Images of death are always grotesque and vile. This is especially true of images of dismembered infants lying in a dish after an abortion procedure.
Using graphic images of aborted babies in the pro-life movement is a contentious issue. Pro-life abolitionists commonly stood outside abortion facilities with images of aborted infants attempting to convince scared, naïve women – often coerced by their pimps or boyfriends – not to have an abortion.
Three questions arise from this issue. First, should the pro-life movement use images of aborted babies? Second, how can the movement use said images of aborted babies? Third, what is the movement countering?
When using this, some pro-life activists take a more drastic stance. However, a discerning approach is necessary to have positive societal results. In order to be an effective political and social movement with the goal of saving lives, we must have a consensus of strategy using graphic images of aborted babies. We must utilize a methodical strategy to achieve maximum results in changing hearts and minds.
Images of dismembered babies are terrible, disgusting, and revolting — just as horrifying scenes of death camps during WWII, such as Jasenovac, Dachau, and Auschwitz-Birkenau. As terrible as this may be, the pro-life movement must utilize grotesque photos to show the world the horrors of abortion — just as American soldiers made Germans tour the Nazi extermination camps to expose the atrocity to show them what was done. We must expose the truth. The truth must be told and should not be shunned regardless of difficulty.
However, just because the images transpire truth, they are not always to be used in all circumstances. There is a drastic difference between showing a scared young woman an image of an aborted baby and showing fanatical pro-abortionists at a demonstration the deadly consequences of their ideas. The scared young woman would feel shamed and shunned because she feels the pro-lifers are there to ridicule. The pro-abortion fanatics at demonstrations need an explicit wake-up call to the atrocities of abortion.
When pro-life interviewers ask pro-abortion activists if they know the graphic details of abortions, they usually respond no, and then they are shown an animated video demonstrating the procedure. Often, the pro-abortionist’s mind is changed. Using graphics images in this circumstance counters naiveness, cognitive dissonance, and the falsehood that abortion is life-saving healthcare. Healthcare does not dismember, starve, poison, and vacuum a human baby.
Certain circumstances call for demonstrating the horrific truth by showing images of aborted babies and how a procedure is conducted.
What has been used within the 15 years is sidewalk counseling for women seeking abortion. Volunteers, giving up their precious time willing to compassionately converse with women who feel alone, ashamed, scared, and left with no other options besides abortion. A leading cause of women seeking abortion is due to feeling unsupported. Having an abortion is a shameful atrocity and people who have had or performed abortions should rightly feel shame.
However, the best way to change the hearts and minds of women seeking abortion, and to save the lives of babies is to be compassionate, a trustworthy person to talk to, and a resource for support.
If pro-lifers speaks from a position of condemnation, condescension, and disdain, of course pregnant women will not engage. A person that is scared and uncertain about what to do feels safer when they are heard and given support.
Pro-life Action Ministries, based in Saint Paul, MN, has saved over 3,600 babies from abortion through sidewalk counseling in the state. Even the presence of people praying in front of abortion facilities deters women from entering and getting an abortion by 75%.
No graphic image or condemnation, rather people solemnly praying outside can deter and change the hearts of women originally seeking to kill their child. This strategy has changed thousands of minds and saved thousands of lives. Someone who feels lost, insecure, and afraid wants to be treated like a human, with dignity and compassion. Having the dignity and compassion to engage in sidewalk counseling or simply praying in front of abortion facilities encourages women to see the dignity of their baby’s life.
Using graphic images of aborted babies, as abhorrent as they are, has a place and purpose in fighting for the right to life. However, images are not the best in all circumstances.
We should use images to shine the terrible truth of abortion at rallies, demonstrations, and counter-rallies because those who are rallying for the preservation of abortion need to bear witness to its horrors. The images show the truth that babies are human, and abortion is not healthcare but the elimination of health and life altogether.
Yet, women walking into abortion facilities will not be convinced by demonstrators with graphic images. It has not worked and has pushed them away from the pro-life cause. Being a counselor of support, sympathy, and resources prevents women from killing their baby.
We are fighting a war – a war against the unjust slaughter of babies in the name of choice and healthcare. To fight and be victorious in this war for life we must be extremely methodical as to what weapons we use in each battle. We must use delicacy and strategy when using explicit images. Though they are essential in certain circumstances, to win this fight for the right to life we must be calculated in our outreach and deliverance.
