Monday, February 20th, in the year of our Lord 2017.
By Adam McManus
Special Tribute to Norma McCorvey, Who Repented of Roe V. Wade
On Saturday, Norma McCorvey, the woman who first became known as “Jane Roe” in the infamous 1973 Supreme Court abortion case Roe v. Wade, died at the age of 69.
She crossed paths with Rev. Flip Benham who founded the Dallas chapter of Operation Rescue back in 1988. After Benham succeeded Randall Terry as national director of Operation Rescue in 1994, he confronted McCorvey at a book-signing of her autobiography entitled “I am Roe.” He told her that she was “responsible for the deaths of over 33 million children.”
The World View spoke with Pastor Benham about McCorvey’s initial hostility towards him.
“We were in Dallas, Texas at Aware Women. That was an abortion mill where Miss Norma worked at and we’d go out there on a number of occasions. She just became a great antagonist. She’d leave messages on my answering machine like, ‘Well, we’re cooking barbecued babies today. You want some?’ You know. Stuff like that.”
Six months later, he opened Operation Rescue’s national headquarters next to the abortion mill where McCorvey was working at the time. While she initially resisted any contact, McCorvey eventually started to talk to Benham during her smoking breaks.
“It wasn’t long before she began to warm up toward us. Two little girls were daughters of my administrative secretary — Chelsie and Emily – would go out and invite her to church and be nice. And Miss Norma really ‘cottoned’ up to them and things began to change. We both liked Beach Boys.”
In fact, it was during one friendly banter, that McCorvey goaded Benham, saying, “What you need is to go to a good Beach Boys concert.” Benham answered, “Miss Norma, I haven’t been to a Beach Boys concert since 1976.” McCorvey later reported that this seemingly innocuous response shook her to the core and that, quite suddenly, Benham became human to her.
The Dallas pastor eventually challenged McCorvey to consider an Old Testament verse that changed her life.
“It wasn’t long before I sat with Norma right outside of that abortion mill. And she said, ‘You know, I’m just pro-choice.’ I said, ‘God is pro-choice.’ And I took her to Deuteronomy 30:19-20. ‘I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you this day that I have set before you, life and death, blessing and curse. Now, choose life so that you and your children may live and that you might learn to love the Lord your God and to fear Him always for the Lord is your life.’
“That was her verse. And once she saw that, she said, ‘Well, God is pro-choice, but He wants us to choose life.’ Bells began to go off in her head.”
After a life of sinful living, Norma McCorvey was finally ready to ask God to cleanse her.
“And it was about two months later that we had the wonderful opportunity to lead her to Jesus. She asked for God to cleanse her of all of her sins. She repented of her lifestyle that was just destroying her – the lesbianism, drugs, sex.
“So, the poster child of the pro-choice movement, ‘Jane Roe’, jumped right into the arms of Jesus as Norma McCorvey. That’s who she really is, not that false name ‘Jane Roe’, and she began to be a living parable for the lives of these little baby boys and girls.”
Even though McCorvey never had an abortion herself, she felt the shame and the heavy weight of responsibility for the 30 million children who had been aborted as a result of her Roe v. Wade Supreme Court case at that juncture. To be sure, that was a demonstrable emotional burden.
“She was saying to me, ‘Flip, I see these empty playgrounds and I feel so ashamed of what I’ve done, that there are children who are not here because of what I did. And I feel just so ashamed. And I pointed her to Psalm 34:5 which says, ‘Those who look to the Lord will be radiant, their faces will never be covered in shame.’ It was just like freedom for her. And so now for the past 22 years, she has been the most eloquent voice for these pre-born children. And her life, she’s gone, she’s in that great cloud of witnesses.
“She’s there with Bernard Nathanson; he was the founder of the National Abortion Rights Action League, and he gave his heart to Christ. And Sandra Cano, the married Doe of Doe vs. Bolton – all of them who were probably the most instrumental entities to usher us into Roe v. Wade, are now in the great cloud of witnesses together.
“Their lives leave us a pattern that it’s our turn now. We’ve got to run our race. The gates of hell will not prevail against the Church of Jesus Christ.
“We don’t need to wait for a president or a Supreme Court or a Congress. We simply need to live out our faith as they did and be a voice for the voiceless that God Himself will do exceedingly, abundantly above all we can ask or imagine. And this whole abortion holocaust is going to come to an end because the Church of Jesus Christ rose up.”
Benham told The World View that he remembered the moment when McCorvey professed Christ publicly for the first time, followed by baptism.
“Well, Norma McCorvey gave her heart to Christ on August 3rd at Morris Sheets’ church. We were all there, sitting with her in the church and she went up to the altar. Now she had confessed Jesus before, but this was her first public confession.
“I was thinking that Morris Sheets would be the one to baptize her, but she wanted me to baptize her. And I thought, ‘Well, that’s a privilege.’ She trusted me; she had faith in me. We baptized her in that swimming pool. We knew that this was a very special event.
“We wanted to make sure that everyone knew that abortion is pre-eminently a Gospel issue. Everything that changed Norma’s politics was the fact that Jesus was in her heart.”
Pastor Benham explained in greater detail why Norma McCorvey wanted him to baptize her.
“Norma MCorvey asked me to baptize her in a neighbor’s pool because she had always viewed us as enemies, and she viewed me as her greatest enemy. But what she began to find out, as we worked in the streets right next to her and people were going up and sharing the Gospel and giving moms a real choice who were coming into the abortion mill where she worked at, her views about us began to change.
“She found out that not only were we not her enemies, but we were her very best friends, that we weren’t like those Vasaar ‘Yup Yup’, pro-choice ladies like Patricia Ireland and Kate Michaelman who really were always ashamed of her because she was a girl from the other side of the track. She was lost in drugs; she attempted suicide; she was in a lesbian relationship. It was all an embarrassment to them.
“But Jesus got right into the mess of her life — through us. We were the ones privileged to be there. And He said, ‘I love you!’ He swooped her up and said, ‘I don’t care about ‘Jane Roe’. You are Norma McCorvey. You are my child.’ And He cleansed her.
“She knew that we were her very best friends. We care about her and didn’t want anything from her. With that kind of honesty, all walls were broken down. And she was set free.”
Benham gave the exclusive story to ABC News.
“So we got Peggy Weymeyer, who was the religious correspondent for ABC News, and gave them the exclusive for Peter Jennings to break that news August 12, 1995. They covered the story and they did it right.
“They made sure that this was not just some political shift and somebody using Norma McCorvey, just like the pro-aborts used her to espouse their cause, that now the pro-lifers would do the same thing.
“We didn’t do that. We made sure that Jesus got all the glory and that He was the one that made all the change in her life. He is the one who has the power to change hearts of people and the heart of a nation.”
Benham recounted in detail that earth-shaking ABC Evening News story about Norma McCorvey’s conversion to Christ at which point she renounced her Roe v. Wade legacy.
“What we had were pictures of Norma by an empty playground. She was thinking about the kids who weren’t there because of what she did. We see Norma praying in church; we see Norma being baptized. It was just great because what it showed us is that the gospel of Christ is powerful.”
Norma McCorvey wasn’t the only Dallas abortion mill staffer who came to faith in Christ.
“Six other staffers at the abortion mill – Aware Women in Dallas, Texas – gave their hearts to Christ also. It wasn’t just Miss Norma.
“It was so dangerous that Jasbir Ahluwalia, who was the abortionist, made them sign a disclaimer that they would not associate with people from Operation Rescue nor become friends with them. To do so, would result in termination of duty. He made them sign that because he was losing so many people.
“We were winning people to Christ almost daily. It was just a great opportunity to see when the Church of Jesus Christ gets to the gates of hell, we win.”
While the mainstream media outlets will no doubt miss the big story as they reflect on Norma McCorvey’s life, Benham summarized it perfectly for The World View.
“She was on the wrong side of history; now she’s on the right side of history. She was on the wrong side of eternity; and now she’s on the right side of eternity. And now, she is a part of the Church Triumphant; she’s run her lap of the race, and we’re proud of her.”
Order the moving story of Norma McCorvey’s journey from sexual sin and her Supreme Court abortion case to her Christian conversion in the biography entitled Won by Love: The Jane Roe of Roe v. Wade Speaks out for the Unborn as She Shares Her New Conviction for Life.
Egyptian Christian Schoolteacher Killed for His Faith
In other news, an Egyptian Coptic Christian schoolteacher named Gamal Tawfiq, 50, was gunned down by suspected ISIS militants as he made his way to the school where he teaches. According to Christian Today, Tawfiq was targeted by the militants who followed him by motorcycle and shot him in the head as he made his way to El-Samran School in el-Arish, Northern Sinai.
Tawfiq’s murder marks the second Christian killed in under a week. The majority of Egypt’s population is Sunni Muslim, while Christians account for about 10 percent of the population.
Mike Pence Allays Fears About Russia At Meeting With World Leaders
CNN reports that Vice President Mike Pence told world leaders on Saturday that the United States will stand firm against Moscow while also seeking avenues for cooperation as he aimed to calm European fears about US-Russian ties.
“Know this: the United States will continue to hold Russia accountable, even as we search for new common ground, which as you know, President Trump believes can be found.”
But Pence’s posture was met abruptly by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, who said at the same conference that the West’s dominance of world affairs is ending. “The US cannot be the only power. … We don’t want Russia to be seen as less important. We want mutual respect to recognize the global needs.”
The dueling messages came during a security summit in Munich, Germany, where leaders are eagerly looking for clues about how the new US administration will broach Russia’s persistent challenges to international law.
Texas Will Not Be Intimidated by NFL’s ‘Transgender’ Agenda
The NFL is trying to intimidate the state of Texas. Upset with Senate Bill 6 sponsored by Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick which would require that everyone use the public bathroom of their “biological sex,” the NFL is threatening not to award future events like the Superbowl to the Lone Star State, reports The Christian Post.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott and the Houston-based U.S. Pastor Council had two words for the NFL: Butt out!
The U.S. Pastor Council said, “We demand to know what role the NFL has in dictating the values of Texas, interfering with something outside of regulating their own sport and placing our women and children in harm’s way to give preference to one tenth of one percent who are confused about their gender.”
“If the NFL’s values include requiring that men can use women’s restrooms, we have a special message for the Commissioner and Mr. McCarthy; Pastors of every color and every corner of this state are declaring that we choose mothers over money, daughters over dollars and privacy over predators.”
1 Corinthians 16:13 says, “Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be courageous; be strong.”
Malaysian Police Arrest Suspected Killer of Kim Jong Un’s Half Brother
Malaysian police said on Saturday they had arrested a 47-year-old North Korean man named Ri Jong Chol in connection with the murder of the estranged half brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, reports Reuters.
Kim Jong Nam died this week after being assaulted at Kuala Lumpur International Airport with what was thought to be a fast-acting poison. South Korean and US officials have said he was assassinated by North Korean agents. Nam, the eldest son of the late North Korean leader Kim Jong Il, had spoken out publicly against his family’s dynastic control of the isolated, nuclear-armed North Korea.
Chinese Government Arrests Four South Korean Missionaries
The communist government of China has arrested four South Korean Christian missionaries and expelled at least 32 more after carrying out a series of police raids on churches, upset with their Christian evangelism, reports the Eurasia Review.
Bob Fu of China Aid, an organization that documents persecution of Christians in China, told The Christian Post that “the top leadership is increasingly worried about the rapid growth of Christian faith and their public presence, and their social influence. It is a political fear for the Communist Party, as the number of Christians in the country far outnumber the members of the Party.”
Christian Governor Wins Indonesia Election
The embattled Christian governor, Basuki Purnama, narrowly won the election in Indonesia despite being on trial for blasphemy, reports World Magazine. Two Muslims ran against him for the seat.
Purnama won 43 percent of the vote in the Feb. 15 contest, CNBC reported. Since no candidate won more than 50 percent, there will be a runoff election in April.
21 Incidents of Attacks on Women Because of ‘Transgender Bathroom Policy’
The Family Research Council has compiled a list of 21 incidents of men assaulting girls and women or violating their privacy in public bathrooms, warning that despite what activists claim, transgender-friendly policies do indeed increase the risk of such crimes, reports the Christian Post.
Furthermore, non-discrimination laws that allow people to go into bathrooms based on their gender identity, rather than their birth sex, are giving sexual predators the opportunity to exploit the circumstances and commit voyeurism or sexual assault.
Family Research Council further noted that that “the concern is not that transgendered individuals are more likely to be sexual predators, but rather that sexual predators could exploit such laws by posing as transgendered in order to gain access to women and girls.”
Two More States Declare Porn a ‘Public Health Crisis.’
Utah labelled pornography as evil, degrading, addictive and harmful and said it was a public health crisis. South Dakota and Virginia think so too, reports Relevant Magazine.
South Dakota’s SCR4 resolution passed unanimously among state lawmakers, saying that children are being exposed to porn “at an alarming rate,” while noting that it is also “linked to a lessening desire in young persons to marry.”
Virginia’s legislature called pornography an epidemic.
Proverbs 6:27 asks, “Can a man scoop fire into his lap without his clothes being burned?”
Planned Parenthood CEO’s Salary at Almost $1 Million
Planned Parenthood CEO Cecile Richards’ annual salary has gone up by a whopping 265% to almost $1 million, reports LifeNews. Sad to think that one can become a millionaire while advocating for the death of the most vulnerable, the most innocent of civilization – the unborn babies in the womb.
Ryan Bomberger, in a LifeNews.com column, asked, “What corporation loses 670,540 clients in less than 10 years, slashes its major services (except one) up to 59%, increases its president’s salary by a whopping 265% (from $360,902 in 2006 to $957,952) and gets praised by the news media? Planned Parenthood.”
Sad Story About Nebraska Teen Killing Her Baby
A disturbing story from Nebraska reveals the very disdain for life which Planned Parenthood advocates.
A Nebraska teen admitted in court to throwing her premature newborn out of a second-story window after she secretly gave birth in the middle of the night, killing the child, reports The Omaha World-Herald.
Antonia Lopez, 16, of Omaha, also reportedly texted her boyfriend after giving birth, saying, “It was a girl by the way.”
Highway Patrol Officer Talks Man Out of Committing Suicide
And finally, in 2005, Kevin Berthia had an infant daughter who had been born premature, and the medical costs for her care climbed to nearly $250,000. He couldn’t see a way out of debt, reports SunnySkyz.com.
Berthia fell into a deep depression and went to the Golden Gate Bridge. California Highway Patrol Officer Kevin Briggs was there that day as well.
Berthia explained, “I was overwhelmed with everything. It’s like everything that I ever was bothered by, everything that I was ever dealing with came up on one day. And I just felt like a failure. All I gotta do is lean back and everything is done. I’m free of all this pain.”
Sergeant Kevin Briggs, also known as the Guardian of the Golden Gate Bridge, has stopped upwards of two hundred people from jumping off of the Golden Gate Bridge. According to Briggs in 2003, a typical conversation starts by asking how are they doing, followed by asking them what their plan is for the following day. If they do not have a plan, he would attempt to make them one.
Berthia said, “We talked for 92 minutes about everything that I was dealing with. My daughter, her first birthday was the next month. And you made me see that if nothing else, I need to live for her.
“He tried to show me the important things in my life, focusing on my daughter. Hope came back. I put my arms up, and he and another officer helped me up and back over the railings.”
Briggs took Berthia to a hospital, and the two didn’t see each other again for years. Eight years later, Berthia, now married with two children, presented Briggs with an award at the American Foundation for Suicide.
Irish Mother Writes Touching Letter to Her Daughter with Down Syndrome
Rhona Cullinan, a mother from Dublin, Ireland, has written a touching open letter to her five-month-old daughter Molly who has Down’s syndrome to reassure her she is loved unconditionally, reports The Society for the Protection of Unborn Children in the United Kingdom.
When she found out that her baby had Down’s syndrome, Rhona and her boyfriend Martin were devastated at the news, but, she writes, “we decided then and there that we loved you and no matter what we had to face we would take it one day at a time and stay positive.”
“We then found out that you were going to be a little girl and we were thrilled! Tears ran down my cheek – firstly with joy but then with sadness. Maybe if you have Down Syndrome it would be the end of my dreams of mummy-daughter shopping days with you, seeing you falling in love, doing your makeup when you’re getting married.”
However, everything changed when Molly was born. After a traumatic caesarean section, “Your dad was the first to see you – he just looked at me and smiled and said she’s beautiful. Straight away he could see you had Down syndrome. But you were alive and didn’t need any help with your breathing so we were just so relieved. Suddenly Down syndrome seemed to be the least thing we were concerned about. You had it, so what, we were instantly madly in love with you!”
“I realized you could do everything I imagined – you can go shopping and probably fleece me – you can have a boyfriend and probably obsess over him – you can go to school and do as well as you can – you can get a job – might not be president but you’ll love whatever you do!
“So Molly I want to apologize – for not enjoying your pregnancy more – for doubting you – for worrying about your future – for trying to limit you before you even start.”
Religious Groups Offer Sanctuary To Immigrants
Religious groups that provide sanctuary for illegal immigrants may have to face federal opposition from the Trump administration, reports National Public Radio.
For example, the Unitarian cult of Denver welcomed Jeanette Vizguerra and her four children to receive sanctuary from a possible deportation by federal authorities.
Vizguerra has lived in the U.S. since 1997. Three of her four children have been born here. However, in 2009 she pleaded guilty to using a fake ID to be able to get a job. She has reportedly been issued six stays of removal, prompting her decision to seek refuge.
Religious groups and churches are traditionally recognized as “sensitive locations” under a memo issued by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement in 2011.
Former President Obama is the 12th Favorite President
C-SPAN released a survey on Friday that asked historians to rank past presidents and former President Barack Obama was voted the country’s 12th best, right behind Woodrow Wilson and in front of James Monroe, reports Fox News.
Historians were asked to grade the presidents on items like “public persuasion” and “moral authority.” Politico reported that Obama rated high in the category of “equal justice for all,” but received low marks for his relationship with Congress.
Abraham Lincoln retained the top position, and George Washington came in a close second.
Pastor Blames Trump’s Election on 81% of Evangelicals
Rev. Jim Wallis, a leftist pastor who picks and chooses which Bible verses are applicable, said that the exit polls which showed that 81 percent of evangelical voters and a majority of white Christians voted for President Donald Trump in the 2016 election represent a “crisis in the Church” and reveals that the Church is more racially divided than ever.
Wallis, who heads the liberal Christian social justice group Sojourners, said that evangelicals and Christians who voted for Trump are “responsible” for his presidency and any “racist” policies that might come out of the Trump administration, reports the Christian Post.
Wallis claimed that Trump was guilty of “blaming a black president”, as opposed to recognizing that Trump resisted Obama’s leftist policies which had nothing to do with the color of the former president’s skin.
Ford Will Continue Production in Mexico
According to CNN Money, the CEO of Ford Mexico Gabriel Lopez announced that Ford will go forward with building an engine plant and a transmission plant in Mexico. The plants will cost $2.5 billion in construction costs, and will result in 3,800 workers upon completion.
At first blush, it appears as though Ford has changed their plans hammered out with then President-elect Trump. However, at that time, Ford cancelled the building of a third Mexican plant while simultaneously announcing a new $700 million Michigan plant to build electric and self-driving cars.
Will the Wooly Mammoth Return?
The woolly mammoth vanished from the Earth 4,000 years ago, but now scientists say they are on the brink of resurrecting the ancient beast in a revised form, through an ambitious feat of genetic engineering, reports The Guardian.
Speaking ahead of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) annual meeting in Boston this week, the scientist leading the “de-extinction” effort said the Harvard team is just two years away from creating a hybrid embryo, in which mammoth traits would be programmed into an Asian elephant.
The creature, sometimes referred to as a “mammophant”, would be partly elephant, but with features such as small ears, subcutaneous fat, long shaggy hair and cold-adapted blood.
And that’s the World View in 5 Minutes.