 Bench Briefs takes a holiday in order to bring you a Christmas reflection from Charmaine:
Dear Friends, ![[object Object]](http://action.aul.org/images/content/pagebuilder/11599.jpg) Five children in my house can tell you the count down to Christmas day with the kind of scientific certainty usually reserved for great events – like a rocket launch to the moon, T-minus 10 seconds and counting. Rarely in my life have I anticipated any day with that same passion … with several exceptions.
While I was working in the Reagan White House right after college, I had a job that I loved. But even though I never lost the thrill of walking in that historic building every morning, my dreams for the future still centered on a wedding day. Those dreams offered the promise of a life not yet lived. And the unfolding of a life together with my husband Jack that eventually brought us five children has been more than I could have asked or ever imagined. As exciting as Christmas morning is for children, when the gifts that they dreamed of become reality, the day of a child’s birth is an unparalleled gift – one that offers a joy they will not know until they become parents themselves. And Christmas time offers us a moment to reflect on the fact that one child’s birth can change the world. As Marcus Tullius Cicero said, "What gift has providence bestowed on man that is so dear to him as his children?” Life in the womb is a gift not yet fully seen (we can peek through a sonogram or touch the outline of a foot), but until that child is welcomed into the world, we wait in anticipation. Today, more Americans say that they are pro-life than pro-abortion. The technology of the sonogram plays a role in that we can see a glimpse through a glass darkly at the life hidden from view. But I believe it is in part because of the work of groups like Americans United for Life, in which people who love children – born and unborn – really do come together so that all children will be welcomed into the world. Thank you for your support for our work together defending the true gift of Life. We could not be here in Washington, D.C. without you, and together, we can welcome the gift of new life into the world in 2011. Merry Christmas to you and your family. . .  Yours for Life,
 Charmaine Yoest, Ph.D.
President & CEO
Americans United for Life
PS: Yesterday, FOXNews.com ran an oped I wrote about Planned Parenthood’s “Choice on Earth” campaign and the abortion gift certificates that they are marketing as “the gift of life.” We had a little bit of fun with it – I hope you’ll take a minute to read it and let me know what you think.
PPS: Send me a picture of your Christmas “gifts of life” and (with your permission) we’ll post them on our AUL Facebook page! 
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