Eastern Europe (MNN) — While abortion rates are falling in the developed world, Eastern Europe still stands as the region of the world with the highest rates of abortion. Research findings published in the Lancet in 2014 show that 42 out of every 1,000 women in Eastern Europe had an abortion. In North America, that rate is 17 abortions in every 1,000 women.

Life Matters Worldwide seeks to educate people on the biblical pro-life message, provide training for pro-life ministry in churches and communities, and partner with pro-life ministries both in the United States and internationally. Two countries which Life Matters has focused ministry in are Ukraine and Romania. The organization’s president Tom Lothamer and others with Life Matters will be traveling to these two countries next month to provide pro-life ministry training and connect with partners there.

One place they’ll visit is the Choose Life Women’s Center, a pregnancy care ministry Life Matter’s helped start in Odessa, Ukraine with ABWE missionaries, Dr. Miriam Wheeler and Holly Friesen.

Lothamer shares, “The center has been operating and functioning very well. When they started a couple years back, three or four years ago, we went over there and did an initial board meeting with the center. Well now they have new board members, so they’ve asked us if we would go back and do another training.

Tom Lothamer leading a conference workshop for missionaries in Slovenia. (Photo courtesy of Life Matters Worldwide via Facebook)

“Then once we get done there and actually speaking in churches, we’re going to fly into Romania to meet with our ministry partners to talk about vision casting for ministry into the churches with the pro-life message.” They’ll also help with ministry board training in Romania as well.

Statistics reveal that there’s a lot of ground to cover for pro-life initiatives in Ukraine and Romania.

“There’s kind of a callousness, if I can say that, in all of the Europe about the issues of life. And not only the issues of life at the beginning of conception and babies, but also the other end of life is also the same way,” explains Lothamer.

“Abortion is, of course, legal. Many of them are done in hospitals and they’re fairly inexpensive to get done, and it’s just tragic because sometimes the form of birth control for women is to go have an abortion. A number of women have six, seven, and eight abortions in their lifetime — sometimes even more.”

Often, when these women who’ve had multiple abortions are convicted with the truth of the Gospel, they stop there because they think they can’t possibly be forgiven.

“I remember a story from Miriam Wheeler, she’s a doctor and she was working with a particular woman outside the city of Odessa. [This woman] had 13 or 14 [abortions], and she had mentioned to her that ‘God could never forgive me.’ Of course, at that time, [Miriam] was able to present to her the forgiveness of Christ, the grace of Christ.

“So that’s one of the key ministries that can happen in these countries is post-abortion recovery and deliverance from the sin of abortion.”

Ultimately, when it comes to Gospel-based pro-life ministry, Life Matters’ rhetoric doesn’t start and end with man. In everything they do, it starts and ends with Christ as the reason behind the pro-life ‘why’.

Lothamer says their hope for Ukraine and Romania is “that the Gospel will flourish, and when that flourishes, then we’re going to see a lot of change of hearts and attitudes on the issue of abortion, people made in God’s image, and end-of-life ministry.”

Life Matter’s trip to Romania and Ukraine for pro-life ministry training will be from August 16-26. Please commit to praying for the trip during this time.

“The message of the Gospel is key to abortion recovery or even to preventing abortion. So the prayer would be that women who’ve had abortions would find deliverance and reconciliation through Christ and through the people that are there…. Secondly, pray that many women and men will not choose abortion because it’s readily available.”

Lothamer also asks, “Pray for us and our partners over there as we meet, that we’ll be led of the Spirit of God.”

There are still financial needs for this trip as well. If you’d like to give in support of Life Matters Worldwide, click here to give and in the notes section you can designate it for “Eastern Europe ministry trip”. Life Matters is a member of the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability.

March for Life 2017 (Photo courtesy of Life Matters Worldwide via Facebook)

“This was the 44th annual march,” says Lothamer. “We’ve been doing this every year to highlight the sanctity of human life in this country — especially since Roe v Wade — and really rallying the people, hearing great speakers, and it’s more like a real encouragement event but also saying to the public, ‘Here’s this mass of people, men and women, who are committed to the sanctity of human life and we’re going to be here every year as long as it takes until we see Roe v Wade go off the record books.’”

An Inclusive March

The March for Life had interesting timing following the Women’s March earlier last week, which had over 500,000 attendees in Washington, D.C. While the Women’s March touted having an inclusive message supporting women’s rights, it was very exclusive when it came to pro-life feminists.

“When I think of the Women’s March — and I am definitely sure there were a lot of many women there who are really concerned about the issues of women in America and the struggles they may be facing — however, when the Women’s March banned pro-life groups and women from that march, that was very telling that they’re very one-sided, very intolerant.”

Michele Shoun with her sign in front of the Capitol. (Caption, photo courtesy of Life Matters Worldwide via Facebook)

Lothamer continues, “Erik Metaxas, when he was speaking at the March for Life, he said, ‘This is the inclusive march, where as long as you’re alive, and a human being, you are welcome at this march.’ I really believe the March for Life is really the one that was tolerant and inclusive and it was saying we want to highlight, we want to promote the sanctity of human life. We believe that babies in the womb have rights, and we also want to highlight the protection of and support of women as well!”

But What Does That Mean?

In light of the recent temporary ban on refugees from President Trump, the Women’s March earlier last week, and varying responses from the Christian community to both… it has prompted people to ask, “What all do Christians really mean when they say they’re pro-life?” Some have accused Christians of being especially focused on pro-life just in relation to the unborn, but neglecting care for other vulnerable and marginalized groups.

While there are always examples of people who will validate any extreme assumption (against individuals both Christian and secular, liberal and conservative), Lothamer says this “pro-birth only” assumption is often not true when you get down to the ground-level of Christian pregnancy care centers, refugee organizations, and shelters around the United States.

“If you look at the number of pregnancy care centers in this country — upwards of 2,500 or more — [they] are very inclusive of women, whoever they are, whatever their situation, even if they’ve had an abortion, they can receive help from these centers. And they receive all kinds of help in reference to parenting, job skills, medical help, all kinds of things at these centers. That’s one example.

March for Life 2017 (Photo courtesy of Life Matters Worldwide via Facebook)

“When you look at the pro-life community, we’re about helping women, especially as it relates to abortion, but also we’re about helping those at the end of the life.”

And, says Lothamer, “We are supportive of refugees coming into this country and helping them. If you take, for example, Bethany Christian Services in Grand Rapids, Michigan — one of the largest ministries of its kind — they have a huge ministry to these people (refugees), finding them homes and helping them get jobs and settle in this country.”

One thing is for sure: a full range of pro-life issues are hot topics right now, and it’s encouraging that people are talking about them.

Lothamer explains that fostering such pro-life conversations and the positive actions that come from them is what Life Matters Worldwide is all about.

“We are trying to keep this at the forefront in the minds of our people. Our mission, for an example, is to assist the Body of Christ in understanding the biblical pro-life message not only in word, but in deed.”

Church, the Ball is in our Court

Now, Lothamer says it’s up to the Church to keep up the momentum about all pro-life dialogue, because people have questions and it’s going to take compassionate believers willing to engage in hard topics to point people to Christ.

“It’s really in the Church’s corner, in their court, to continue to promote this, support pregnancy ministries, continue to educate their people in how they can be more actively pro-life in deed in their communities and with their families. I think it’s the Church because if we want to talk about security, our security in reality, especially from a Christian perspective, it’s not what’s going on in Washington, not who is the president. Our security is Christ…. His call for us is to go out and be Christ-like and His change agents to a lost and dying community.”

(Photo courtesy of Frontiers USA)

As the Church, we should also ask ourselves hard questions and pray for wisdom on what a biblical definition of being fully pro-life means.

Lothamer offers these thoughts: “How do we care for our neighbors who live right across the street or right next to us? Are we helping them and encouraging them, showing kindness? A number of women and men can get involved in pregnancy care ministries, a number can get involved in rescue ministries in their local communities, they can help ministries for the chronically and terminally ill,…become educated, they can help connect with their legislators on these particular pro-life type of issues. And a major one, probably the main one, is for God’s people to pray for righteousness to prevail in our nation and for the Church to be revived.

“I really encourage not only myself, but my brothers and sisters out there, let’s stand up, let’s work at protecting life at all stages, in all circumstances such as sexual slavery, homelessness, abortion, end of life, and so forth.”

If you’d like to learn more about Life Matters Worldwide and their resources, click here.

The March for Life in 2015. (Photo courtesy of Elvert Barnes via Flickr under Creative Commons 2.0 Generic: https://goo.gl/Ie0iBo)

According to a new report released last Tuesday by the Guttmacher Institute, the annual number of abortions in the United States has fallen below the one million mark. The data comes from surveys of abortion clinics in 2014, and is the lowest that rate has been since 1974.

Pro-choice and pro-life camps alike are quick to claim responsibility for the drop in abortion numbers. Has increased use in contraceptives led to the decline? Or is it because of greater efforts to provide pregnancy care and alternative options to abortion?

Ed Rivet with Right to Life of Michigan says, “There’s a wide range of factors, and I won’t dismiss the fact that they have added the IUD, the intrauterine device, as a contraceptive in recent past and it does tend to be more effective. But that’s just one factor…. There are a variety of factors that are leading women to just be more pro-life.”

One factor Rivet suggests may be impacting the numbers is the ‘Ultrasound Generation’. “Teenagers today are more pro-life than ever and they’re rejecting abortion. While we’ve seen in the state of Michigan, for example, abortion stayed fairly stable over the last four or five years among 20-somethings and 30s, they continue to go down among minors. And so it’s a generation that’s rejecting abortion, it’s a generation that’s what I call the ‘Ultrasound Generation’…. The first picture of them was the ultrasound their mother got of them. So they have an identity of themselves before birth and they’re just not buying the abortion line like previous generations have.”

Furthermore, there have been additional measures implemented over the years to monitor abortion clinics. “As states have done more to regulate abortion and the clinics are licensed and they’re more carefully monitored and inspected, the clinics are more in compliance.”

Another factor that could be impacting the abortion rate is the number of pro-life legislative acts that have taken place, and the growth in information coming out about the pre-born with scientific advances.

“As we just saw in Ohio in December, they passed a bill called the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act. This is being passed in a number of states saying at five months, at twenty weeks, this baby is fully capable of feeling pain and yet abortion is still legal. And as we have those kind of ‘public policy’ debates about the legality of abortion, people are getting a greater awareness that the pro-choice position of Planned Parenthood and the ACLU is really a very extreme position and they’re not comfortable with it.”

Life Matters Worldwide’s Tom Lothamer also offers his perspective on advances in holistic care for women in the pro-life community. “We feel this [decrease in abortion numbers] is a result of many many more pregnancy care ministries throughout this country who are serving women with love and compassion and showing them options other than just abortion. But not only asking them to consider this, but they’re also providing care for them in many different areas of their life. And so we believe this is one area or one reason why these numbers are down.”

Statistics in recent years do show a decline in unplanned pregnancies. In a previous report, Guttmacher revealed that in 2008, 54 out of every 1,000 women aged 15-44 had an unplanned pregnancy. In 2011, that rate dropped to 45 unwanted pregnancies out of every 1,000 women. However, the rate of unplanned pregnancies that ended in abortion remained the same, around 42 percent.

Pro-choice advocates have pointed to the decrease in unwanted pregnancies to say, therefore, the increase in contraceptive availability must be having the greatest impact on abortion rates.

(Photo cred: Steve9091 via Flickr)

However, The Atlantic reports that a company keeping records on the pharmaceutical industry revealed that between 2009 and 2013, there was only a slight increase in contraceptive use by women. Prescriptions for the most popular contraceptive pill only went up from 93 million to 95 million over those five years.

Greater access to contraceptives in health care may contribute to the decline in birth and abortion rates, but it cannot account for it as largely as pro-choicers would like to make it seem. And it does not negate the positive impact that pro-life policies and increased understandings of life before birth are having on society.

When it comes to protecting the lives of unborn children, these lowering abortion statistics can be encouraging. But there is still a lot of work to be done. It can be tempting as Christians to start conversations about the pre-born with the Bible.

However, Lothamer suggests, “One of the things we have to remember in approaching this discussion is we can’t come out with our Bible quotes necessarily, because we may be speaking to someone who doesn’t agree with the Scriptures or doesn’t understand the Scriptures. So we have to try to deal with it as much as possible from a moralogical point.

“I have a friend, Scott Klusendorf, who has developed over the years what he calls the SLED Test, and in five minutes you can defend the pro-life position…. We have to ask the question: in the womb, is this an actual child, a human being? Or is it a blob of tissue? And that makes all the difference,” explains Lothamer.

“All these things you can actually discuss with people and become reasonable. If you can learn those types of appropriate arguments that are not heated, but merciful and compassionate, you can actually talk with these people and help them to actually see the logic.”

It’s one thing to understand and agree that, morally, abortion is wrong. It’s another thing to think it needs to be legislated and restricted at a legal level. So why do pro-life ministries and organizations think abortion should be reduced and eventually banned by the government?

Rivet says, “I revert to a couple of basic principles. Our pledge of allegiance says we want a society with liberty and justice for all. My first question then, if they bring in government and its role, I say, ‘Well, what is just about abortion? From the perspective of the unborn child — and you were once an unborn child — what is just about abortion?’ There’s no justice in it because it’s the big guy picking on the little guy; it’s the adult, grown-up people who are supposed to be rational and mature killing someone who did nothing, and there’s no justice in that. I say that this country was about rights for all and our founding fathers said there were these inalienable rights that start with life and liberty and the pursuit of happiness, and our country was founded on this idea that everyone should be treated equally and everyone’s right to life is equal. This is government’s primary job.”

Lothamer also adds they want to approach these conversations with a heart of compassion, not just for the unborn children, but also — and even especially — for the mothers and fathers who are hurting or scared or confused.

“From a Christian perspective, we understand that all humans are created in the image of God and that’s sacred to us, so we want to help women understand the options, because choosing abortion has tremendous implications emotionally, it has implications from a medical perspective (and there’s all kinds of research out on that) and the long-term effects of abortion. I believe we’re the compassionate ones in the sense of saying we want to help women fully understand what they’re about to do, if they’re considering abortion, and offer them alternatives…. Caring for that child, caring for the mother and the father, adoption, there’s all kinds of things.

“We are offering compassion and mercy and trying to help women make a choice that we believe long-term is going to be greatly healthy for them emotionally, physically, and otherwise.”

Both Right to Life of Michigan and Life Matters Worldwide network with pregnancy care centers. If you need to be connected to a pregnancy resource or center near you, Right to Life of Michigan has a toll free number they encourage you to call: 1-800-57-WOMAN.

Life Matters Worldwide also offers further educational resources, both for those interested in pro-life issues and for churches that want to better understand their role in pro-life ministry. Click here to visit Life Matters Worldwide’s website.

Ultimately, as the Church, we need to keep being the loving hands of Christ — for pregnant women needing help, for families struggling financially, for single mothers feeling alone, for couples in an adoption journey, and for women dealing with post-abortion trauma.

“This is an issue that is not going to go away through some type of compromise…. The pro-life people are going to continue to offer care and compassion and mercy to all people, regardless of who they are. And even if they’ve had an abortion, we’re still going to be there, unlike the abortionists, we’re still going to be there to offer care for healing and restoration of their lives. So we’re going to keep doing that in the power of the Spirit of God.”

Back in the early 90’s, that abortion rate in Eastern Europe was even higher, with women aborting 54 percent of their pregnancies. This was due in part to the fact that contraceptives had limited access under the Soviet regime.

While the abortion rate in Eastern Europe has gone down, it remains an epidemic, emotionally and physically scarring the women who chose or were forced to end the lives of their babies, and wiping out millions of infants in a generation.

But there is hope — both for the healing of women who’ve had an abortion, and for saving the lives of babies in jeopardy.

Tom Lothamer leading a conference workshop for missionaries in Slovenia. (Photo courtesy of Life Matters Worldwide via Facebook)

Tom Lothamer with Life Matters Worldwide recently conducted two workshops for a conference of ABWE missionaries in Portorož, Slovenia two weeks ago. Missionaries hailed from countries all over Eastern and Central Europe. They gathered together for a time to rest and refocus their vision for God’s Great Commission.

The two workshops led by Lothamer covered prayer for the ministry, and casting the vision for pro-life ministry on the field.

“One of the ways here and around the world where we can reach men and especially women is through this type of ministry — letting them know there’s people who care, who can help them, they can go through post-abortion recovery. It’s a real neat ministry that gives the missionaries an opportunity to share the Gospel. Many are coming to Christ because of this. And also on the front end of pregnancy, before they get an abortion, babies are being spared.”

For women who have undergone an abortion, often the last place they want to go to is the Church. However, Lothamer says pregnancy and post-abortion care services are great ways believers can reach out.

“This is a natural way of interacting with people in the community who maybe would never come over to their church plant, but they would come for that type of service and help…. A young woman who is afraid, who is alone, and then she hears about this ministry that will serve her and help her, guide her, and so she’ll come. There’s all different kinds of ways that women find it.”

(Photo courtesy of Life Matters Worldwide via Facebook)

Pro-life ministry opportunities don’t just focus on early life and pregnancy. Lothamer also spoke on ways missionaries can care for and involve the elderly in community.

“We talk about the whole idea of the Church first of all ministering to the Body within their church family; and to those who are elderly, those who are sick, purposefully and intentionally ministering to them, caring for them, connecting with them,” says Lothamer.

“Also, this can spill outside the Church where people in a community, in a neighborhood…have elderly neighbors [or] sick neighbors and they can then choose to minister to them…to create a relationship with them and possibly have an opportunity to share the Gospel with them.”

Congregations often have great programming for youth, teens, and families. But when it comes to reaching out to senior individuals, not all churches make it a priority.

“People in this time of life are very vulnerable. And even in this country in the United States, there are many people who are elderly, sick, and frankly, alone. It’s not generally the desire of the Church to leave them alone, they just need to learn of ways they can effectively do that and put it on the front burner, as it will, of the church ministry.”

Bottom line, pro-life ministry touches on several different subjects: pregnancy care, elderly ministry, healing for the sick, quality of life for the disabled, combating sexual slavery, fighting poverty. And above all — fullness of life in Christ.

“No matter what the situation is, our call is still to reach out to those in need who have very physical issues, very emotional issues, spiritual issues, and to share the Gospel.”

The missionaries have since left the conference and gone home to their mission fields across Central and Eastern Europe. But Lothamer asks for your prayers.

“Pray for those who are experiencing great trauma, but also for the Christians to be alert to opportunities to minister to people in unique ways, wonderful ways. And pray for the missionaries who are serving over there, not for their own needs, but they’re serving there because they’re called.”

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