Resolute.
Dear Friend of Stanton SoCal,
As I write, I am jammed into the middle seat on a Boeing 737 headed for Los Angeles. On this return flight from Washington, DC, I am simultaneously looking back and looking forward.
This past week in Washington, I joined the founder and CEO of Stanton International, Brandi Swindell, and Stanton’s CSO Rev. Patrick Mahoney, in peaceful and prayerful witness for life. Stanton isn’t just a revolutionary women’s health care movement - it is also a powerful voice in the public square.
Stanton’s Purple Sash Revolution project, launched in 2020 to mark 100 years since the 19th Amendment, took to the streets last week to draw attention to the tragedy of abortion in America and call for an end to abortion violence against mothers and their babies. We could not allow the inauguration of an avowed pro-abortion president to take place without speaking for the millions of Americans who do not support abortion.
Not only did the Presidential Inauguration take place last week on January 20, but January 22 was the 48th anniversary of the Supreme Court’s Roe vs. Wade decision (which unleashed abortion on America in 1973).
While Washington was filled with thousands of troops, huge swathes of the city were blocked off and businesses were shuttered by order of the mayor, Stanton’s Purple Sash Revolution took to those streets.
Everywhere we went in Washington, DC, Stanton’s team stood for the basic human right to life. We held signs, gave media interviews, sidewalk chalked, and prayed publicly in our effort to draw attention to the injustice of abortion.
We were small in number but mighty in message.
On January 22, the anniversary of Roe vs. Wade, Stanton led a prayer vigil at the Supreme Court. We mourned for the 60,000,000 lives lost to abortion since 1973 and prayed for the families indelibly impacted by those deaths.
I was struck by the emptiness that surrounded our vigil - usually at this time of the year, the streets of Washington are jam-packed with pro-life women and men, students and families, gathering to remember Roe vs. Wade at the Supreme Court and March for Life.
Stanton’s Purple Sash Revolution was the only pro-life witness at the Supreme Court this year.
We were resolute in our calling to stand for those who cannot, proclaiming the truth in a dystopian cityscape of razor wire and plywood-covered windows.
The children targeted by abortion have no voice. If we don’t speak for them, who will?
As I return to California, I am meditating upon the events of last week and looking forward to 2021 for Stanton SoCal.
I am remembering how young women kneeled in prayer for a lost generation
amid the emptiness at the Supreme Court.
I am remembering how they stood boldly for the next generation in our nation’s capital,
holding bright signs that read “End Abortion Violence”.
I am remembering the empty faces of women who leave Planned Parenthood
after ingesting a pill which will take the life of their preborn child.
I am remembering the joyful tears of a mother who refused to swallow that pill
because she saw her baby’s wave on the ultrasound screen in the Stanton Mobile.
I am resolute.
Stanton SoCal will continue to be a beacon of hope in our community. We will not be scared off by pandemics or panic. We will not flinch in our calling to love and serve precious persons created in the image of God.
As we move forward, I pray you will also remain resolute in your commitment to support Stanton. We are at an exciting crossroads - in February, we begin our search for a new executive director! Please pray for that process, and for the Lord to send a qualified servant-leader quickly.
Your sacrificial partnership with Stanton enables the Stanton Mobile Clinic to stay open outside Planned Parenthood, providing quality medical care at no charge to women in crisis. Together, we are speaking out for life in the High Desert - and lives are being saved!
Once again, thank you for your generous and faithful support of Stanton SoCal. I am humbled by your generosity and energized by your commitment.
If you have not yet made a monthly pledge, please consider doing so via our secure online system or by check to P.O. Box 189, Wrightwood, CA 92397. We rely upon our monthly donors as we budget and plan for each new year - please join the team!
For Life,
Danielle Versluys
President
Stanton Healthcare of Southern California