Compassion is something I think about a lot. I strive to be compassionate and respectful to every human being – whether preborn baby or mother, elderly adult or teenager, pro-lifer or abortion advocate.

Yet, I struggle. It’s easy to throw compassion to the wayside when someone starts yelling. Our natural urge is to defend ourselves. It takes a lot of self-control and compassion to keep calm, but it’s a virtue we must strive for as pro-lifers.

When we respond in love, not anger, we show that person that we care about them enough to put our anger and discomfort aside.

I was reminded of this the other day when I was talking to a dedicated sidewalk counselor in our area.

A few weeks ago, she approached a couple going into the abortion center. The father berated her and cursed at her as they walked by. She kept calm, assuring them she only wanted to offer free support to them and their baby. They ignored her and walked inside the building.

About 15 minutes later the father came out and approached her. First, he apologized for yelling at her, and then he confided that he did not want the abortion.

She encouraged him to talk to his partner and told him about the free help available at the local pregnancy center. As he walked back inside, she began praying. Soon, he came out again with his partner. They were beaming as they told her they were going to keep their baby.

I’m pretty sure it was her compassion that made all the difference to him. He could see that she genuinely cared about him and his family. If she had yelled back, I wonder if he would have confided in her the way he did. Probably not.

It’s hard to be compassionate when we know babies are being killed every single day in our towns. We should be upset that abortion is legal, but we’re not going to change minds by reacting in anger.

When we react in compassion and love, we demonstrate our ultimate purpose as pro-lifers – to ensure that every human life, born and preborn, is valued and protected.