The Samaritan's Purse CEO called upon Christians to flood their churhces "to celebrate life" on Mother's Day amidst pro-choice protests.
Billy Graham Evangelistic Association president and CEO Franklin Graham shared a special Mother's Day message on Saturday amidst growing reports that pro-choice protestors would demonstrate at the Supreme Court following the Roe v. Wade leaked decision last week. In response, the evangelist urged Christians to "attend church this Sunday in greater numbers than ever before-to celebrate and thank God for our mothers, and to celebrate LIFE."
"These protesters are promoting death, not life," Graham wrote on his Facebook page on the eve of Mother's Day.
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Graham added that if protesters do show up at churches on Sunday, he hopes that they would "find the churches packed out" and that churches don't shun them and instead "encourage them to stay and listen to the message-maybe they will hear something that will change their lives."
Pro-Choice Groups Announce Plans to Demonstrate Outside Churches on Mother's Day
The Washington Examiner reported that a pro-choice group named Rise Up 4 Abortion Rights also announced plans to protest outside Catholic churches and urged demonstrators to wear green costumes from "The Handmaid's Tale" to draw comparisons between anti-abortion values and rape and motherhood, as depicted in the novel by Margaret Atwood.
Meanwhile, a liberal pro-choice organization called Ruth Sent Us had posted on its Twitter account a call for protests at various Catholic Churches across America on Mother's Day. The group urged the public to "recognize that six extremist Catholics set out to overturn Roe," referring to the Supreme Court Chief Justices.
The reaction is in response to last week's leaked draft opinion on the case of "Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health," which said that five of the nine Supreme Court justices voted to uphold a Mississippi abortion ban that forbid abortion after 15 weeks, the Christian Post reported. The initial draft opinion for the case did not receive the support of the "six extremist Catholics." In fact, opinion author Justice Samuel Alito is Catholic, and so are Justices Amy Coney Barrett, Brett Kavanaugh and Clarence Thomas, who also backed the draft opinion. Justice Neil Gorsuch, who also supported the draft opinion, is Episcopalian.
Catholic Group Acnowledges Threat of Pro-Choice Protesters
CatholicVote, which describes itself as "America's top Catholic advocacy organization leading Fight for Faith, Family, and Freedom," called upon Catholic parishes all over the U.S. to take the threat of the Mother's Day protests seriously. In a statement, CatholicVote Communications Director Joshua Mercer admitted that the organization may have treated the pro-choice protesters' messages as "empty threats" in the past years.
Mercer added that it would "[make] sense to be cautious" given the "recent rash of very real attacks on Catholic statues and churches." He also noted a pattern of anti-Catholicism behavior from Ruth Sent Us activists. He criticized them for failing to just focus on "the issue of abortion" and instead labeling Supreme Court justices as "extremist Catholics."
Mercer warned Catholic churches to be vigilant against the "ruthless people" who are "looking for a confrontation."
Ruth Sent Us has already announced plans to hold an event called "Walk-by Wednesday" outside the residences of the "six extremist justices" this Wednesday to pressure them to reverse their opinion ahead of the final ruling. Mercer expressed worry about such an event and underscored that the Justices are human beings with families and children as well.
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