8/12/2021 Cathie Humbarger, Right to Life NE Indiana Interview with David Bereit, Founder of 40 Days for Life
Humbarger: This is Cathie Humbarger with Right to Life of Northeast Indiana and I’m here with David Bereit, founder of 40 Days for Life. David, I would just like to get your reaction to the awful court decision that was handed down by a judge in the southern district Federal court here in Indiana. I think I’ve shared with you a little bit about what we are losing. What do you think?
Bereit: First of all, Cathie is one of my heroes and we’ve worked together many years. I so appreciate your leadership helping to awaken people in Northeast Indiana to the challenges we face but also the opportunities each of us have to be part of the solution to these problems. The decision was horrific. We can describe it no other way. The fact that it immediately strips away all of these protections for women, all of these protections that are in place to protect newborn children, is ghastly. When you think about all of a sudden now chemical abortions are going to be spread far more than they ever have been. And with lower level medical providers dispensing them through telemedicine at a distance, the bottom line is that the chemical abortion pill kills, not only the child in the womb, but it frequently kills women and with the FDA and all the adverse effects it has had. This is a deadly drug that was rushed through the FDA approval process under a pro-abortion administration to just appease their political friends. And now we are paying the price for it. Women are paying the price for it. Children are paying the price for it. And regrettably this judge has opened Pandora’s Box to something that is a major threat for Indiana. So what I would say to each of us – get involved now or get more involved than you ever have been. Because right now, a state with so many amazing pro-life organizations like Northeast Indiana Right to Life, with so many amazing pro-life leaders, so many amazing pro-life people, so many amazing pro-life laws that have been passed – one judge has stripped away all of those protections that so many people have worked so long to secure. And that’s being taken away from you right now and that is putting women at greater risk than they ever have been. Right now, a woman and her preborn child are at the same level of risk of abortion, should this be upheld, as in the states that have no regulations, the states that are radically pro-abortion. Is that the legacy you want for Indiana? I know it’s not. So what I would say to you, get involved. Go to IChooselife.org. Gather the information not just to inform you. Share it with everybody you know. Let people know this decision is horrible and we need to pray that it is overturned. We need to educate people. We need to get more involved in doing everything we can because Indiana is a pro-life state filled with pro-life people. And you are the ones who can make sure that this does not stand and you can once again secure those protections you worked so hard to get for women and for children.
Humbarger: And there are action forms. What you can do to get involved posted on IChooselife.org website. So please visit us, call us – whatever we can do to energize and enable you to take action. Now is the time and David, I know you have a lot of experience with grassroots organizing and motivating people through the 40 Days for Life program that you started. So these towns that have the storefronts, for lack of a better word, Planned Parenthoods that do not now do abortions, could, tomorrow, start handing out pills. It’s that bad. So if any of you are watching, and are in a town that has a Planned Parenthood facility, that may not be doing abortions now, but could very likely be doing them tomorrow, next week, or whatever . . . . David, that presence in front of those places, even before they start, is critically important.
Bereit: Absolutely. So I’m staying in South Bend – I’m actually heading there in just a few minutes. And earlier today I drove by Whole Woman’s Health. And when I drove by I was struck by the slogan they had under their branding for the business. It said “Changing the world. One woman at a time”. And I’m so struck by that because it doesn’t say for the better. They are changing the world one woman at a time by destroying the life within her, by ruining her life and abandoning her to a life of regrets. And that’s what these abortion facilities do. Any day at a Planned Parenthood facility, whether they are currently performing abortions – they are all referring for abortions in some way, shape or fashion – they are all promoting abortions, they are all fundraising for abortion. Any day that a Planned Parenthood office or an independent abortion facility is open, and we, the Body of Christ, are not out there, bearing witness to the injustice of what is happening inside, they should hang a big sign in the window and say we are here with the blessing of the Christian Church. It is a moral and spiritual obligation that we need to be there for those mothers, for those children and to help the community realize that something awful is happening here. And the Body of Christ needs to rise up and bring an end to this once and for all. This is our moment. It’s a Kairos moment. An opportune moment. This is a moment that we need to do more than we’ve ever done and you are the people. If you are watching this video, Facebook Live right now or if you are watching it later, there is a reason you are watching it. It’s because you have a role in this. Get involved. Do something and you can save a life and be a hero.
Humbarger: I’d just like to share with everybody that’s watching. This isn’t over which, David, is another reason we need fervent prayer right now. So the Solicitor General here in Indiana filed an emergency stay already last night, or maybe even the night of the decision. So there’s a possibility – right now the judge signed the permanent injunction and so everything we’ve lost, we’ve lost. However, an appeal for a stay means that this whole decision doesn’t go into play until all of the court hearings have been done and the case has been finally decided. So an adverse decision there goes to the 7th Circuit, court of appeals and possibly even the Supreme Court. This is a long battle but pleases, for the sake of unborn boys and girls and their mothers, don’t delay. If you’ve not been involved before, now is the time.
Bereit: I have one last thought. Can I share one last thought.
Humbarger: Sure.
Bereit: Donate to Northeast Indiana Right to Life. This is an organization that for years has been battling on the frontlines helping to close abortion facilities, helping to protect women, helping to save babies. You’ve been a part of it or maybe you’re just now getting involved in it. This is a mission that is only possible because of the generous support of you and some many others like you. So please, go to ichooselife.org, get informed, share that information with others. Get active and give. You can make a difference and take this work to a whole new level of impact and get Indiana back to being the pro-life state that you have helped to make it be.
Humbarger: Thank you.
Bereit: You betcha. God bless you.
Humbarger: Thanks.
