"Love does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth."
1 Cor. 13:6
"Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world." James 1:27
"Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them. For it is shameful even to speak of the things that they do in secret. But when anything is exposed by the light, it becomes visible, for anything that becomes visible is light. Therefore it says,
'Awake, O sleeper,
and arise from the dead,
and Christ will shine on you.'" Ephesians 5:11-14
My main hope and goal is not ending abortion. My main message is one of glory and hope and eternal life through the crucifixion of Jesus Christ for sinners like me and you who repent and believe for the forgiveness of their sins. It is one of joy to the world because God is fixing this broken world full of evil (including me!) through the resurrection of his Son to a new creation. This world will be restored to light and beauty through a transformation in the hearts of people as they trust in Christ and are born again to a living hope. It will ultimately happen when Christ comes back to make all things right and establish a perfect world forever. In that new world, there will be no murder, no hatred, no anger, no greed, no pride, no war, no dismembering and negotiating over torn parts of babies, just love. This is not my message. I received it from Jesus.
In the meantime, God calls followers of Christ to live lives of love; lives that begin to foreshadow that coming glorious new world of love. And love does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices in the truth. Dismembering and selling little babies is wrong and we cannot rejoice in it, even if it gives a woman (and her husband) more life choices. These little babies have been abandoned and given over by their parents to dismemberment, and pure religion is to visit them in their trouble. What do orphans and widows have in common? The ones who are supposed to protect them are not there to protect them. Someone needs to stand with them when they are in trouble, when they are in danger. Love compels us to stand with the babies and with their moms, especially when the moms are in trouble because they have been abandoned by their husbands and fathers. Someone needs to protect these babies, and someone needs to protect the mothers who are preyed upon at their most vulnerable and fearful moment by a corporation ready to haggle over best prices for baby parts.
Dismembering and selling babies is an unfruitful work of darkness. It is unfruitful because it is cutting off fruit before it can fully ripen and tearing it to pieces. It is darkness because it is the murder of little human beings. This kind of darkness should have the light of truth shone on it. That is what recent videos of interviews with Planned Parenthood leaders have done again. They have forced us to think about what is being done. Have you watched them? Will you please? I will make it easy for you to find them, though they are not easy to watch. They will make you feel bad. They will cause your laughter to turn to mourning.
Both of the summary videos, plus a link to the unedited full version of at least one can be found here. Even more recently, they have released the beginning of a documentary summarizing the findings here.
There are a lot of questions about what the interviews truly reveal, and a formal investigation by the proper authorities would be fitting, but so far I have been able to discern a few things quite clearly from watching the videos.
1. Abortion is not merely about clumps of cells
A few brief moments of the videos will make this very plain. One of the main arguments supporters of abortion make is that a clump of cells is not a human. The argument really hinges here. Even though science clearly demonstrates that human life begins at conception, this piece of information is fiercely hidden behind a pile of human rights talk in order to make abortion somehow seem like the just thing to do. But what is crystal clear is that the people in the videos are not haggling over clumps of cells. Rather, they are discussing internal organs, legs, skulls, brains, etc. And they are casually discussing the best techniques for ripping the baby to pieces while keeping these pieces intact. These are little humans with little heads and little toes and little kidneys. If you have never been through a pregnancy, I would encourage you to sign up for an email update for pregnant moms that teaches you week by week the development of your baby. One good example is here. Maybe you are not as scientifically informed as the average mom who has carefully and delightedly read over these regularly.
2. The lack of compassion in these Planned Parenthood representatives is staggering
The way the people in the videos discuss the best technique to remove a baby's head intact while eating and drinking wine is staggering. It seems surreal. In the latest video, the first installment of the documentary, a former volunteer discusses how she blacked out the first time she took tweezers to separate out mutilated baby parts. This is a more fitting reaction.
3. It is hard to see the price negotiations as merely about covering shipping and handling costs
While all the representatives do clearly express that they are not allowed to sell baby parts, and that they are not doing so; several things make these words ring quite hollow. If you were wanting to be careful to have the cost only cover basic expenses, why would you haggle over the price? Why would you be worried about who throws out a figure first in order to win the negotiation? Why would you need to check into what other people are selling them for in order to make sure you are not selling them too cheap? All you would need to do is calculate shipping and handling costs. No negotiations necessary. You would not want to joke about getting a fancy car as a result of the sales. Mrs. Nucatola (in the first video released) talked about PP being happy to go beyond breaking-even on the sales, you know, if there is a way to do that that seems reasonable. How is that anything other than selling baby parts? If you were trying to be careful to ensure that funds only covered shipping and handling, how would you talk about pricing with someone? Would there be any negotiating necessary?
These videos shine a bright light on the abortion industry. The proper aim of shining this light is to expose the unfruitful works of darkness. It is not merely to score political points, it is not to war against others in the culture, it is not to ruin someone's day or vindicate your cause. It is to shine the light of truth and let love reign. The ultimate aim is to expose the wickedness so that Christ can shine on it and babies can be saved and all those involved in abortion can repent and be forgiven and enjoy eternal life in the new creation that will be saturated completely in love.
Awake O sleeper,
and rise from the dead,
and Christ will shine on you.
