Choosing Life For Those Without a Choice

Understand Christians that we don't have the luxury of staying silent about something that is the human injustice of our day and that we are going to be held responsible because it's no longer can be that we don't know that's Bethany Blumberg are addressing the human injustice of our day. It's the tragedy of abortion. Specifically, she's our guest writing as well on today's episode of Focus on the Family will be sharing truth and encouragement along with your host focus president and author Jim Daly thanks for joining us on John Fuller, John. It's sad to say this but the United States has one of the most extreme abortion policies in the world similar to communist China and North Korea think of that company that were keeping in many states. Abortion is allowed in the third trimester, even up to the point of birth and there's a disproportionate impact on the black community, especially yet in a 2019 survey released by you in partnership with Americans United for life. They found that 80% of Americans reject abortion the day before child is born into thirds of pro-choice Americans oppose abortion in the third trimester.

You can sense the momentum in the pro-life movement.

Right now I've said many times that abortion is a moral issue. It's not political. It's about life and death and were talking about the lives of literally millions of pre-born babies and the health and well-being of their mothers. And today's conversation with the bomb burgers will be eye-opening and encouraging for many of our listeners so please stay with us, you and Ryan and Bethany cofounded the radians foundation.

It's a life-affirming nonprofit Ryan is an Emmy award-winning creative professional and together the bomb burgers homeschool their four children, two of whom they've adopted a right has a book called, not equal civil rights gone wrong.

It's a really fascinating collection of thoughts, essays in graphic design you can get that when you call one 800 K in the word family were stop by our website and Jim, here's how you began the conversation right and Bethany. Welcome to Focus on the Family thanks is great to be here till find it so good night. I can't wait to have a discussion with you on a variety of topics to write your story begins out of some very difficult circumstances tell us about your birth mom and how your journey and passion for life began. Well, it began with violence. Actually, my birth mom experience the horror and violence of rape and yet she was courageous enough to not only give me the gift of life, but give me the gift of adoption. So when people ask why are you so passionate about this and I'm thinking a word your story begin to think well it began when I began the fact that she made that singular decision that literally will have reverberations for generations just continues to impact governor title family of 15, my family, six brothers and six is the big band man get back to cracked vinyl seats only. I get it, and there were no air conditioning that fix it little kids you your mom and that your adoptive mom and yes 10 I was the first one. So obviously when well you know there's a new person, a new flavor added to the family trailblazer you that something let me were laughing at that.

But you said was very serious about how you came into the world. Is this probably the most difficult thing for all of us pro-life, pro-choice talk about the tragic thing is that we think and even Christians think that the natural follow-up to something so horrific and violent is the violence of abortion but abortion doesn't doesn't heal anyone who's actually been raped and it doesn't ever punish the rapist and it punishes the child, and I find that the common thread through those who chose to parent those who chose adoption and those who are post-abortive that they believe in. They've expressed to us in many different events that the only redemptive part of that act as the child have the circumstances of our conception never change the condition of our worth. That's true of abortion, generally right. I mean think about it, that's one of the things we advocate, we get it. It's a tough decision. We understand that, and even the country. The law says you can make this decision, but I'm telling you the better decision is life. Everything will flow better for you emotionally, spiritually, I think even physically. If you make that right decision and hopefully that'll be overturned at some point, but it will never go away. Both sides will still fight through courts, etc. but that's where I've always felt we've gotta make Roe V Wade irrelevant and what I mean by that is that a woman would not want to choose that for her baby. Make it unacceptable to say I want to kill my child exactly and this is what we're working toward. Through your position that we found the radians foundation. We want to make it unthinkable and we emphasize the beauty that rises out of tragic circumstances. God is specializes in that all the time. You know, again, understand your speaking from a different point of conviction and you easily could not of been here because both I'm sad to say this but even within the church and outside the church definitely your unfortunately the one that most of us would say well it was a right right right doesn't make you feel what I mean. The year that 1% category 1% of abortions are from rape and incest on the 1% that she's 100% of the time to justify abortion, I can tell you there a lot of people who are very happy that I'm alive to see is a tangible example of what we were told and what we've begun as a Christian body to think that it's okay in certain instances, but I think that many many Christians even understand that 1% still leaves 99% and even if we gave over the 1%, which were not in a deal that would still leave 99% abortions that aren't from incest and rape and and were saying that 100% of the time there's a better Bethany, let's turn toward you. I didn't mean to ignore you. Of course what your story what your story well I was one of those girls that grew up in church. I love the Lord from a really young age through my teen years, things got a little bit rough as they do with many people that I really stay close to the Lord when I was in my 20s, I had my degrees and I was teaching and had a Masters degree and there were some situations that came into my life that were I like to say then they were disappointments. I was really disappointed went through a number of years where really I was emotionally numb things that I thought were to come to fruition. Hadn't Lord. Where are you those kind of years and during that time I was in a relationship with somebody who was emotionally abusive and wasn't planning to be with him forever but found that I was pregnant.

I was 28 okay I was old enough to know but in a place where this is just where my decisions had led me, I was teaching public school all my colleagues I just abort. We won't tell anybody know we'll know the kids won't know the biological father's like I want nothing to do with you. I'll give you the money to abort and I was like Lord I don't even know what to do with all of this, but I went and scheduled an ultrasound and I was just a few weeks about eight weeks pregnant and there I saw this ultrasound and I saw this beating heart, which looked more like a piece of rice that thinking that, but I had a moment a defining moment in the Lord just felt his presence just embraced me in that room and I just felt his heart to scrap my heart in this baby's heart and went home that night and I said father forgive me for just being selfish. I want this child to be somebody that she's proud of her mama and I opened his old journal and in the margin of this old journal was this verse. Psalm 34, five, and it said I sought the Lord, he delivered me from all my fears, those that look to him will be radiant in their faces will never be covered with chain didn't even know that I was carrying my oldest daughter, but I named her baby radiance and everybody thought I was crazy. I said he knew what her stories can be this great exchange that the Lord never gets tired he couldn't take the shame that any part of his testimony and exchange it for his waiting. We, you know, we have run down the line. Here I will come back to how you guys met the second question I have yet had you guys meet well. Interestingly enough, it was over the whole issue of abortion right it is funny so I went to the Baltic on a region. He graduated and I was back there and get a break and I was on this committee that was helping to plan concerts for use in the area and he won't say this, but he was the lead singer this big band at the time called surreal sign because we wouldn't have ended up together in the process of yes one of that. One of these events that I was working on helping to coordinate was benefit concert for crisis pregnancy center so it's actually kind of funny because me and my roommates were on the marketing committee so we had like these posters in the sharpie markers and were waiting were sitting in his bedroom waiting for surreal to show up and some of the marketing material they were to bring all Ryan was a creative director and shows up these beautiful judo marketing material at all this branding. I told Mike Berman if that girl don't show anybody or posterior guy just my heart left and so I am safe home with them. The first Psalm was love at first sight for both of us will journey to get to that point of marriage, however, but it was a love that was a few number of years where it didn't it didn't work out when I share about leaving and being like Lord I thought you spoke, things that was one of the things we went our own separate ways for number of years and the Lord worked on my heart the Lord worked on his heart was hotness. I needed healing some suppression that I believe is actually lanyard around get into it.

Let's what was going on for you.

This part of thing that we underestimate what happens in the will to the child what happens emotionally and psychologically.

I believe that a child feels rejection on the womb because there was this rejection I felt throughout my life.

Even though his love like crazy by my parents. There was and it was probably my drive toward perfection because I never want to be rejected and so unfortunately there was the self-loathing that just kept increasing increasing by time know I got my Masters degree. It started overtake me when you're depressed you surround yourself with darkness. Darkness loves more darkness, and I started realizing that I was surrounding myself with with darkness and so I was intentional course about reading. I put these verses up around my room and there was a song by an artist called Cindy Morgan and it was a song called I will be free and I would just read the lyrics to that course and just think want to be in place and there was a drive home from work in a Spybot 3035 minute drive home from work and probably for the 200 time I listed that song just for the last few weeks something broke literally broke inside of me as I drove across the bridge and I'm just trying like crazy Berkeley see, and I felt like something broke so I sang the lyrics that time I will be free will be free to run the mountains. I'll be free. Free drink from the living fountain.

The lyrics became real by time I got home there was something so different. There was, I knew something broken inside of me going back to him jumping on the trampoline is literally the joy was manifest. I just could not couldn't help but just jump and I called my sister right away and it was there was a freeing course. Satan's always finalize you and so is no wake up next morning you to be to put I never experienced that depression will second of my life thereafter and is a creative individual, and we internalize a lot of things. There was a breaking there was a deliverance. There was a freedom and I know this does not happen for everyone but it was a Holy Spirit deliverance on the drive home from work.

That's awesome yet so wasn't long after that that we end up back in touch with each other.

And here I have a one-year-old daughter but my heart for that one year had just been turned back to Lord like crazy and God's working on Ryan where he is and so we get back together within a few months were engaged in them were married and with just I feel like the Lord allowed us to hit the ground running together and you know we could have gone to our healing together, but he didn't. That's not how it worked out and I'm just so grateful that you know we both realize there's a transformational God loves us and we talk about our marriage we talk about our family and now we talk about the ministry that we did together.

The foundation is a God who never gets tired of redeeming your listing to Focus on the Family and this is a conversation with Ryan and Bethany Bob and Ryan's book is called not equal will encourage you to get a copy of that from us here at focus to better equip yourself on pro-life matters. Call one 800 K in the word family 1-800-232-6459 or you find that book and other resources@focusonthefamily.com/broadcasts. Let's continue with more from Ryan and Bethany Blomberg. Let's let's turn the corner and you know talk about this.

I think we give people a great insight into how you guys married you but then you know culture you guys speak a lot about cultures, especially the issue of abortion, but a wide variety of things, Planned Parenthood, the whole enigma there. I've often said note from my perspective. Just as an observer.

Anybody has skin in the game, you should first ask the question what motivates them to do and say what they do right so applying that Planned Parenthood on average there making like six, $700 in abortion and then they go right to the wall promoting abortion through public schools. The government gives the money to promote abortion, but they are profiting off of abortion I get to me it's like look the other way. Don't look here, but we gotta recognize the simple fact that they make money off of ending the life of a child. I made a lot of money and they bring in $1.7 billion a year to $2.3 billion in assets and they get in the last year, $618 million from taxpayers. I meant what is a $2.3 billion corporation, which is what they are there 501(c)(3) nonprofit people confuse that they think they don't profit but they do they profit last year and the last reported there was $70 million but they profit. Actually, primarily from fear and they promote fear so you have women facing the unplanned come in.

What do they project the project fear onto the very demographic they're always saying women are the future women are strong, not when they face the unplanned and that's the shame of it all. People understand the exploitation that is in addition to the destruction of the unborn child. But they are exploiting mothers their exploiting fathers. They are a big business that's the right word exploitation in this like the whole media culture but looks the other way when not pointing out the biggest glaring conflict of interest that they have they have the nerve to call them healthcare every they don't own.

Not even one mammogram machine and all of their other services that they've ever even offered to women are plummeting because they know that they don't profit from the way they do abortion and any right there. They have the backing of mainstream media and of all of these corporations let me let me ask you your biracial. I think a Caucasian mother and Afro-American father through the tragedy of rape is that accurate that's that's correct. Yeah. In that context. When you look I was you know we're in New York and we did in 2019.

We did something called a live from New York to my that was my marketing background number. General Counsel said they could sue you. I said what what will they do first will send you a letter I said okay let's wait for the letter. If chameleons don't get this anyway. So we did this event alive from New York and it was to do a live ultrasound. I just felt the Lord laid on my heart shown the baby yes that's really all you do.

Back to your experience is 60% of abortion minded women roughly when they come in to get counseling and see the ultrasound of their baby cultures life. That's the data and so I thought I could go New York go Times Square will do it and we did and what was so amazing in that moment was hearing the heartbeat right from the stage. A model of a pregnant woman is average and they were back there and doing it in the heartbeat you heard and I'm on the stage is looking at everybody. The bypass or the people participating.

Everybody stopped and and that the monitor came up in the sonographer reciting babies waking up from nap. The baby is yawning to see the baby on in the 40 ultrasound yet it was breathtaking and the whole place went silent. It was like the Lord declaring this is life right there in the heart of the Big Apple and it was awesome. So it was either Benjamin Watson or one of the speakers we had from an African-American background honestly and he said more babies were killed. Then were born alive in New York City to be exact in Manhattan which is where Planned Parenthood is based. From 1000 black babies born alive 1226 or boarded the last reported year from the New York Department of health and think that everybody and that's the highest demographic right, the other white babies are 200 or 300 out of the thousand yes and Hispanics in the Hispanic this the black demographic is going demographic with her more induced deaths than births. Hispanics have about half of that rate, it's the only demographic like you to look at the historical aspect a look at the present targeting that happens and so it's it's undeniable when you actually present people with the data with the information in these powerful stories, but means to me is characteristically is that regard, and here's the thing, and we've done newsletters about this. Margaret Sanger, the founder, Planned Parenthood was about eugenics.

Her idea was you get rid of the unfit correcting of those that are worthy for life because there drain the social purse that was kind of the line ratio. In other words, let's get rid of minority babies yet because they cost the state too much to take care of that.

That was the thought and then now you see in New York City. Her vision is being achieved and nobody is looking at it except the Christian community same. What are we doing killing art minority children at a far higher rate then Caucasian kids I know is a problem with that and it's all wrong. Regardless, if you have skin be the killing of the unborn of generalized is wrong, but you look at it since you people say will help during Margaret Sanger's days Planned Parenthood was far worse.

No exits far worse today because they actually abort over the written 45,000 human beings of every few but like we said the demographic that is hardest hit in city after city across the country are those black lives and we talk about things being systemic, that is an example systemic racism as you have the history of the disproportionate targeting the present disproportionate targeting that evidence that they're fulfilling their vision is marketing her birth.

The Negro project which that was her goal to really read in a poor Blacks from the scene and so we talk about the Negro project to play know because is exactly what you're saying this is by design.

Yeah this is happening on purpose through birth control they were disproportionate, targeting poor black minister birth control. While today's now instead of forced sterilization site which people don't talk about Margaret Sanger earlier on actually supported forced sterilizations, but here we are present day abortion on demand without restrictions without accountability with something let let's talk a little bit about the group that did the videotaping and the clinics and you can fill me in on some of the sexes. I know that I don't not as knowledgeable perhaps as you two are but a group when things Veritas that did some filming, undercover journalism is the way they did it and talk.

Planned Parenthood representatives who were willing to sell body parts aborted baby body parts, which is illegal, but obviously they find a way to do it. Describe then what's taken place with the young man who led the project and David Leiden center for medical progress was the 90 organization and they went undercover they went to these conventions, don't realize this. Understand the gravity of the big business that is abortion. I mean these supposedly unwanted babies. They are wanted for their another want to bodyguard. Think of that and he knows that you know the first thing the Planned Parenthood when these these videos are coming on course they were edited out a lot of major media says will the highly edited. You are highly highly edited you edit your news all the time but later yeah yeah will the center for medical progress also provided the raw footage so people want to watch all the footage come to the conclusions that they could and nothing was distorted the Planned Parenthood initial response to being exposed was they pretend that the websites were hacked as to when you want to Planned Parenthood's website. It said our sites been hacked by extremists I mean this is what a note when your website is act. You really can't write a message on the website. I like anywhere after such a farce and and and they really were like scoring like how we can respond to this because you know what what these folks would David and these folks deign.

They swung open this door wide open. See we live in a time where we can no longer say we never knew we can no longer say we were blind to the fact that not only are they coercing women, but they are profiting off of the PP parts and when you watch some of the I promise you I could not even get through the footage. It was still running there counting hands and fingers and there there explaining that they have to keep them intact because they will receive more money if they are intact.

We have to understand as Christians that we don't have the luxury of staying silent about something that is the human injustice of our day and that we are going to be held responsible because it's no longer can be that we don't know these things.

The doors are swinging wide open and were seen into what's happening and we cannot remain silent, looking to be held responsible for what we know and what we've decided to do with right and that's part of what we do the rains foundation is equipped people to know how to engage in conversations. A large part of Christians holding back and not engaging in these vital conversations.

They don't know how to start the conversation. I don't know what to say they don't know how to frame the culture shaping issue and that's part of what we do, that's our heart to to put people to know. Here's how we can talk about these things. Jeanette was energizing really terrific conversation that you had with Ryan and Bethany Blomberg, and I do hope for listeners. This is motivated you to do something to come alongside mothers and their pre-born babies absolutely John, you know, there are several ways you can directly be involved in saving a baby and helping a mom right now donate to Focus on the Family's optional ultrasound program which is saved almost 1/2 a million babies from abortion by providing 3D and 4D ultrasound technology and training to pregnancy resource centers across the country free ultrasounds help women to choose life. After seeing their baby and $60 is what it cost to save that baby's life through optional ultrasound and right now some wonderful friends of Focus on the Family are offering to match your gift dollar for dollar. So when you give your $60 donation. It will be doubled and two babies will be saved and with that generous gift or gift of any amount we'd like to send you a copy of Ryan's great informative book to help you in the pro-life cause. It's called not equal make a donation today and request your book when you call 800 K in the word family 800-232-6459 or click the link in the episode notes and then you can learn all about sea life 2022. When you visit the website and tomorrow will be hosting a live event.

It's called sea life 2022. Lifestream experiences can be right here in the focus campus at 7 PM mountain time will feature some really great pro-life champions like Ben Shapiro, Candace Owens, Jeannie Mancini and others.

This is a call for you to see pro-life care and advocacy in a new light is a desire to follow God's heart on the issue and become equipped to live out your pro-life value all the details about sea life 2022 are in the episode notes on behalf of Jim Daly and the entire team.

Thanks for joining us today for Focus on the Family plan to be with us tomorrow as we once more help you and your family thrive.

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