When my son, Ben, studied the Holocaust during World War II, he was appalled at the evil he read about. The idea that a society could set about to cause the wholesale eradication of human life hurt his heart.

It’s easy to look back in history and scorn the evil of the past, isn’t it? The Holocaust was clearly a horrific evil, ending the lives of 6 million Jews, and an additional 5 million non-Jewish people.(1) Though we teach our children about the Holocaust as a way to honor the victims, we primarily teach it so that we won’t repeat the tragedy.

Today’s Holocaust

It’s easy to assume that the horrors of the Holocaust are behind us, yet today we are seeing the loss of human life on a massive scale. Just as in Germany, governments around the world are funding, facilitating, and even requiring death on unimaginable scales.

Does that sound like an exaggeration?

In 2014, there were 977,000 abortions in the United States alone.(2) That’s 2,677 a day, at a rate of 2 babies dying each minute. Those numbers are painful, but not quite on par with the destruction of the Holocaust. However, there have been more than 58 million 873 thousand abortions in the US since 1973.(3) Since 1980, we’ve seen more than 1.4 billion abortions worldwide.(4)

In the US, we’ve outpaced the Holocaust by more than 5 times the number of dead. Worldwide, there are more than 128 times the number of dead as those killed during the Holocaust.

How You Can Help

Perhaps it seems strange to hear about abortion on The Busy Mom. What does this have to do with you? There are a lot of approaches people take to end abortion. Prayer, petitioning outside clinics, voting pro-life, raising awareness on social media and in person, and working in the political arena–all have merit, and are all important. I’m going to suggest an approach to add to that arsenal–one that will take longer to grow to fruition, but may be wonderfully effective.

In the United States, 18% of abortions are performed in teens under the age of 20.(5) Nearly one in 5 of all abortions is undertaken by a teen. 40% of those teens don’t tell either parents about the death of their baby.(6)

What if we educate our children about preborn life now? As a part of our bedtime reading, what if we incorporate science and Scripture that teaches our children the truth of preborn life? Let’s tell our kids that a baby’s heart starts beating two weeks after conception. Our children need to know that God planned each life in advance, and that He lovingly forms each baby in the womb.

Maybe we can’t change the culture of death that we live in. Perhaps we can teach just one child–or four, or twelve–about the value of human life from its conception. If we do it together, perhaps we can turn the tide in favor of life. Life that is ordained by a sovereign Creator.

Giveaway ~ Ends 4/20/16

This new resource from children’s author Danika Cooley may help. Wonderfully Made: God’s Story of Life from Conception to Birth (Christian Focus 4 Kids, 2016) is a science- and Scripture-filled picture book for kids ages 5-11. The book is told from the perspective of a mother (you!) telling her child about his or her development in the womb week-by-week. You can learn more about Wonderfully Made and download free resources for a Wonderfully Made unit study: posters, Scripture memory cards, and a fetal development lapbook over at the Wonderfully Made book page.

Another way you can make a difference is by supporting Save the Storks.  Save the Storks partners with pregnancy resource centers all over the nation to provide them with powerful tools and training so they can more effectively reach and serve abortion-minded expectant mothers.

Together we empower these mothers to choose life for their unborn babies.

We accomplish our mission by making the highest-quality and most beautiful mobile medical vehicles available. These Stork Buses allow our affiliates to go where abortion-vulnerable women are likely to be, such as in front of abortion clinics and on university campuses.

Stork Buses allow our affiliates to go to women who need their services, rather than expecting those women to come to them.

Heidi has taken a stand against abortion for as long as I can remember, because it matters.  She knows it’s overwhelming to think about the problem on a large scale, but knowing you can do one or two things really does make a difference.  What will you do today?

Void where prohibited by law. Must be at least 18 years of age. This giveaway is in no away associated with Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or Pinterest. No purchase necessary for entry. Odds are determined by the number of entries. Selected winners will have 48 hours to respond to email notification to claim their prizes or another winner will be drawn.

(1) The Holocaust. Retrieved from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Holocaust
(2) (Updated 2016, February 5) US Abortion Statistics. Retrieved from: http://www.abort73.com/abortion_facts/us_abortion_statistics/
(3) Number of Abortions – Abortion Counter. Retrieved from: http://www.numberofabortions.com/
(4) Number of Abortions – Abortion Counter. Retrieved from: http://www.numberofabortions.com/
(5) Guttmacher Institute. (N/A) Induced Abortions in the United States. Retrieved from: https://www.guttmacher.org/fact-sheet/induced-abortion-united-states
(6) Guttmacher Institute. (N/A) Induced Abortions in the United States. Retrieved from: https://www.guttmacher.org/fact-sheet/induced-abortion-united-states