Pro-abortion groups often claim that abortion doesn’t kill human life, but one abortionist’s clinical observations show that many women know the truth.
While some high profile pro-abortion activists have admitted that abortion destroys life, I have found that most pro-abortion activists you find on debate forums or at pro-choice demonstrations deny that abortion kills a baby. Instead, they say, abortion removes “tissue”, “cells” or, if they are being uncharacteristically graphic, a “fetus” – but not a developing human being.
Dehumanizing statements about the preborn can often be found in pro-choice literature. For example, a booklet handed out by Planned Parenthood of the Rocky Mountains says the following:
Is the fetus alive? Is it alive? Algae is alive, and earthworms, and your appendix. Mold on the bread in the refrigerator is alive. People are not agreed on what a life is …
So according to Planned Parenthood, having an abortion is no more significant than destroying mold, algae, or earthworms. They say that forcing a preborn child from his mother’s womb (by dismembering him with forceps, poisoning him, or subjecting him to violent suction that tears off his arms and legs) is no different than having an appendectomy.
Rh Reality Check’s Amanda Marcotte once tweeted:
Taking antibiotics terminates more life than an abortion. One organism < the billions you kill with antibiotics.
These are only two examples of the kind of rhetoric found on pro-abortion social media and literature. But look at the following quote. In her book Why I Am an Abortion Doctor, abortionist Dr. Susan T. Poppema describes how some of the women who had abortions at her clinic performed rituals about their abortions. Poppema, says:
The reality is that our clinic is a relatively placid place. Some women add to this sense when they come in and stage what amounts to rituals around the procedures. A patient came in recently with her partner and brought candles, clearly making the experience a ritual way of saying, “I am proud of myself for making this choice, also sad about the choice.”
Obviously, these abortion patients knew that they were not just getting rid of “mold” or “algae.” No one lights candles after throwing a piece of moldy bread into the garbage. No one performs rituals after cleaning algae from their fish tank. No one “feel sad” or feels the need to commemorate the destruction of germs. We don’t have rituals to help us cope emotionally after taking antibiotics, just like there are no support groups for people who spray Lysol on their kitchen counters.
Abortion is more than just a routine surgery. When is the last time you heard about a patient bringing candles to an appointment for a tonsillectomy? How many people who have a cyst removed stage rituals in the doctor’s office? How many times have you gone to the dentist and seen another patient light candles to honor the significance of their lost wisdom teeth?
The answer is, barring the presence of a person with mental health issues, never.
Poppema’s words indicate that her abortion patients know abortion has far greater significance than killing “mold” or “bacteria.” This is true despite the pro-abortion propaganda these patients have been exposed to. Although pro-abortion activists try to dehumanize the preborn baby as much as they can, many women still know the truth- that human life exists in the womb.
I do not know if Marcotte or the person who wrote the Planned Parenthood pamphlet actually believe what they said about preborn babies or if they know their propaganda is false and misleading. Do they really look at a sonogram of a baby kicking and sucking her thumb and see something akin to mold or bacteria?
Is this bacteria?
A person who makes their living promoting abortion would have a strong incentive to deny reality in order to salve their conscience. They might seek to dehumanize preborn babies as much as they could in order justify making money off of their deaths. Someone who had an abortion might have a similar need. To assuage a guilty conscience or justify an income made by promoting death, they may convince themselves that preborn babies with heartbeats, brain waves, and, quite often, fingers and toes, are just like algae and bacteria. But no matter how loudly they shout their pro-abortion propaganda, many people can see right through it.
Source: Susan T Poppema, with Mike Henderson Why I Am an Abortion Doctor (New York: Prometheus, 1996) 120
