The day when abortion is no longer glamorized, but portrayed as the evil it truly is, will be the day that the culture of death will end.

By Carrie Gress

For most of human history, the killing of other human beings was most often soldier against soldier in combat. With the exception of civil wars and familial conflicts, strangers were killing strangers.

This all changed with the arrival of Second Wave feminism. Suddenly, abortion was what the cool girls were doing. Almost overnight, even in the midst of the Vietnam War, the casualties shifted from strangers killing strangers, to mothers killing their own children. In the U.S. alone, 60 million mothers have made that awful choice to kill their own children, 10 times the number of Jews killed in Hilter’s Holocaust. What changed? The mass media message targeting women.

The new message promoted by every influence maker, including celebrities, politicians, and journalists, is that abortion is cool. From Hollywood, to New York, to Washington, to London, and in every elite epicenter, the message became that the hip and savvy are pro-choice. Meanwhile, the voices of those who disagree with the elite brand of “choice” are muted.

Today, most women get the bulk of their information from their social media accounts, scrolling through articles approved by media elite with dire warnings about the sexual apocalypse that will come if Planned Parenthood is defunded or a certain judge is appointed to the Supreme Court. Actress Maggie Gyllenhaal warned in Glamour Magazine, "I've been a Planned Parenthood supporter my whole life — since my mom took me to a rally when I was in sixth grade. It's chilling to think of this resource being taken away." And given the muted opposition, in many circles, abortion isn’t even up for debate. Actress Mila Kunis recently reported that she didn’t even know there was a counter argument to the pro-choice position.

Abortion has become the “it” thing; Oprah encourages her readers to “shout your abortion” in the pages of her magazine, Martha Plimpton praised the abortion clinic in Seattle for her “best abortion,” and Teen Vogue suggested post-abortion gifts for a teenage friend (perhaps they will start a registry?). Abortion is simply cool, much like a great fitting pair of jeans, the latest trending handbag, and jet-set weekends to Paris.

How, then, can we possibly compete with this glamourized message? How do we get women to stop listening to this “sister-think” constantly piped into our daily lives?

1. We need to start taking women’s content more seriously. Too often, those of us fighting for life have underestimated the power of slick and compelling visuals. There is not a single magazine at the grocery store check-out stand (a $6 billion industry) that promotes a pro-life message. Considering where and how we spend our dollars is a start. Investing in projects that compete with these voices is also crucial.

2. Value true womanhood. We may not ever be able to beat the media at their own game, but we have something they don’t, which is the truth about women. Women are the soil of society. When they are corrupted, all of society is.

Few things destroy a woman like abortion because it hollows her out physically, but also spiritually. There is nothing that transforms the character of a woman like motherhood. The challenges of child-raising are not in vain, but have the potential to make her into a woman of wisdom and beauty.

3. Men must be men. The media have convinced men that they don’t have a voice because they don’t have a uterus (we didn’t say they were logical). Men must courageously stand up for the truth whenever possible.

4 Remember relationships. One of the most difficult pieces of the pro-life argument is that we are trying to get mothers, fathers, and grandparents to consider someone they don’t yet know. We must remind the abortion-minded that this is their family they are killing – not some stranger. Ultrasounds have bridged this gap, but talking about it is important.

5. Continued witness. Our presence at abortion clinics and in the lives of our friends and neighbors can change everything, which is part of the reason why 40 Days for Life has been so successful. When a woman in crisis has someone in front of her offering her hope, truth, and life, these realities can drown out the media chatter and help her to see what is really real.

6. Prayer and fasting are vital. Praying and offering sacrifices for the abortion-minded is crucial and is the true key to ending this scourge on our world today. There is story after story of lives saved because someone had a change of heart.

The day when abortion is no longer glamorized, but portrayed as the evil it truly is, will be the day that the culture of death will end. Pray for the day when abortion loses its cool.

This article originally appeared in Day 41. Reprinted with Permission.

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