[From the 2020 Wenatchee Walk for Life on January 18]

I’m Pastor Timothy Winterstein and it is a joy in the Lord to be pro-life.

But this seems like a bad time to be pro-life.

It’s not a popular label. Because it’s never surprising when a famous celebrity, a popular musician, or a powerful politician says something in favor of the destruction of human life, using euphemisms like “reproductive health,” “women’s health,” “freedom of choice,” or “the right to choose what happens to one’s own body.” Those people will talk as if the position they’re holding is brave, rare, or difficult, when it’s the position that will be applauded loudly by all the “right” people. In fact, the only surprising and brave thing is when a famous person says something in favor of protecting or valuing human life.

But of course it’s not only outside of Christianity where it’s uncool to believe that all life is worth more than our own convenience or success or comfort. Some people act like it’s strange and out of the ordinary to believe that “pro-life” means being consistently pro-life across the board. The caricature of pro-life people only caring about human life inside the womb, but ignoring or devaluing that same life once he or she has been born, is common and popular. Such an accusation is no longer—if it ever was—a helpful check to make sure we are consistent; now it’s simply an easy cliché, without and against all evidence. That’s the way cliches work. They may start as a challenge to another cliché, but then they turn into coercive cliches themselves, attempting to force people to submit to the prevailing winds of popular opinion and be quiet.

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