Editors Note:  We are going to be doing a series of blog posts about “Pro-Life Heroes”…individuals who are making a difference for the pro-life movement in their communities. This first entry is from the Pennsylvania Pro-Life Federation SouthEast PA Coordinator Carla Ezell.  Stay tuned in the coming weeks for future “Pro-Life Heroes” blogs, and if you know of someone we should talk to who is making a difference for those who can’t defend themselves, email lifelines@paprolife.org.

My pro-life journey started in an Evangelism Explosion Class at my church in 2002.  In the class the speaker was talking about abortion, and the gentleman sitting next to me said, “You know who Margaret Sanger is?” And I said “Sure.”  God forgive me, but I didn’t want to sound ignorant to his question, but I hadn’t a clue. He went on to explain to me what Sanger’s beliefs were for African Americans, anyone of a minority race, and the physically and mentally challenged in America.  This gentleman pricked my interest enough to investigate who this woman was.  It wasn’t difficult.  Her interviews can be seen on the internet, and she wasn’t shy about her beliefs.  My surprise was that she got away with her intentions, and she is regarded as a progressive feminist to this very day.  Her influence spread as far as Nazi Germany before World War II.  Hitler admired her strong belief that mixed races and the mentally challenged didn’t have a place in society; therefore, they should be eliminated.  Margaret’s spirit still lives all over this world in countries that allow abortion, and here in America her spirit lives on in Planned Parenthood, NARAL, liberal pro-abortion feminists, and some hospitals.

A couple of years later, my husband and I had an opportunity to hear Alveda King, niece of civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr., speak at a pro-life convention.  It was then that I became convicted to share the pro-life message with my church.  I brought literature that could encourage women to opt against abortion and that encouraged women to take advantage of other options, such as counseling and adoption.  I was excited to give the information to the head of our Sunday school, and when I spoke with her, she in return seemed to be enthused with the literature I gave her.  She said she would talk to leadership, but three months later I hadn’t heard a word from her.  I approached her in the hall between services and asked why she never contacted me.  Her only explanation was “Leadership had changed.”  My heart sank.  I realized there was politics in the church, and I was too discouraged to fight leadership and their mindset.  I believe God wanted me to go outside the walls of the church and attain guidance and experience from those on the battlefield of saving the lives of children and women.

I was receiving the Pennsylvania Pro-Life Federation’s Lifelines newspaper, and I contacted a young woman that was the Southeast Coordinator of the Pennsylvania Pro-Life Federation and asked if she needed any help.  From there, I took classes with Amnion Pregnancy Crisis Center for counseling women who were considering abortion and post abortive women and their families.  I started to volunteer counsel at the Hope Pregnancy Center.  There was a seminar that was available through James Dobson’s Focus on the Family Ministry that I attended and was encouraged by the experience.

For the past four years I’ve been the Southeast Coordinator for the PA Pro-Life Federation.  I distribute the Lifeline newspaper and pro-life educational material throughout Philadelphia.  I go to community fellowships and schools, and I’ve been privileged to speak at churches against the tragedy of abortion.  For three years straight the Pennsylvania Pro-Life Federation has had a forum at my church to inform people of the progress of the pro-life work that is being performed in the state of Pennsylvania and the nation.  This past Black History Month in February, all my pro-life efforts within my church and my community came to fruition when Pastor Clenard Childress spoke for Sunday Worship and was well received.

I haven’t done everything right.  I’ve fallen prey to discouragement, laziness, and complaining along the way but my journey isn’t over yet and my dream now is to see the day that abortion is once again made illegal in Pennsylvania and across the country.