Eva Edl is an 89-year-old concentration camp survivor and pro-life advocate who is now facing up to 10 years in prison after the Biden-Harris Administration’s Department of Justice charged her with violating the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act.
Edl and six other pro-lifers were convicted for “conspiracy against rights” after protesting outside of an abortion facility in Detroit, Michigan, as CatholicVote reported in August.
Edl escaped death in a communist concentration camp in Yugoslavia when she was a girl. Her family later fled to America. When she realized that abortion was occurring in the United States, she immediately joined the cause of protecting unborn life.
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In a September 4 phone interview with CatholicVote, Edl discussed her faith and trust in Jesus, where she finds her strength, and her preparation for the possibility of dying in prison.
Note: the following interview has been edited for brevity and clarity.
Why did you decide to intervene in the case that you were indicted for, using a more direct form of protest?
I became aware of abortions and abortion clinics existing in the United States in 1988. I saw a group of people in Atlanta, Georgia, blocking an abortion clinic. I did not know abortions existed beforehand. And so, I simply said, well, this makes sense, people should have done that for me when I was being shipped into a death camp to be exterminated. These babies are just shipped in a different way. So that’s when I rescued for the first time.
Have you ever had any regrets about the way you protest?
No, no, never. I’m obeying Jesus. He said in John 14:21, “Whoever loves me will keep my Commandments.” Well, one of his Commandments in Matthew 7:12 is “to do unto others as you wish they would do to you” in a similar situation. Well, I already went through that similar situation. It was a no-brainer for me, you know, so yes, I love Him, so I’m going to obey Him.
And of course, later on, I found Proverbs 24, where it says in verses 10-12, “But if you fall in the day of adversity you’re really weak. So rescue those around who are unjustly sentenced to death.”
And of course in Proverbs 31, it just says, speak out for those who don’t have a voice for themselves. Little babies cannot cry out for help. So somebody has to advocate for them. For me, it was a very simple thing, and I just praise God that my husband let me do it.
What is your reaction to the possibility of spending your later years in jail?
Well, when I was indicted by the government for the federal charge–like a conspiracy to commit the crime, the law that was used against the KKK– [it] carries maybe 10 or 11 years of prison. Well, I wouldn’t live through that. So I just simply started to prepare to die and have my children sell my house.
It became just overwhelming because too much happens in a number of years. You accumulate too many little knick-knacks and memorabilia from the grandchildren and all. So finally I had to give up and say, “Lord. I just leave it all behind. The children just can take a dumpster and throw away what they don’t want and give away what they want to.” And so now I’m free.
And as far as dying, I don’t want to suffer, definitely don’t want to suffer. But I’m not afraid of dying. I dealt with that as a young child before I was even put in the death camp, because that’s when I heard about sin.
We learned the Ten Commandments in second grade, and I knew I was a sinner and that I was on my way to hell. But, praise God, I also heard about Jesus who loved me enough to come from heaven and who took on humanity so he could pay for all my sins. And if I give my life to Him, I was told, He will take me to Heaven when I die.
So I lost my fear and I surrendered my life to Him then and I haven’t gone back since. He’s well worth it. Suffering is really nothing compared to what He did for us.
What is the main source of your strength?
The main source of my strength is simply the Holy Spirit. I depend on the power of the Spirit. Jesus Himself depended on the Holy Spirit to do the miracles, to do everything.
If I just am willing, I believe he does the enabling. Because in the natural person, I don’t have any strengths, and they’re really worthless, anyhow, unless God is in them, let’s face it.
So I just depend on the Holy Spirit. I say, “Here I am, use me as you wish Lord,” and that’s all. And then I let go because I cannot judge when the Lord uses me if it’s the right way or not. He knows best, right?
Just make yourself available and then He’ll enable you to do. Don’t try to decide, “Well, will I do it after I’m enabled?” I have never experienced that. If I hold back until the enabling comes, it never does, because only my human strength remains then.
Readers can donate to support Eva’s defense here.
LifeNews Note: Grace Porto writes for CatholicVote, where this column originally appeared.
