“It’s already hard to get an abortion in Virginia, and it’s about to get much harder.”

As soon as I read this sentence in a recent Washington Post article about the latest set of government regulations that will force many abortion clinics to close in Virginia, I couldn’t help but cry out “Yippee!” God is truly good, and he responds to our prayers!

The picture that immediately came to mind was the young woman I saw crying outside of an abortion clinic just a few weeks back when the strongest earthquake to impact Virginia shook everybody, including myself, into disbelief. I still believe that God was literally shaking the ground underneath our feet to wake and shake us up to Him. There’s a sense of urgency that I feel is in motion for this generation, a sense that we must truly establish His Kingdom on earth as Christ-followers, and as the prayer from Sermon on the Mount teaches:

“Our Father in heaven,

hallowed be your name.

Your kingdom come,

your will be done,

on earth as it is in heaven”

-(Matthew 6: 9-10 ESV)

However, as I read further down in the article, the following paragraph broke my heart and reminded me that there is much more that we need to pray for.

“The main victims of choking off the availability of abortions will be poor African Americans and Hispanics, who account for a majority of women who undergo abortions nationwide. In Virginia, they are concentrated in Northern Virginia, Hampton Roads and Richmond.”

I must admit that this statement really bothered me. While Hispanics and African-Americans make up about 30 percent of the population in the U.S., they account for most abortions nationwide? There’s something wrong there. But why aren’t more people outspoken about it? Why, as this author suggested, are we considered “victims”? The issue of abortion goes deeper and when I look at the “VIDA” band on my wrist, I think about how many Latino lives are being suffocated. What is it about these groups that the enemy so wants to destroy? Am I the only one who thinks this way?

I grew up learning about the civil rights movement in school, but I believe that there is a Christ-movement rising up fueled by prayer that will battle against injustice that seems to start in the womb. I am grateful to God that these laws were passed in Virginia, and I pray that other states might follow the example as well. Glory to God for what He will continue doing!