I am pro-life.  Sometimes the things we see today make us think we are losing the battle.  However, when you look at it in context of history, our own history here in the United States, we see it has been worst in the past and yet, through compassion and perseverance, it was slowed down.  I encourage you to read Marvin Olasky’s article in World Magazine (01/17/09 issue) about the lessons from the past (online at http://www.worldmag.com/articles/14857 — you may need a subscription).  I’ll quote a few highlights.

“It’s conventional to think of the abortion horror as a product of the Supreme Court’s 1973 Roe v. Wade decision, but research I’ve done at the Library of Congress shows that abortion on the eve of the Civil War was more frequent, in proportion to the U.S. population, than it is now.
. . .

 Abortion was so extensive in the mid-1800s that The New York Times called it “The Evil of the Age . . . The enormous amount of medical malpractice [a euphemism for abortion] that exists and flourishes, almost unchecked, in the city of New York, is a theme for most serious consideration. Thousands of human beings are thus murdered before they have seen the light of this world.” But the abortion rate began to fall after the Civil War as a nationwide pro-life movement gathered strength.
. . .

Overall, as pro-lifers compassionately aided women at risk, the abortion rate declined dramatically from 1860 to 1910 and stayed relatively low until the cultural revolution of the 1960s sent the numbers soaring again. Pro-life leaders during the 1860-1960 century understood that there never would be “total abolition of the practice.” Realizing that this is a fallen world, they appreciated the educational impact of anti-abortion laws but did not expect much in the way of enforcement: Instead, they concentrated on ways to provide women with compassionate alternatives to abortion. They were not laid low by a sense of failure when, despite their efforts, many unborn children died. They rejoiced that so many were saved.”

Read the whole article to see all the compassion poured out on the men and women entangled in abortion.  Read about the psychological issues.  Read how we can learn from our past.

—For more information, see Marvin Olasky’s Abortion Rites: 
A Social History of Abortion in America (Crossway Books)