Heart of Our Work
Testimonies of grace, truth, and love from our team at Right to Life Michiana.
August 2023
A Tough Conversation
Shauna called our office one afternoon after getting into a tough conversation with her daughter. “I’m really shaken up,” she said. “My daughter is adamant that there is no proof life begins at fertilization. I know this is not true, but I froze and couldn’t think of what I should tell her to help her understand.”
Right away, our team jumped in to help Shauna and get a better sense of her circumstances. It turns out that Shauna has a particular passion for sharing the beauty of life, given her history of working as a NICU nurse for decades. Because she had experienced such a close window into the beauty and fragility of life in her profession, it was especially important to her that her daughter be able to understand the value of life.
Before connecting Shauna with trustworthy resources, we first asked lots of questions. It became clear that the pro-abortion mentality of Shauna’s daughter is highly charged and personal. In these cases, to help charitably correct an individual’s misunderstandings, we must first understand the possible barriers that might keep a heart and mind from recognizing truth. It Is not uncommon for an element of personal trauma or grief to play a role in strong feelings about the abortion issue, such as those experienced by Shauna’s daughter.
“Shauna, do you have a sense for why your daughter takes this issue so personally?”
“I’m certain that she has never had an abortion, but she did lose a baby to miscarriage about seven weeks into her pregnancy,” Shauna said. “I think it really threw her off. She has always been a heavy proponent of ‘women’s rights,’ and I don’t think she expected her loss to shake her as much as it did.”
“I’m so sorry to hear that,” we responded. “Do you think this experience might contribute to why she feels so strongly about abortion? Perhaps she knows that if she were to affirm the value of life at fertilization, she would have to face the reality that she lost a little one.”
“Wow… I never thought of it that way,” Shauna responded. “This makes so much sense.”
With a changed outlook and a softened heart, Shauna felt that she could now gently reapproach her daughter with the goal of helping her understand and process her grief before sharing fundamental truths about life in the womb.
Shauna thanked us up and down for equipping her to handle this tough conversation, charitably.