"because our gospel came to you not only in word, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction." 1 Thessalonians 1:5 ESV

The power of the Gospel and the work of the Holy Spirit can unlock heart and bring change to our lives and convictions, even in the most unlikely circumstance. Such is the real story of Norma McCorvey of Roe vs. Wade:

Norma McCorvey was a Texas girl looking for a solution to her problem. She had become pregnant with her third child and was seeking to end the pregnancy.  Two young lawyers were looking for a way to express their disagreement with Texas law on the subject of abortion saw Norma as an end to those means.

After a false claim of rape failed to gain the opportunity for an abortion under the law's exemption, Norma was introduced into what would become one of the most important Supreme Court decisions in American history.  She would become known as Jane Roe of Roe vs. Wade.*

As was predictable after the long legal process, Norma became despised by locals and harassed by people from all walks of life, and her living in poverty as a lesbian and drug addict did little to improve that situation.  She would go on to become voice for the Pro-Abortion faction and continued working high-profile in abortion clinics.

As a stanch feminist shunned by mainstream-minded women, it is unlikely that Norma would have ever changed her position on the issue which bore her other name "Jane Roe", but for the sharing of the Gospel with her by a Christian Evangelical.

The Reverend Philip Benham had taken things in hand at an "Operation Rescue" outreach center which opened next door to the clinic that Norma worked at.  Through Christian example of an urban form of "love thy neighbor", his sharing of the Good News with her proved to be the one positive aspect in all of Norma's negative life.

He was kind to her when so often others were not, and through the stability of a caring relationship, one person for another, she requested baptism from this evangelical preacher.  Her heart had turned to the Truth through the power of the Gospel.

Given her new circumstances, she would later publically renounce her former lesbian life-style and pro-choice convictions and to state her regrets for certain of her past decisions made.  Norma would later leave the fold of the Evangelicals to embrace Catholicism, but would always remember the one who shared the Gospel with her.

Norma McCorvey (Jane Roe of Roe vs. Wade) died on February 18, 2017.  Reverend Phillip Benham is the current National Leader of Operation Save America.

The power of the hearing of the Gospel is quite clear here, as it is in countless other conversions where love has prevailed in an environment of death.  No matter how unlikely the situation may be, when we are given the opportunity to share the Gospel with others, we should never fail to do so.

In this era of "choice" on reproductive rights of women, such sharing and caring can turn the heart and mind of another away from the ways of what is happening in America today, where "approximately 50 percent of all pregnancies are unplanned , and of these, 43 percent will end in abortion." **

*ThoughtCo, "Norma McCorvey - The Woman Who Was Jane Roe", by Linda Napikoski - September 2018

**The SHRIVER Report, Why are 50% of Pregnancies in U.S. Unplanned? - Adrienne Bonham, 10/2013

Rik Charbonneaux is a retired NE Iowan who loves all of God's Word and all of His creatures.