The day after the November election I boarded a plane to Amsterdam, Netherlands. Even while struggling with another dreaded overnight flight, there was a smile on my face as I contemplated new possibilities the election had provided to advance our cause for LIFE.
The trip had a pretty packed agenda, but one destination was particularly poignant and would prove to instill in me an even stronger desire to protect innocent human life.
Especially when I travel internationally, I strive to optimize the return on investment of time and resources. During this trip I met with leaders of the European pro-life group One of Us. These mostly-millennials are the movers and shakers of European pro-life organizations working together to end abortion. As the president of the International Right to Life Federation, I wanted to get to know as many of them as possible. Their passion and enthusiasm was encouraging.
Another highlight was a meeting with Henk Reitsema, the Netherland’s most renowned opponent of euthanasia, which established a foundation for future collaborations.
There were also opportunities to speak on the topic of men and abortion — something very new to the minds of Europeans. And I was able to mentor two Dutch men who wish to spearhead a new effort reaching out to hurting fathers in Holland.
The most impactful part of the journey began in tall grass beside the railroad tracks in the small village of Assen. Long-time friend and pro-life colleague, Dr. Bert Dorenbos and I braced against the frigid wind and rain while he shared his earliest childhood memory. It was there he stood with his mother during World War II as they watched the train go by their home every Tuesday at 1 pm loaded with Jews on their way to death camps — 97 trains in all.
The captive passengers had been sent to Westerbork, a concentration/retention camp where Holland’s Jews were to be processed before being shipped off to one of Europe’s many death camps. Most found themselves in Auschwitz.
Each week as the train passed, Bert and his mother would hear the desperate cries of its forced inhabitants. As it slowed to pass the Assen station, small pieces of paper with hastily scribbled notes would flutter out in vain attempts to get word to family members. Mother and son watched as Nazis quickly snatched up the messages before they could be reached.
Bert and I then visited Westerbork, where nearly 107,000 Jews were temporarily held against their will. Of the many who passed through the camp, only 5,000 survived the war. A somewhat impromptu video was recorded of our visit to these sorrowful historic locations. As Bert and I stood in what remained of one of the camp’s barracks, the massive slaughter of innocent human life reminded us of our current efforts to end the ongoing carnage of abortion.
Just as the Allied Forces liberated the prisoners from the gas chambers, you and I must be the driving force behind liberating women, men and their children from the carnage of abortion chambers.
History is repeating, but we have the tools to end the killing. 2017 is shaping up to be absolutely instrumental in advancing our goal to protect preborn children from abortion and you will play a crucial role.
We’ll need to mobilize hundreds of thousands of pro-life Americans when key pro-life legislation and court appointments come up for votes. I’ll be able to quickly inform you of breaking developments by email, but we need to reach many more. Please encourage your friends and family to join our pro-life mobilization taskforce by signing up to get these email alerts. They can subscribe at the “Stay Updated” section of our homepage.
Time is short to prepare for these unprecedented opportunities to save lives. Help us change the course of history by ending the modern-day holocaust of abortion.
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