As a parent, you don’t always get to pick the perfect moments for discussing life’s big issues with your children. In fact, sometimes they take place at the absolute worst times — like on a Sunday morning, when you and your spouse are frantically trying to get all the kids ready for church.

But that was the situation I found myself in recently when my 8-year-old son, in between brushing his teeth and combing his hair, broached the issue of politics, boldly declaring who he was for in a major election.

“And that’s who my friends are for, too,” he said.

His choice, though, was not my choice, and it boiled down to one issue: abortion. I have never supported a candidate who backed abortion rights, and this race was no different.

“What is abortion?” he replied.

Perhaps my son’s naive political position was my own fault. I enjoy talking about government and politics with my kids: We’ve toured presidential historical homes (so far, four as a family) and we’ve attended campaign rallies (of both major parties).

It’s been sort of a Civics 101 lesson for my kids, yet I’ve never gone into detail about why Mommy and Daddy support one candidate and not the other. It’s always been a generic “we’re not for them because they believe things that go against the Bible.”

Yet here I was, on a stressful Sunday morning, wondering if it was possible to explain the most divisive and debated issue of our time to my 8-year-old son … and preferably in less than three minutes.

Of course, a conversation about abortion will look different within different families, but most of them – within a pro-life framework – will share similar points. Here are four suggestions: Continue reading →