Advocating for the unborn

MYRNA BROWN, HOST: Today is Thursday, January 21st. Thank you for turning to WORLD Radio to help start your day. 

Good morning. I’m Myrna Brown. 

MARY REICHARD, HOST: And I’m Mary Reichard. Coming next on The World and Everything in It: Sanctity of Human Life Sunday. 

Nearly 50 years ago this month the United States Supreme Court decided Roe v. Wade. The result overturned all state abortion laws and replaced them with one of the most permissive in the western world.

BROWN: Eleven years later, President Ronald Reagan designated the third Sunday in January—as “Sanctity of Human Life Day.”

This weekend many will recognize Sanctity of Human Life Sunday, including two Georgia grandmothers. They told me why they believe every life is worthy of respect, protection and care.

ALVEDA KING: My mom wasn’t ready to have a baby but my granddaddy convinced her.

MYRNA BROWN, REPORTER: Alveda King was born in Atlanta, Georgia, January 22, 1951 into a family of preachers—her father, uncle, and grandfather. By the time she turned 18, two of them were gone.

ALVEDA KING: My uncle, Martin Luther King was killed in 1968 and my dad A.D. King was killed in 1969.

KIM DIXON: I grew up in DeKalb County…

DeKalb County, Georgia, is about 20 miles east of Atlanta. That’s where Kim Dixon was born, January 24, 1968. 

KIM DIXON: I had a great mom, a great dad and I had a great childhood. We were involved in a local church.

They even got baptized at the same time.

KIM DIXON: And we all went down together and we were all in the baptismal pool together as a family. It was very much like a family decision rather than God speaking to me individually. 

But looking back, Dixon says she never made a personal decision to follow Jesus.

KIM DIXON: Was searching, probably in really bad places was searching the world for happiness or joy.  

Alveda King tells a similar story.

ALVEDA KING: So in the 1970s I had been married, divorced and was out and just in the world. 

In her mid-twenties, King became a mother. Then she got pregnant again with her second child. 

ALVEDA KING: Abortion was new. Abortion became legal in 1973 on my birthday, January 22. So the father was involved, he knew and he wasn’t ready for us to have another baby. And those who were advising him were saying, oh, it’s safe. And it won’t hurt as bad as pulling a tooth. They told me that, too. I had two abortions and a miscarriage. I became a pro-choice voice.

By the time Kim Dixon was in her twenties, abortion had been legal for nearly two decades. 

KIM DIXON: I was not only once but twice involved in a crisis pregnancy.

Both of those pregnancies ended in abortion. Years later, Dixon eventually married and together they had three children. The family joined a local church and Dixon pursued her own relationship with Jesus.

KIM DIXON: Even though that church labeled that as a rededication in my life, years later I would come to realize that was my day of my salvation. It changed me forever.

While she believed God forgave her for the two abortions, Dixon still struggled with forgiving herself.

KIM DIXON: I thought of myself poorly…I had guilt and I had shame. When I was about 40, I reached out to a friend. And I forgave myself that day for what I had done. But I had to utter the words, Kim I forgive you.  

Alveda King still remembers the words her grandfather spoke over her five decades ago.  She was in her twenties, divorced and dating. 

ALVEDA KING:  I became pregnant and I was going to abort that baby and I told my grandaddy, I’m going to Planned Parenthood and I’m going to get an abortion granddaddy. Somebody should  know where I’m going. And he said, wait a minute, wait a minute! That’s not a lump of flesh. That’s my great- grandchild. You can’t do that. We’re going to have a baby.

King not only had that baby, but also married the child’s father. Today the 70-year old is a mother of six with 11 grandchildren. 

53-year-old Dixon is also a grandmama. 

WOMEN’S EVENT VIDEO: Hi, thank you for letting me share my story today.

Dixon, a pro-life speaker, tells her story as often as she can. Sitting in a brown arm-chair, with a lapel mic attached to her blouse, she stares straight into the camera… 

KIM DIXON: I’m like Lord, are you going to use me more for like an advocate for the unborn? Or are you going to use me more for an advocate for the women?

Alveda King already knows the answers to those questions. 

ALVEDA KING: In 1983 I became a born again Christian. And I laid it all down for Jesus. 

King runs a 16-year-old ministry that exposes the harm of abortion and educates men and women about the sanctity of life.  

ALVEDA KING: And it’s my sincere belief that first, God says choose life. So I believe God that life is sacred. And then I believe that the right to be born is our first civil right.

Reporting for WORLD, I’m Myrna Brown in Lawrenceville, Georgia.

(AP Photo/Alex Brandon) Alveda King, the niece of Martin Luther King, Jr., in Washington Saturday, Aug. 28, 2010.

WORLD Radio transcripts are created on a rush deadline. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of WORLD Radio programming is the audio record.