Abortion, What Being Prolife Means, and the Role of Men: My Interview with Ben Watson

I’ve mentioned a number of times my appreciation and admiration for Benjamin Watson. For the last fifteen years he was one of the most highly respected players in the National Football League, and now that he’s retired, he continues to have a ministry to many inside and outside the NFL.

Last year Ben executive-produced and partially self-financed Divided Hearts of America, a look at the debate around abortion in America. He interviewed a number of people, including Alveda King, niece of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and the presidential candidate and neurosurgeon Ben Carson.

I was honored that he also interviewed me. Ben asked lots of great questions, and we talked about how prolifers can make a difference, what the terms prochoice and prolife mean, and the role of men in abortion. Most of this, understandably, wasn’t used in the documentary, but here is our full conversation.

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: I believe God has raised Ben up to be a spokesman for two causes very close to the heart of God that are also two of the most controversial and important issues in American life—prolife justice and racial justice. I know many excellent spokespersons for each of those causes, but often the two issues are separated instead of seen as inseparable strands in the same seamless garment of God’s justice. Too many proponents of prolife justice ignore racial justice, and too many proponents of racial justice ignore the right to life of unborn children. (Which is ironic, given that black children are aborted at a higher rate than white children in the U.S.) Ben pulls these causes together better than anyone I know.

Now, anytime someone mentions racial justice, some believers immediately get defensive. Please don’t. To believe in racial justice does not mean you agree with the logic of everyone else who advocates it. I am prolife but I don’t agree with the logic or every point made by all prolifers. Likewise, I don’t agree with every point made by all advocates of racial justice, including most advocates of defunding the police. I completely affirm that Black Lives Do Matter, though I don’t agree with the Marxist and anti-nuclear-family worldview of the founders of the organization that’s called Black Lives Matter (see my blog on this). But that doesn’t keep me from being an advocate for racial equality and justice, or for unborn equality and justice.

If you sense God’s leading to become educated about the injustice of abortion and more involved in prolife outreach, I encourage you to start by reading my new book Pro-Choice or Pro-Life? (The PDF is available for free.) Also see my article 50 Ways to Help the Unborn and Their Mothers, and remember that a great place to start is by praying daily for prolife ministries and victimized mothers and babies.

Randy Alcorn (@randyalcorn) is the author of over sixty books and the founder and director of Eternal Perspective Ministries

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