Three Frustrations in the Fight for Life

Three Frustrations in the Fight for Life

The frustration of feeling useless is a real thing, I imagine everyone has felt it at one time or another and in all situations. Sometimes the frustration comes from a feeling of isolation, sometimes from feelings of hopelessness or inferiority. Maybe the feeling can come from notions of hypocrisy or distance. Maybe some or all those feelings have some basis in fact.

As I write this piece during the season of Lent it strikes me that some of the first pieces I wrote for March4Life were during Lent last year, and the past year has seen a more sustained attack on Human Life in the UK since the abortion act was signed into law. Having followed and interacted more closely with any developments in the law and the conversation generally I can say with certainty it is one thing to view a battle from afar and quite another to enlist yourself in it and see the enemy’s intimidating array of weaponry for yourself. How much truer is this when the horrors contained in and alluded to in certain files pertaining to the rich and powerful global elite became available?******

For me, there are three separate kinds of frustration in this our particular battle against abortion. The first is the frustration at the horrendous injustice of the practice in the first place, which dehumanises babies, lies to parents and has killed more than ten million children in the UK since the practice was made legal. This is the frustration and frankly, the rage, that gave me the impetus to join the fight in practical ways. That frustration remains while the injustice is still happening, and more so as abortions are on the rise.  In this case, the frustration is the fuel and so I think I can say not all frustration is useless. I hope and pray that I always have it as long as abortion is legal.

The second kind of frustration is one common to anyone who knows with absolute certainty that they are correct and another is wrong. We’ve all been on both ends of this and I for one find it very hard to “agree to disagree” on certain topics, especially ones like abortion that kills children. Defending abortion relies on deceit, disassociation and arbitrary and illogical reasoning. None of these attributes have any business writing laws or deciding which human beings get to live or die. It can be argued that politics (as the primary lawmaking tool) in general is not a reliable place to find truth, grounded in logic and solid principles but there is difference between discussing economics, for example, and the fate of unwanted children. 

How can we make these people really listen and think it though? If it is difficult to convince an individual friend of family member see the absurdity of where we find ourselves, how much more so for the Government of a nation? This is the second kind of frustration. I am certain that trying to hide the issue of abortion by not thinking about it is the key to the whole thing. If we confront it head on and made a spectacular U-turn (conveniently, Sir Starmer seems partial to one or two of these!) this would force us to ask a great many other uncomfortable questions. I believe this to be true personally as it is for a nation. 

The third kind of frustration for me is found the various emotions and feelings of being in a battle that involves fighting for something and someone other than yourself, or your family and the direct needs and wants you may have. Then it’s the frustration of finding yourself alone in your thinking amongst your circles. Or perhaps having periods of hopelessness as nothing looks like it’s changing despite the major sacrifices and dedications of so many. Maybe it’s the frustration of being shy and awkward that seems to pin down our will to talk about the issue, and is always fighting with our desire to speak the truth, especially if we aren’t natural speakers or engagers. Maybe it’s the frustration of being a man with a view on an issue where women are uniquely being hurt and abused and the whispered feelings like “maybe this conversation isn’t for you, after all” creep in, despite what I know.  

These are real feelings and those who have been in this fight will I am certain have felt them in different times and seasons. It’s worth remembering this; Everything we do, say, think, pray, write, sacrifice or produce in this battle is not wasted. We know that as Lent rolls around again we may well find ourselves in the desert being challenged. Maybe this looks like we’re alone, or we are useless or our frustration with the way things are going in Government means it is no use continuing.

I would just say two things, one is that if we are under attack then it’s because we are fighting the right battle, the most difficult battles to win are usually the ones really worth winning. The other is that this Government is least popular in decades. The decisions being discussed in the parliament look dark because they are, but that is not a reflection of society at large and that is encouraging. 

My prayer this Lent is that I, and we all may be renewed in the fight. That my heart, broken for these babies and their parents finds new ways to affect the battle both internally and in a more public way. If frustration can be the fuel, then we can never run out of it. 

Daniel Hansen

March for Life UK Content Creator

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