Being pro-life can sometimes be discouraging. Knowing that thousands of babies die every day is a heavy burden to carry. Yet pro-lifers have cause for hope – when shown the truth, many pro-choicers change their minds.
Live Action recorded videos in which former abortionist Dr. Anthony Levatino described different abortion procedures using diagrams. The videos reveal the true nature of abortion and its violence against helpless human beings. You can see the videos here.
The video below shows pro-choice people changing their minds when they are shown the Abortion Procedures videos. Seeing what abortion does to babies surprised them and made them realize the violence and brutality of abortion procedures. One young man, who identified himself as pro-choice before seeing the video, said:
I didn’t realize that the baby was, you know, doing that kind of stuff at such a young, such an early stage. …I believe that’s like, murder, right there – what I saw.
Five people converted from pro-choice to pro-life in the video, and one remained undecided but came away with a much less positive view of abortion.
Pro-choice people have also changed their stands on abortion after seeing photos of abortion victims. Graphic images are very controversial in the prolife movement, with some pro-lifers strongly against showing them because of the angry reactions they sometimes provoke. Other pro-lifers show them at every opportunity, carrying huge posters featuring images of abortion victims. The debate is ongoing, but these pictures, when shown in the proper context, have won converts to the pro-life cause.
Priests for Life has many graphic photos of aborted babies on their website, and has gathered testimonies from website visitors whose minds have been changed by the images and other information on abortion.
One high school student wrote (cited on clinicquotes):
Hello, I am a 16-year-old female and I just finished looking at the pictures on your site and reading what actually happens during an abortion. Up until five minutes ago I was extremely pro-choice. I thought things like, “let women make their own decisions about their own bodies” and things along those lines. Because of your site, I realize that abortion is not a choice about a woman’s body… It is the LIFE of a BABY. Never before did I realize how truly horrible and careless abortion really is. Maybe it’s because I’d never seen the pictures, or read the actual descriptions of abortion. Maybe I was too afraid to know the truth. I really don’t know. But within three minutes of viewing your website, my face was covered in tears. Those pictures just really hurt to look at. I thank you so, so much for your wonderful website. I cannot express how grateful I am that you have shown me the truth about abortion. God bless you. Thank you once again.
Priests for Life’s photos have touched people around the world:
Thank you so much for the pictures of aborted babies on your website. I have always been Pro Choice, until tonight. I have to admit, I was ignorant of the methods used or the fact that abortion can take place so late in the pregnancy. I have a 5 mnth [sic] old son who I love dearly, after viewing those photo’s I think I love him even more if that’s possible. I am still thinking that it is ok to abort if the child is going to be severely deformed etc but even as I write this my mind is changing. Maybe only nature should decide if a child lives or dies, choosing a gentle passing instead of the barbaric methods I saw tonight. I’m so torn in my thinking now, but I’m so pleased that I am actually giving this some thought and not ignoring the issue as I have been. Thank you for opening my eyes to the truth. I am an adopted child myself and now I am so grateful that I am here today. I honestly hope that your work reaches more people like me; I can assure you that I will be spreading the word about your website in my own home province in New Zealand.
Another woman (again quoted on clinicquotes) wrote:
I have been a pro-choice believer my entire life until someone shared your web-site with me. I was first shocked then sickened by what I saw. God, how could I have been so misguided my entire life? I actually believed it was not a baby. I actually believed a first trimester abortion was fine. Boy did you open my eyes. I believe that God worked with me today to show me the right way. I have often wondered if I was wrong but always dismissed those thoughts until I saw these photographs. Several of my pro-life friends told me to pray for help in seeing how wrong abortion is. I have prayed but with yours and God’s help I found this site and now I see. I am 30 years old and a mother of two children. I always thought this was a woman’s issue and never considered anything but the choice. Now I see it for what it is…just plain wrong. Thank you so much for this site. You have reached at least one person.
Another person wrote:
I just wanted to let you know how this website has changed me. My whole life I have been a “good” Catholic. The only issue I really had with the Church was that I didn’t really agree with her views on abortion. I never really viewed abortion as a “church” or “government” issue. I believed until recently in the right of a woman to choose. I believe that God has been trying to get my attention lately on this issue. I don’t know what made me visit your site. I am thankful that I did. The visit has changed my view and has changed me forever. Thank you Father for your hard work and know that you are making a difference. God Bless You. And I can now say I am praying for an end to abortion. It is our duty as Catholics to defend all of God’s people…..Born and unborn.
It’s not just Christians who change their views of abortion after learning more about it:
I am a Buddhist from Dallas, TX and I have always been an ardent supporter of a women’s right of choice in matters of pregnancy…Also, I have not delved into the gruesome details of abortion, as it was not “my issue”. In recent times as the near-term and partial-birth abortion debate is getting more mass media coverage, it rekindled my interest to find what the debate is all about. What I found changed my views of abortion forever! This abortion has got nothing to do with women’s rights. It has got everything to do with an unborn child’s right to live! For me, it plain and simple, and it fits my definition of murder, regardless of what the current law says about it. You are absolutely right, words can never do justice to this heinous, unspeakable, horrendous and most cruel crime perpetrated upon a yet to be born human being.
There are many more testimonies here and here.
The undercover Planned Parenthood videos taken by David Daleiden of The Center for Medical Progress have also been a powerful tool of conversion in the battle against abortion. In an article in The Daily Beast entitled “I Don’t Know if I’m Pro-Choice After Planned Parenthood Videos,” Ruben Navarette, Jr. writes about how the videos seared his conscience.
Navaratte says that he became pro-choice his freshman year of college, but:
Even then, I understood the abortion debate was a tug-of-war between competing rights—those of the mother versus those of an unborn baby. I sided with the mother. And I tried not to think about the baby.
But the videos made it much harder to ignore the baby.
At the end of his article, Navaratte says:
For those of us who are pro-choice, the Planned Parenthood videos are a game changer. As to whether that means I’ll change my view, I’m not sure. I’m on the bubble. Ask me in a few weeks, after the release of more videos.
While he stops short of embracing the pro-life position, Navaratte is far less strong a supporter of abortion than he was.
All these testimonies and stories should give hope to the pro-life movement. Some people harden their hearts when confronted with the truth about abortion. They hold onto their belief that even though abortion is violent and gruesome, it should be legal. But many others change their minds.
