SPRINGFIELD—As the Missouri Baptist Convention returns to Springfield for its 176th annual meeting, messengers may remember what happened the last time they came to town.
An abortion clinic shut down.
It happened on Oct. 20, 2005. The Springfield Health Center, which provided around 1,000 abortions a year, ceased to be in existence due to “zero support from the medical community.” The abortionist who had been driving in from St. Louis to keep the clinic going, Dr. Allen Palmer, decided to concentrate his efforts on servicing a clinic in Bridgeton, which does presently operate.
If you go to where the Springfield abortion clinic used to be on 1837 E. Cherry St. you will now find an office of the Missouri Baptist Children’s Home. That new beginning occurred in that building in December 2007.
Abortionists like Palmer are on the run in Missouri. Like Florida cougars, California condors, and whooping cranes, doctors who are willing to legally end the lives of babies are getting harder and harder to find. Simply put, they are rare.
For example, let’s look at the story of the Columbia abortion clinic. Technically, it is still open. Technically, a baby inside a womb can still be brought there by an expectant mother for the surgical procedure that has been legal in the United States of America since 1973. The key word here is technically. Abortions have not been performed there since Aug. 9. But technically, you can still get one.
Why have abortions not been taking place at the Planned Parenthood facility for nearly three whole months? Officially, the reason is “scheduling issues.” Another way to put that is that Planned Parenthood has decided to “put a hold on all abortions” as of Sept. 22, according to a KOMU-TV8 report. Those who watch the facility on a daily basis explain that doctors simply are refusing to go there to perform the legal yet arguably frowned upon procedure of abortion.
Prayer has been a key weapon leveled against the evil of abortion in Columbia. Groups of pilgrims have faithfully gone to the facility on North Providence Road to ask a Holy God for mercy, kindness and justice on behalf of the innocent. Those cries are a daily reminder that God is granting a victory.
The next target in the effort to remove the curse of abortion from the state of Missouri is St. Louis. Planned Parenthood stands like a giant on Forest Park and Boyle Avenues, a clinic where babies’ lives are ended with efficiency and regularity. Standing against the giant is Thrive St. Louis, an organization that exists to empower life and healthy choice.
Thrive St. Louis is well-funded and determined to beat Planned Parenthood at its own game, which is the game of owning human sexuality. Thrive is coming from the point of view that God owns human sexuality—an idea that Planned Parenthood challenges on a daily basis with its humanistic counseling and abortion services. Thrive is Christ-centered, helping people make life-affirming and healthy decisions about sex, pregnancy and relationships.
Open since 1983, Thrive operates six counseling offices and is well-versed on the latest ultrasound technology.
The final domino to fall could be Palmer’s clinic in Bridgeton. If God were to grant that prayer request by pro-life Missouri Baptists and other believers in the state, there would be no more abortion facilities on Missouri soil.