"It was only then that I apprehended the exaltation,
the pure love on the faces of that shivering mass of people,
surrounded as they were by hundreds of New York policemen...
It was, I suppose, the sheer intensity of the love and prayer that astonished me."
Dr. Bernard Nathanson was a pioneer in abortion rights and, in 1968, he co-founder of NARAL. He headed the largest abortion clinic in the nation and counts himself personally responsible for 75,000 abortions, including two of his own children, one by his own hand.
The new technology of ultrasound opened his eyes to the realities of human development. For purely scientific reasons, Nathanson reversed his stance on abortion. This conversion inspired him to produce Silent Scream, the first documentary of an abortion procedure. He became a featured speaker on the pro-life circuit.
But God was not finished yet. While scientific advances and clear-headed logic could cause a change in heart on abortion. it took the prayers and the love of the pro-life community to change his heart toward God. For years he remained stone-faced and unmoved in the face of their prayers and sermons. But on a cold day outside of a New York abortion clinic, his heart began to melt in the face of the pure love and joy exuded by a peaceful crowd of praying protesters.
"And for the first time in my entire adult life, I began to seriously entertain the notion of God.
- a god who had problematically led me through the circles of hell,
only to show me the way to redemption and mercy through His grace."
No comments:
Post a Comment