Our Children, Abortion Clinics, and Victim (Graphic) Images

We received a couple questions from our homeschool group related to taking our children to the abortion mill, as well as their being exposed to victim (graphic) images. I thought I’d share my response here for anyone else working through this delicate issue. Hope it helps:

Hi all,

I’m Justin, Jennifer’s husband. As the questions have come up, Jen thought it would be helpful for me to share how we have worked through speaking to our children about abortion and bringing them with us to the abortion mills.

Let me first say the answers to these questions is something we each have to work out before the Lord. We have a stewardship with our children, and we need to seek the Lord for wisdom as to how to navigate these issues with our own unique families. So with that said, what I will share applies to our family, and perhaps it will be helpful to some of you as you work through it. We recognize that other families may reach different conclusions than we have, and we respect these families and their decisions before the Lord.

Briefly, we began abortion-related ministry in January 2012. At the time, X was 2.5 years old, Y was 1.5ish, and Z was only known by the Lord (he would be born February 2013). One of our first questions in getting involved was how do the parents deal with their children seeing the victim images and the chaos and spiritual warfare that takes place out there. What was shared with us then, we have come to understand ourselves.

The “graphic images” are repulsive to look upon. Just recently, a dear sister called them “victim images”, which we think is a much more apt description. These children are made in the image of God – they are persons. They are, therefore, victims of abortion. We recognize Christians will disagree on the use of these images, and respect other opinions on the matter. It is our position these images indeed expose the deed of darkness that is abortion and do change minds on the reality that children are actually legally, barbarically sacrificed in America. It is the reality, a reality manifested in our American holocaust (here is a short video on the murder of Emmett Till and how his mother used his death to influence the civil rights movement). So what about our children seeing these images?

We believe our children have the capacity to understand what the images depict. When X saw the images at the abortion mill when she was two, it was enough for us to say, “babies hurt.” As her vocabulary grew, so did our communicating to her what happens at the abortion mill and why we go there. Our children now understand that some mommies pay to have bad doctors murder their children. They understand we go there to love these children and plead justice on their behalf. They know we are there to tell people about Jesus, that He cares for these babies and their mothers, and they know that we are there to show mercy to parents who choose life for their babies.

Our children also see the volatility at the abortion mill. The spiritual warfare is real, and it causes people who are already enslaved to their sin to really hate the message we bring as well as us messengers. Our children see the ugliness of sin. As they mature, they will come to learn how the consequences of sexual immorality can lead sinners to kill their own children. What we desire for our children to understand is the wickedness of sin, not any supposed “glory” of sin that Hollywood and the world make sin to be. We want them to see sin in its proper context, and better for them to see its ugliness than to be seduced by its deceitful pleasures. We desire to guide them in this truth.

We also want our children to see mercy, justice, and love demonstrated before them. We want them to see godly men defending women and children, and godly women willing to come alongside women in need to love them physically and with the truth. Of course, these things are possible for our children to learn apart from going to abortion clinics, but it is certainly one way to show them. In this, and in part, we hope to be cultivating in our children’s hearts a culture of life. They are growing up in a culture of death, and we want to raise them to be salt and light, by the grace of God, and to be bold and courageous to speak for those who cannot speak for themselves. We want to be able to pass the torch to them when they are older, to follow in our footsteps in seeking to abolish legalized abortion, and until it ends, loving our preborn neighbors and bringing the light of the Gospel to bear on the darkness for the salvation of souls.

So that’s how we have worked through these questions for our family. We don’t have all the answers, but we do the best we can in light of our understanding of biblical principles. We welcome any questions or concerns related to abortion-related ministry. We want to be an encouragement to you as you work through how or to what extent to be involved. On that note, here is an example of what the ministry looks like – the video is from 2012 and shows how righteousness, compassion, and truth are used to shine light into the darkness; also note the people praying and speaking with folks in cars outside the mill:

Oh yes, some have asked how #protestPP went yesterday. In short, between the future DC Planned Parenthood site and on Pennsylvania Ave. in front of the White House, thousands were exposed to the reality of abortion and heard the Gospel preached. I think many around the nation have been awakened to the holocaust and we’re praying the fire will remain ablaze.

We’re so glad to be a part of the group and really appreciate the warm welcome we have received.

Grace and peace,

Justin Edwards

p.s. See this link for guidance on how to begin ministering on the sidewalks of your local abortion mill: Sidewalks4Life