. Let us be as bold as Mary was when the angel Gabriel appeared to her announcing the arrival Jesus and she responded, “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word.”
Marie Hahnenberg is a researcher for American Life League. She blogs at www.ALL.org.