It’s not everyday you hear a high-ranking U.S. official share a personal testimony about abortion and adoption. But during a Heritage Foundation event wrapping up National Adoption Month earlier this week, Congressman David Schweikert (R-Ariz.) recounted how his own life was rescued.

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In the early 1960’s Schweikert’s birth mother headed south to Tijuana, Mexico, for an abortion. However, she weeped so inconsolably en route that her friends turned the car around and brought her home. After carrying and giving birth to Schweikert, she put him up for adoption. Many years later Schweikert and his birth mother re-connected and — filled with emotion — she told him how she prayed for him daily and annually honored his birthday.

Congressman Schweikert is not only blessed as an adoptee, but also as an adoptive parent himself. He knows better than most that the quest to find forever families for children in need is not always easy. But it is a cause worth fighting for.

“If you have a love and respect for life,” he said Monday, “sometimes we have to be much more accepting of a little bit of the chaos that comes with it.”

Let’s thank God for those who are willing to step into that chaos selflessly so a little one might live and be loved!

Truly, the need is great in the United States and abroad. In America’s foster care system alone are hundreds of thousands of kids with more than 120,000 waiting to be adopted. Sadly, 63 percent of those entering the system arrive because of some form of neglect, and more than half of those waiting for adoptive families have been in the system for at least 2 years. If a child becomes one of the nearly 20,000 a year who age out of foster care, data shows they are at significant risk of homelessness and incarceration.

Praise God for the birth mothers who courageously choose life and the adoptive parents who prepare, wait, and faithfully stand for their children.

Praise God, too, for those friends, neighbors, and faith-based ministries who rally around these parents and kids. And, as Focus on the Family’s Sharon Ford affirmed at Monday’s event, we can all find a role doing something for adoption.

“Everybody is not called to foster or adopt,” she said. “But is that ‘something’ either wrapped around support for either foster parents, adoptive parents, or supporting these young people who are aging out of the system?”

In a proclamation recognizing National Adoption Month, President Donald Trump also highlighted the many who are buttressing adoption in America. He declared, “Countless Americans dedicate their time, energy, and resources to the adoption process, and we honor their selfless contributions as community members, faith leaders, caregivers, role models, and families.”

May we see how we can help adoption-minded individuals and families in our spheres. And may our spirits be open to how we might pray for adoption to be honored and advanced in our nation.

IFA president David Kubal was absolutely right last fall when, referencing the childhood drama of Moses and the nativity of our Lord Jesus Christ, he said, “Truly, the blessing of adoption must be close to our Lord’s heart.”

If that’s the case and adoption is a key part of God’s plan, we can be sure it will need prayer cover. Will you please intercede today for all the lives that can be saved and transformed through adoption?

Aaron Mercer is a Contributing Writer with two decades of experience in Washington, D.C.’s public policy arena. He reflects on faith, technology, and the public square at FTPolicy.com.(Photo Credit: Unsplash.)

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