Baltimore Ravens tight end Benjamin Watson is proud to be "pro-life," but the Christian athlete wants people to understand that there's more to the term than just fighting abortion.
"For me, pro-life is more encompassing than simply the abortion issue. It's really more of a complete worldview. Pro-life is: being for people who are in sex-trafficking, or people who are in danger from persecution, or being for people who are stricken with poverty or illnesses, or whatever it may be," he tells Turning Point.
Watson adds that anyone who respects life is already pro-life. Being pro-life means people holding everything very dear and understanding that life was created by God.
In the political arena, being pro-life means one is against abortion. But the NFL star says if people care about life from conception, then people must also show concern "all the way up to death."
"A lot of times, the folks on the margins are the ones that suffer the most, so the babies that are unborn, and the elderly, are the ones that will be cast aside," he says. "Life has internal, intrinsic value, whether it's capable of living on its own at that point or whether it is capable of living on its own at the end of its life. All the way through the spectrum, I believe life has value because it's created in the image of God."
Watson and his NFL teammates don't always agree about issues such as abortion, terrorism, religion, and the presidential elections. But he still appreciates how they are able to get past their differences and operate as a team.
"The best thing is that, after we have the conversation, even if we don't agree, we know we have a job to do and we get out there and do our job. What I love is that in most of the situations I have been in, not all of them, but most, even if we sometimes talk abrasively to each other, we still have love for each other," he says.
