Examples of what hope looks like for women, children in crisis

Ray Ann Merchant (director of the Bethany Birth Choice office) and her husband, Walter, have 11 children, including eight who were adopted. The family includes black, Asian, Hispanic, biracial and white members. One daughter has learning disabilities. The Merchants also have been foster parents to 176 newborns (and counting). Chishko has five biological children and two adopted sons, both with special needs.

Those families, and others like them at Rose Day, are a daily example of the infinite possibilities of life and the power of love. If this is “not caring about children after they're born,” what does caring look like?

On Jan. 17, 1907, the El Reno Democrat reported that Chickasha's Oklahoma constitutional convention delegate predicted enactment of a “coach law” requiring separate accommodations for blacks and whites using public transportation. He noted the U.S. Supreme Court had “more than once” upheld such laws. When the 1955 Montgomery bus boycott occurred in Alabama, many dismissed it as meaningless symbolism. They were wrong. Some point to court rulings and say the same thing about Rose Day. They're also wrong.

The Montgomery boycott changed the culture. With their actions and (in the case of many children at the event) their very lives, those participating in Rose Day are doing the same.

For women and children in crisis, this is what hope looks like.