Brooklyn and Bronx: Ground zero in the war for life
Brooklyn and the Bronx represent ground zero in the war for life. They represent ground zero for the highest number of abortions in the U.S. New York’s Governor and Attorney General are celebrating attacks on pro-life Christians there, with the Empire State Freedom Initiative. The destruction of preborn boys and girls is a right that Governor Kathy Hochul seeks to protect by targeting those who see abortion as barbaric violation of the rights of the baby and destruction of the health of the mother.
At CompassCare, we know a thing or two about the dangers of being inside the belly of the beast. We’ve been attacked by the acidic secularists who support exterminating innocent life in the womb. Those attacks have been political, legislative, legal, and even terrorist in nature, when our Buffalo medical office was firebombed in the wake of the Dobbs decision.
These attacks are meant to intimidate and shut us down. But we never shut down and we are not intimidated. These attacks serve only to galvanize us to the principles of life that drive us. There can be no higher moral ground than loving God and our neighbor as ourselves. And so we have the legal high ground as Scripture says that among other things, “the fruit of [God’s] Spirit is love … against such things there is no law.” It is precisely because of this moral high ground, this high calling, that we are opening two new medical offices, one in the Bronx and one in Brooklyn in the coming days. Operating in the State of New York can often feel like we’re doing our work behind enemy lines.
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These offices represent much more than just medical care. They are outposts in a spiritual war — a war that has profound temporal consequences. The attacks we continue to face from both state and local authorities, coupled with the newly established constitutional right to abortion in New York, make it clear: this is not just a political debate. It is a battlefield. We are not just treating patients — we are standing in the breech, offering a lifeline to women who may otherwise feel trapped into choosing abortion.
Let’s be clear: the pro-life movement is not about merely fighting to change laws; it’s about changing hearts and minds, teaching the world the truth that humanity is inherently valuable as made in the image of our Creator. Protecting all life equally, without arbitrary qualifications like gestational age or genetic normalcy, or quality of life, is the hallmark of civil society.
Death is only ever a solution in barbaric, narcissistic societies where women and men treat each other as mere objects for personal gratification.
CompassCare provides an alternative that honors the dignity of both mother and child. This mission has always been a deeply spiritual one, driven by the truth that every life is sacred, regardless of the circumstances of conception. But now, it’s becoming an increasingly temporal battle. With each new attack, each fiery law aimed at limiting our ability to provide these life-affirming services, the stakes get higher not just for pro-life Christians but also for women who will have no ethical abortion alternatives.
The Empire State Freedom Initiative may be designed to crush the pro-life movement, but it is the catalyst for a revival of commitment to the sanctity of life. Unjust enforcement of inhumane policies only strengthens our resolve, serving only to illustrate the point that we as a nation need to re-civilize, returning to the basic truth about what being human means. And as we continue to serve the women and families in Brooklyn, the Bronx, and beyond, we ask the public to see through the political smokescreen, recognizing that the work we are doing is nothing less than a stand for human dignity, a stand for life everywhere.
In the coming weeks, CompassCare will not only be opening medical offices; we will be planting flags of freedom, truth, and hope in a state where life is increasingly under threat. It is our belief that while the battle may be hard, the victory will be worth it — because, in the end, the truth remains.
Rev. Jim Harden, M.Div. is a medical ethicist, author of the newly published Ethical Theory and Pertinent Standards in Women’s Reproductive Health, and CEO of CompassCare Pregnancy Services. He pioneered the first measurable and repeatable medical model in the pregnancy center movement and has written extensively on medical ethics, pro-life policy, and executive leadership. Rev. Harden has developed materials and strategies used by hundreds of pregnancy centers nationwide, helping them become more effective at serving women and saving babies from abortion.
