She lived her life the way the culture told her. “When you live off lies you only live for that day,” Star Parker told Vitae Foundation’s supporters Tuesday night in St. Joseph, Mo. Welfare, drugs and abortion were a way of life for a younger Parker. Today she helps shape policy to save others from that horrible fate.
“It’s so easy to get lost. We’ve scrubbed schools of any reference to God. Feminism taught us that marriage is meaningless. We’re told there are no consequences; there’s a safety net. Boy, is that wrong,” Parker told the pro-life crowd.
The Founder and President of CURE, the Center for Urban Renewal and Education, a Washington, DC-based public policy institute that promotes market-based solutions to fight poverty, said pro-life work is the most important work in the country, if not the world.
“America has done a disservice to the world by elevating abortion,” Parker noted. “This means that your work is even more important.”
Parker has been an avid supporter of Vitae’s work for over a decade. “Because of Vitae’s research and finding out what drives a woman (to abort), it’s forced me to think about what drove me, what causes that part of humankind to break down. For whatever reasons, we need to understand this so we can help heal women.”
Parker said this isn’t the first time we’ve had a big moral question on the table. “During slavery, while we were trying to come up with the answer to this big question, Harriet Tubman was pulling them out one–by-one. That’s what our centers do,” Parker stated. Vitae’s research strategies are what help these centers be so good at reaching women.
Vitae Senior Market Director Stacey Kromer highlighted how Vitae’s strategies have helped St. Joseph’s local Pregnancy Help Center.
“Last year Willowbrook saw women from a 14-county area. What’s more, from January through October 15 of this year, they had 98 first-time appointments in the clinic, and 38 babies have been born,” Kromer stated.
“These critical connections that are made between pregnant women and pregnancy centers are crucial to saving women from the heartache of abortion,” Kromer explained. “What they gain are relationships that not only save lives but transform families.”
Parker agreed emphatically. “We’ve got news for you. Research gets results because it shows us how to reach that girl that is saying, ‘Today’s the day. How did this happen?’ People are lost, and they need help. That’s what this work is. It’s the best work in the country,” Parker stated.
Vitae President Debbie Stokes warned that the culture is worse than it was just two short years go. With the possibility of more pro-life justices on the U.S. Supreme Court, the other side has gone into overdrive. With the celebration of laws in New York, Vermont, Rhode Island and Illinois that legalize the same activities that sent abortionist Kermit Gosnell to prison, this country has taken a turn.
One of the most frightening and growing threats to unborn lives and their mothers is the increased online availability of chemical abortion kits from overseas suppliers.
“I want to be clear. I’m not talking about the Morning After pill,” Stokes noted.
The pro-life Charlotte Lozier Institute has identified 72 websites that provide these drugs directly to the consumer. Only two of the abortion-focused sites required any interaction with a doctor and only two more required a prescription.
“Is this legal? No, not in the U.S., but it certainly happens. There are ‘trials’ currently being conducted in the U.S. with the goal of making chemical abortion drugs more accessible,” the Vitae president warned.
Equally concerned, Parker said we must be prepared.
“You just heard, ‘We’ll just mail the abortion pills.’ Women are going to being coming into our centers in droves. We need to be able to understand every single situation so we can get them recovered and healed. Abortion hurts. It destroys everything it touches,” Parker noted.
The founder of CURE said we have challenges because of one issue—abortion—which collapsed families and skyrocketed family poverty rates and a housing crisis.
Parker said that today, when we looked back in history at slavery and the Holocaust, we ask, “What happened?”
“Our grandchildren will open their history books one day and look at this moment and ask, ‘What happened?’ ‘What were they thinking?’ The bigger question tonight is, ‘What did you do?’” Parker asked the audience.
Looking out at the crowd, Parker said with extreme confidence, “I will look at my grandchildren and say I did everything I could to stop it. We have an opportunity to do everything to stop it and help people rebuild their lives. We are going to do what Paul, the apostle, said, “We will be steadfast and immovable.
“We know in the end, we win!”
If you were unable to attend the St. Joseph event and would like to help Vitae with its mission of research and reaching more abortion-determined women, please consider a gift of $25, $50 or $100 today.