What We Don't Want to Know

Today Cinthia discusses an important issue and then welcomes Kelsey Pritchard of SBA Pro-Life America to discuss it further.  Cinthia and Pritchard explain that the political conversation about abortion this election season includes significant misinformation and some outright lies.  For example, candidates have indicated that abortions do not currently happen in the ninth month in the United States, but, in fact, they are legal for any reason up to birth in ten states and in DC.  Many political ads and figures are insisting that pro-life laws will result in a lack of healthcare for women who need it, that doctors will even be prosecuted for simply providing lifesaving care to women, including performing surgery for an ectopic pregnancy.  In fact, every state allows lifesaving care for the mother, even when it requires inducing labor at a time when the baby may or may not survive after birth.  Care for an ectopic pregnancy is not medically or legally considered abortion, and abortion laws do not apply to these cases.  This is because in an ectopic pregnancy there is no possibility of saving the child’s life; the pregnancy is not viable by any means.  Assertions that pro-life measures or the absence of Roe vs. Wade will prohibit women from receiving lifesaving care for ectopic pregnancies are simply not true.

Another lie asserted in this election has been that infanticide is not allowed in any state; in fact, fifteen states allow infanticide of children born alive during an attempted abortion, something that happens on a regular basis.  In fact, in 2019 Kamala Harris voted against the Born Alive Protection Act which would have required babies to receive care if born alive, the same care any baby born at the same gestational age would receive.  Jill Stanek, a nurse at Christ Hospital in Chicago, testified in 2020 that she witnessed such infanticide and that, in the event a baby was born alive, it was only given “comfort care” and left to die of neglect.  In one instance, she described finding a baby with Down Syndrome that was being transported to a soiled utility room to die; she rocked the child for 45 minutes before he died.  (Even in states that do not allow it, whistleblowers say children are regularly allowed to die by neglect after being born through induced labor during an attempted abortion.  Kermit Goznell, a Pennsylvania abortionist who was found to regularly and brutally kill children already born during attempted abortion, has been imprisoned for this, but the all-too-similar case of Douglas Karpin was dropped without prosecution.)

Many people in our country (including, no doubt, some of our faithful listeners) have had or been involved in abortions.  People make mistakes, and there are some things we do that we wish could be undone.  God can and does heal those who come to Him with grief over what they have done.  The goal is never to shame a woman who has had an abortion or a man who has encouraged or been involved in one, but continuing to legally allow and encourage the practice does not heal those who are already living with guilt, shame, and regret.  The political debate right now is about expediency, ease, and ensuring that there are no restrictions on the barbarism enacted on the most vulnerable members of our society.  This is happening in the name of protecting women, but the abortion industry is not interested in protecting women.  There may be some abortionists who truly believe they are helping women, however wrongly, but the political movement and the industry as a whole is focused on money and political power.  As Pritchard states, “The abortion industry is not interested in women’s health, or they would not lie about the safety of abortion pills.”  Most of the world seems to understand this human rights issue better than America does right now; in fact, 47 of 50 European countries have protections for the unborn by about 15 weeks gestation.  Even most pro-choice Americans do not actually want what the Democratic Party is currently pushing.  Over 75% of Americans support some sort of limitations on abortion; they do not support late-term or taxpayer-funded abortions.  The Democratic Party is pushing for taxpayer-funded abortion for any reason and at any time in pregnancy, and those politicians who receive promotions from Planned Parenthood have signed their support for this.  The industry intends to keep lying.  Harris is clear that she will put a federal mandate in place; while she states she supports reinstating the “protections” of Roe vs. Wade, she, in fact, supports legislation much more extreme than Roe vs. Wade was.

Most of us don’t want to talk about this.  We have somehow decided this is all just inevitable, that we cannot expect it to change or that we have no right to be concerned about whether someone else makes a choice to end a baby’s life.  We want to accept the lines politicians use to make us think we are discussing safe medical procedures by caring professionals, ignoring the reality of the horrors happening in the buildings past which we drive.  But just because a politician says something doesn’t make it true.  We need to stop being naïve.  We need to stop pretending that abortion is something done to make women’s lives better or to ensure their “bodily autonomy” and basic healthcare rights.  We need to stop selling women the lie that abortion will solve difficult situations and empower them to resist oppression.  We need to acknowledge and act to prevent atrocities, even when we would rather tell ourselves they are not happening.  We need to vote with our eyes open and encourage others to do the same.