"Unborn Grace": Speaking to the heart of the Pro-Life movement

In recent years, commentators across the political spectrum have pointed to the so-called new face of the Pro-Life movement.  The reality is that the Pro-Life movement was founded on respect for the dignity of all human Life.  As more voices join the movement, that message is becoming ever clearer and changing more hearts.

A beautiful example of this message is seen in Faye Smith’s song “Unborn Grace.”  Smith wrote the song to speak to post-abortive women.  The tone of the song is not one of judgment, but one of deeply personal regret.  Like the men and women of the Silent No More campaign, the woman in Smith’s music video shows the emotional scars left by the abortion: a child meant to be loved is missing.  Despite what abortion activists repeat ad nauseam, countless men and women are testifying that they do regret lost fatherhood and motherhood.

Smith hauntingly reflects in the song: “Wish I had known you; how would I be changed?”  The video moves the debate from political terms to human terms, as a young woman struggles to move forward alone, following the loss of her daughter.  The song’s title, “Unborn Grace,” develops new meaning as the scenes of a woman alone are contrasted with sunlit scenes of that same woman and her daughter who was never born.  Smith sings in the refrain, “There hasn’t been enough grace for today,” suggesting the full power and purpose of that preborn Life who was robbed of the chance to enter into the world.

As Smith notes, the music video was shot in Dallas, the site of the infamous court ruling that led to Roe v. Wade.  Smith draws attention to the contentious legal battle when she sings, “You’ve got the right to your views and the right to choose, and the right to lose.”  Thus, Smith beautifully unites the human story of the music video to the legal question: While under current law a woman may commit abortion, what are the emotional and spiritual consequences she must confront for the rest of her life?

As Mary McCluskey of Project Rachel reflects, we are surrounded by women and men scarred by abortion.  We as Pro-Life people are called to approach them with compassion and offer the many resources that can lead to healing.  Faye Smith’s music video, shot in our own backyard, offers a reminder of the grief of abortion and the undeniable need for healing.