Today is Kansas\u2019 birthday. While I wasn\u2019t born in the land of Oz, I\u2019ve spent enough years here to have fallen in love with the windy state I call home. And on this day in 1861, Kansas was born \u2013 amid a storm of controversy.<\/p>\n
In the years leading up to the Civil War, Congress decided to let the settlers in the territory that would become Kansas determine if it would be a slave state or free state. The violence that broke out as a result of Northerners and Southerners each grappling to claim another star on the flag gave my state the nickname of Bleeding Kansas. Finally, after five years and three unsuccessful attempts at a state constitution, Kansas was established as a free state on January 29, 1861.<\/p>\n
But that would not be the last time Kansas was known as a battleground.<\/p>\n
I will never forget the Sunday in May 2009 when I heard that the local abortion doctor was shot and killed at his church, less than five miles from my house. Dr. George Tiller\u2019s death was national news \u2013 even mentioned in Abby Johnson\u2019s dramatic book \u201cUnplanned.\u201d<\/p>\n
Once again, my state was bleeding.<\/p>\n
January 22nd<\/sup> marked the day in 1973 when the U.S. legalized abortion in all 50 states. In the decades since, the debate over abortion has only grown louder.<\/p>\n Millennials have never known a world without widespread abortion; we\u2019ve grown up in a society that assumes its presence. And now, in a world of #shoutyourabortion, some even want us to brag about it.<\/p>\n It\u2019s easy to assume that abortion will always be a fact of modern life. Over and over, we\u2019ve talked about the pain and tragedy and wrongness of abortion, and about our responsibility to defend human life at every stage and circumstance. A search for \u201cabortion\u201d in the Boundless online archives brings up around 100 results.<\/p>\n So why bring it up again?<\/p>\n There are at least three big reasons why we should still be talking about abortion.<\/p>\n Over 2,000 babies are aborted in America<\/a> every day. Worldwide<\/a>, that number is over 153,000. Over 153,000 children died today. Over 153,000 will die tomorrow. This isn\u2019t over.<\/p>\n As huge and tragic as these numbers are by themselves, there are even more lives affected. Each baby aborted represents moms, dads, grandparents and many others who will forever be without someone who should\u2019ve been in his or her life.<\/p>\n When we think that everything that needs to be said about abortion has already been said, we forget that there are unborn babies alive right now who won\u2019t make it to their birthday. There are women \u2013 and men \u2013 who will feel like abortion is their only choice and will walk into a clinic tomorrow or next week or next month.<\/p>\n We must keep talking about abortion because abortion still exists.<\/p>\n1. Babies are still being aborted every day.<\/h5>\n