The Reality of Abortion: An Inconvenient Truth

Technology frequently has a way of exposing facts we would like to ignore. This is especially true when we are considering the deeply emotional and extremely divisive issue of abortion. Without advances in technology during the last several decades, the issue of abortion would be much less controversial because most of us would be much less informed. But technology has made it clear that an abortion involves the taking of an innocent life in order to accommodate the “rights” of the mother.

In a story that has received little coverage from the mainstream media, the former director of a Planned Parenthood clinic in Texas recently experienced a conversion in her views about abortion as a result of her first-hand exposure to technology. Abby Johnson, age 29, had volunteered and worked for Planned Parenthood for eight years when she was asked to assist a doctor who was performing an abortion procedure. Several days ago, I saw an interview with Ms. Johnson on television. I have not been able to get the interview out of my mind since then.

Ms. Johnson said she had always been “pro-choice” until she actually witnessed an abortion. She was asked to hold an ultrasound device over a woman’s stomach so the doctor could locate the fetus with the instrument he was using to kill it. Ms. Johnson said she could see the unborn child—with its head, arms, hands, legs, feet, and heartbeat—moving away from the doctor’s probe as it fought for its life. Ms. Johnson said she realized she was not watching a “choice.” Instead, she was watching the death of a child. Ms. Johnson said she watched the fetus “crumple” as it was vacuumed out of the patient’s uterus.

During the interview, Ms. Johnson said Planned Parenthood was putting increased emphasis on abortions rather than other methods of birth control because the organization makes more money from abortions. She said there’s not as much money in family planning as there is in abortions.

After witnessing the abortion, Ms. Johnson went home and told her husband, “I can’t do this anymore.” Even though Ms. Johnson and her husband needed two incomes, she resigned from her position with Planned Parenthood. As a result of her conversion, Ms. Johnson now volunteers with the Coalition for Life, a pro-life organization.

When Ms. Johnson started talking about her experience, Planned Parenthood responded by suing her and asking the court to issue a restraining order to keep her from talking. After hearing two hours of testimony, a Texas judge last week refused to issue the restraining order.

Technology and education are the keys to the pro-life movement. Those on the “pro-choice” side of the issue seem to go to extreme efforts to keep woman who are considering an abortion from understanding what they are doing. They have consistently opposed proposals that women, before having an abortion, be required to observe an ultrasound showing the life growing within them. The argument is this would cause trauma to the women. The real concern is that fewer women will have abortions if they are better educated about what they are doing. Technology is the key to better education of women considering an abortion.

An organization called Priests for Life has produced a very descriptive video describing a first-trimester abortion. The video is available on YouTube and has already been viewed more than a million times. It takes about three minutes to view the video. I recommend it for anyone who wants to learn more about the reality of abortion. You can watch the video by clicking on the following link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QBOAPleF1t0

There is evidence that public opinion is changing on the issue of abortion. A Gallup Poll released in May found that 51% of Americans now call themselves “pro-life” compared with 42% who are “pro-choice.” According to the Gallup organization, this was the first time a majority of U.S. adults identified themselves as “pro-life” since Gallup began asking the question in 1995. The poll also revealed changes in public views about the legality of abortions. About 23% of Americans think abortions should be illegal in all circumstances compared to 22% who think it should always be legal. Only four years ago, Gallup found that most Americans then favored unrestricted abortions.

In June of this year, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit upheld the constitutionality of Virginia’s ban on partial-birth abortions, a technique used for late-term abortions. In concurring with the decision, Circuit Judge J. Harvie Wilkinson wrote, “The fact is that we—civilized people—are retreating to the haven of our Constitution to justify dismembering a partly born child and crushing its skull. Surely centuries hence, people will look back on this gruesome practice done in the name of fundamental law by a society of high achievement. And they will shudder.” Although Judge Wilkinson’s comments were made in the context of partial-birth abortions, they could be applied to all abortions because the purpose and effect of an abortion are to dismember an unborn child.

Much to the dismay of many, public attitudes about abortion are changing. Technology and education are the reason. Sometimes it’s best to let the facts speak for themselves. The reality of abortion is an inconvenient truth.