Mayday! Mayday! Mayday!
Mayday is the word used worldwide to communicate distress via radio. Mayday signals a life-threatening emergency, usually on a ship or a plane, although it may be used in various other situations. Procedure calls for the mayday distress signal to be said three times—Mayday! Mayday! Mayday!—so it won’t be mistaken for another word or phrase that sounds similar under noisy conditions. A typical distress call will start with mayday repeated three times, followed by all the relevant information that potential rescuers would need, including type and identity of craft involved, nature of the emergency, location or last known location, current weather, fuel remaining, what type of help is needed and number of people in danger. Mayday got its start as an international distress call in 1923. It was made official in 1948. It was the idea of Frederick Mockford, a senior radio officer at Croydon Airport in London. He came up with the idea for “mayday” because it sounded like the French word m’aider, which means “help me.”
On May 1st, also known in some countries as May Day, another distress call was sent out. It was a cry of victory but also a cry of desperation. It was a cry from those who have no voice. It was a cry from the victims in their mothers’ wombs. A cry that was pleading for their lives. On May 1st the state of Florida declared that abortion was only allowed up to six weeks except for women who have been raped, molested, been victims of incest, had an ectopic pregnancy, or have lost children due to in vitro fertilization (IVF) and for clarification when speaking about abortion I do not include those circumstances and refer to abortion procedures that can also be referred to as feticide, the deliberate killing of an unborn child.
On May 1, there was a victory. Still, the war is far from over and a new battle has just begun, a battle to uphold our victory and not allow the enemy any foothold. I am referring to Amendment 4. “No.4 Constitutional Amendment Article 1, New Section Amendment to Limit Government Interference with Abortion. No law shall prohibit, penalize, delay, or restrict abortion before viability or when necessary to protect the patient’s health as determined by the patient’s healthcare provider. This amendment does not change the Legislature’s constitutional authority to require notification to a parent or guardian before a minor has an abortion.”
What does this all mean? Let’s break it down:
1.) The right to an abortion would be embedded into the Florida Constitution, and no legislation, past, present, or future, would have the ability to overthrow it.
2.) Mothers could legally terminate the lives of their pre-born children for any reason up to the point of viability (the point at which a baby can survive outside a woman’s body on its own. Typically this is 24 weeks or less) and even until the moment before birth if the healthcare provider deems the mother’s health to be at risk.
3.) Florida goes from a 6-week ban state to an abortion-on-demand state that would do abortions up to 9 months.
4.) Minors would not need to obtain parental permission for an abortion.
What can we do? We can pray. “Prayer must be at the forefront this hour, especially as the elections approach. We shift nations, impact destinies, and shape history through prayer. Jesus taught us to pray for the Father’s kingdom to come and His will to be done “on Earth as it is in Heaven” (Matthew 6:10). In other words prayer releases divine intervention that establishes His kingdom and shapes the world.” (Matthew Lockett, Bound4Life International).
I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live. (Deuteronomy 30:19)
My people…to be destroyed, to be killed, and to be annihilated. (Esther 7:4)
Because you have said, “We have made a covenant with death, And with Sheol we are in agreement. Your covenant with death will be annulled (…) And your agreement with Sheol will not stand; When the overflowing scourge passes through, Then you will be trampled down by it. (Isaiah 28:15, 18)
And shall God not avenge His own elect who cry out day and night to Him, though He bears long with them? (Luke 18:7)
We can spread the word, and on November 6, we can vote no on Amendment 4 and not allow Haman’s death decree to rule in our state. Jesus, I plead your blood over my sins and Sarasota’s sins. God, end feticide and send revival to Florida.
—Carolyn Farris, Bound4Life Sarasota