Emily Letts is a 25-year-old abortion counselor in New Jersey. She recently posted this video of herself having an abortion. (It's not graphic in the least.) Mostly it features her smiling and talking about how lucky she is to have so much support. The video went viral after it took first place in the Abortion Care Network's stigma busting video competition.A stigma busting competition? Really? An actual promotion designed to find ways to remove the "stigma" of ending your child's life? Think of the implications of this battle tactic. Fellow pro-lifers, we must not stop fighting!
Please don't misunderstand. I'm not about shaming women who recognize they have made a mistake. Christ offers healing and forgiveness, and so should His people. But I am also not about sitting idly by while the pro-abortion movement attempts to remove all responsibility from mothers to protect the lives of their children. This video, and especially the ideology behind it, is a BIG deal. This isn't your typical abortion advocate's defense.
Emily Letts reflects on her abortion experience with the words, "I don't feel like a bad person. I don't feel sad. I feel in awe of the fact that I can make a baby. I can make a life."
God, forgive us. We do know what we do. And we do it anyway.
Her disclosure didn't end there, either. In a Cosmo article, Letts speaks of being fascinated by women giving birth and growing life. Her exact words. And in one of the most baffling decisions I've ever heard of, she explained that this fascination led to her job as an abortion counselor.
Beg pardon? Growing life is such a fascinating process that she chose to help others end it?
After watching the video, my initial thought was, "Victory! A pro-abortion advocate just accidentally let it slip that babies in the womb are alive!" But then I read the follow-up article, and it hit me. That wasn't a slip. Those weren't careless remarks. The fact that she watched documentaries and studied all about babies' development says that she's given this some real thought. And then decided to work in abortion clinic and choose an abortion for her baby. This baby that she had conceded was alive and growing.
The baby.
From her own mouth: b-a-b-y.
She chose to record the moment when she ended her baby's life, and then promote that video for the world to see. So women can know that there is no shame in ending your child's life. At least both sides might finally be on the same page. If that's a positive thing. It's certainly a heartbreaking thing.
And speaking of heartbreaking, I decided to watch some other abortion videos before writing this post. I didn’t want to watch them. Hearing the description of how babies are pulled apart was bad enough. And I've seen pictures of their innocent, lifeless, mutilated bodies. I felt like I needed to watch the actual process, though.
Letts is actually the reason I made that decision. I was included in her statement, "People have such strong opinions on abortion, but they don’t actually know what it looks like." So now I do, though not after watching her video. Ironic that one of her goals was to show an abortion, since none of the abortion was actually shown. What she meant (and expounded on elsewhere) was that there were few abortions documented from the mother's perspective.
And that's really another point that I just CANNOT wrap my mind around. I know what it means to be a mother. I've experienced the beautiful process of a life growing in me, and I still marvel when I reflect on it. I treasure those memories. Life is beautiful and precious and sacred and valuable. Her video may have been a mother's perspective, but it was certainly not every mother's perspective. If one is genuinely concerned about wanting to determine what abortion looks like, then they need to view it from both perspectives. Whether or not the mother is smiling in denial, the baby's perspective is the same each time. There is a foreign object entering their home, and it's no longer the safe haven it was meant to be. And depending on how old the baby is, their level of agitation and pain increases. I firmly believe that Emily Letts is right on this point- every woman needs to see what an abortion looks like.
One of the biggest hypocrisies of the pro-choice movement is their proclamation that they want women to make an informed choice. They declare that the pro-life movement wants to deceive women and give them "invasive" ultrasounds. Because how dare we make women aware of what the "tissue" in their womb looks like, right? And how dare we allow women to even know that there are other options besides abortion? Who came up with the label "pro-choice" anyway?
Currently, I'm thinking of the recent actions taken by NARAL Pro-Choice America. They are actively campaigning yahoo, and have already campaigned google, to remove crisis pregnancy center ads from popping up when an "abortion clinic" search is made. I'm not exaggerating. It's right on their own website. The truth of how successful they've been is disputed, so I'm not sure of the details. What I do know is that if you search "crisis pregnancy center Roanoke, VA", a NARAL Pro-choice America article will be in your results. Something tells me they won't petition to remove those as well.
Angry. I'm just so angry right now. It's frustrating to sit here and watch our technologically advanced nation futilely deny that there is a child in the womb. And now, we may be seeing an increase in those who don't even bother to deny life exists, but still justify their abortion as their choice. I honestly don't know if this is a growing trend for the pro-abortion movement- I just know that they are promoting the video that states the idea.
For Emily Letts at least, her choice seems to boil down to this, "I knew what I was going to do was right, because it was right for me, and no one else."
Sigh. How do you even argue that? It's not even a matter of determining whether abortion is right or wrong, because there is no right or wrong. How do you change someone's entire worldview?
You can't.
But God can! I'm such a naturally pessimistic person that stories like this make me want to despair. (As did the abortion videos.) I cannot allow myself to dwell on those feelings, though. And I can't allow myself to become overwhelmed by the enormity and the gravity of the task at hand. God is bigger than even this.
God can change hearts. He is in the business of changing hearts. Ultimately, it's His job to transform the self-centered notion that there are no moral absolutes. It's my job to do exactly what He's already asked me to do, and it's a job that I should be taking very seriously. I can't stop praying, boldly proclaiming the truth, staying informed, and taking advantage of every opportunity I can to end this massacre.
And I absolutely cannot give up, because every life counts.
