Did you know that Mississippi was the first state in U.S. to ever legalize abortion? Before Colorado permitted abortion for so-called “life of the mother” (and other) reasons, Mississippi legalized abortion specifically for cases of rape in 1966. Exacerbating the tragedy of this event was the date on which the law passed: May 8, which was Mother’s Day in 1966.
Very few people are aware of Mississippi’s role in elective abortion in the United States or the dangerous precedent Mississippi created in permitting a specific group of Americans – women victimized by rape, and their children – to be further ravaged by the violence of abortion. That’s why Houston Pro-Life advocate Juda Myers created Choices4Life and the Freedom March #LifeWins.
Choices4Life is a nonprofit organization founded to help women who have been raped find healing and choose Life for their children. In addition to emotional/trauma counseling, Choices4Life also offers assistance with medical and health treatment, finances, ensuring the safety of the woman and child, and helping women with vocational training and transitional housing. Juda was conceived in gang rape and witnessed the dearth of compassion and support her mother received throughout her life as a victim of rape and a mother who chose Life for her daughter conceived in rape. Juda has spoken to hundreds of other women who became pregnant as a result of rape and found that this lack of support is sadly ubiquitous.
Worse, legislators and activists often exclude rape-conceived Lives from Pro-Life legislation without a diligent fight for their Right to Life. Juda hopes to give a face to the “exceptions” that are often flippantly dismissed in the abortion debate, creating awareness of the individual women and children who are betrayed when no one fights for them. The notion that Lives conceived in rape are fair game for abortion has grown so widely-accepted that nothing short of a collective cultural awakening on the inconsistency of the rape exception will usher positive change.
The Freedom March is a step toward this change. On May 6, leading up to the 50th anniversary of Mississippi’s tragic legalization of elective abortion, the Freedom March will take place at the State Capitol in Jackson. “The goal,” says Juda, “is to show the world that love wins even after tragedy. These women and their babies deserve dignity and equality… Most mothers not only choose to carry their babies but also choose to raise the child. These mothers want to experience the same joy any other mother experiences. They need society to understand their love for their rape-conceived baby.”
Indeed, women who are brutalized by rape are forced to surmount unbelievable societal opposition in order to make a compassionate choice for the Life of their children. These women are the real heroes. Juda told us that the Freedom March is the first public march to acknowledge specifically the need of human rights and human dignity for rape conceived children and their mothers. She shared:
For thousands of years mothers have been called liars and even beaten or killed for loving her rape conceived child. Rape conceived are every race, male and female. I personally know a doctor, lawyer, chemist, Marine, 10 pastors, humanitarian, worship leaders, teachers, mayor, firefighter, EMT, authors, professor and many others who are contributing greatly to society. We are not the monsters people believe us to be. Everyone knows a rape conceived person. They just don’t know they know a rape conceived person. Every child deserves to be protected from cruelty. The prejudice against the rape conceived is literally killing my peers and nearly ended my own life. My mother was raped by eight men and her mother and doctor in Jackson, MS. wanted me dead. If it weren’t for a very strong mother I would not be alive today.
Mothers will be honored for the first time publicly as the heroes they are for saving the life of their baby. We must put an end to discrimination and punishment of mothers and children and focus on stopping this assault on their humanity.
To find out more about attending, supporting, or helping to sponsor the Freedom March in Jackson, Mississippi, visit FreedomMarchLifeWins.org. To learn more about Juda Myers and Choices4Life, visit Choices4Life.org.