Few things have I found more difficult to watch and listen to than the video that was released on Tuesday of Dr. Deborah Nucatola the Senior Director of Medical Services for Planned Parenthood at a lunch meeting with two people posing as potential buyers of the organs of aborted babies. To listen to her so casually discussing the high demand for the livers and lungs and even the heads (or as she so professionally calls the calvarium) of babies and how they have perfected the skill of removing “it” (the baby) so as not to damage any of the desirable organs all while she eats her salad and sips her wine was unbelievably sickening and infuriating. It is utterly incredible and chilling to watch someone who has so lost her humanity that she can talk of dismembering children (eight of which she says she had just done that morning) as if she was discussing shopping for shoes. How painfully shocking it is to listen to this so called doctor describing all of the particular body parts of the baby with medical clarity and yet with complete blindness to the very fact that it is a baby she is talking about. What kind of liver is it that the researchers are interested in studying and what kind of stem cells are they interested in harvesting? Are they not human cells? Is this not a a human baby!!? It is demonic in its degree of twistedness.
If you have not seen the video then I urge you to watch it (you can watch the edited version here, the unedited version is also available) and encourage others to do the same. It is one thing to read the transcript and excerpts of the conversation, but it is a completely different thing to watch it. Though It is hard to watch and listen to, it will serve as smelling salts to those of us who believe that what is being discussed is not just a convenient collection of tissue and organs, but rather a human being made in the image of God. It is important because it exposes the ugly reality behind an evil practice which many have unfortunately grown accustomed to. Doug Wilson, in one of his blogs, said it well, “Our nation has tried to muddle through the abortion issue by means of a willful suppression of imagination. This video cuts through all of that”. That is, we have not allowed our minds to imagine exactly what is taking place in those clinics. The supporters of abortion have done a brilliant job in getting us to this point by establishing the vocabulary of the debate such as using benign terms like "fetus," "choice," and "reproductive health." And we as a society have been complicit in going along with this agenda, accepting the terms and allowing the invisibility of the atrocity to distract us from its horrors.
I must confess, that one of my first reactions when I first heard of the news was shame. I felt shame because I wondered why it took a story like this to infuriate me about the horror of abortion. Why wasn’t I this upset the day before? The true horror is not that these who have no regard for the life of the unborn would also try to profit off the sale of their organs, but that they are killing the babies to begin with. This fact had not changed with Tuesday’s news and yet it was almost as if I was thinking, “ok, now this crosses the line.” Shame on me and all who are like me. The wonderful benefit of this video is that it removes the curtain and allows us access into the horror and therefore it has the power to re-inform and correct our imaginations. It forces us to look at it, so to speak, and having looked I believe it will be hard to ignore.
In light of that, I strongly encourage you to talk about this with your friends, family, church family, and neighbors and to share the link to the video. With the media giving this little attention compared to the Iran deal, the Confederate flag, and Bruce “Caitlyn” Jenner receiving the Arthur Ashe award, we need to take it upon ourselves to spread the news. It is important that as many people as possible see the thing if we are going to help change hearts and minds on this issue. Many of our friends and neighbors who have accepted the idea of abortion have done so only because they have fallen prey to the suppressed imagination syndrome spoken of above. That is they have not thought through the issue long and hard. So long as they can convince themselves that it is merely a woman’s health issue and that the baby is merely a cluster of cells they will not be moved against the practice. But this video makes those thoughts impossible. It forces them to see what they have for so long wished not to see. To watch the woman discussing the sale of baby body parts and the means by which she gets them is so off putting and offensive that it has the power to shift a persons sensibilities on the subject. Therefore, if we feel compelled to do something and I believe we must, then this is a simple and effective place to start. Help get it out there. Let us confess and repent of our inattentiveness and allow Tuesday’s news and the experience of watching the video reinvigorate us to do whatever we can to defend the unborn. As Russell Moore said, “It is time for the reborn to stand for the unborn.” Yes, and so it has been for some time.
Finally, another thought I had soon after hearing the news was how painful this would be for those that have had an abortion. I have to believe that it is a heavy burden upon the conscience of many who have had abortions or encouraged loved ones to do so. I can only imagine how hard it would be for those who have done so to hear an executive of the leading provider of abortions in this country speak so callously about their babies. I have two things to say to those in such a position. The first is hard, but necessary. Do not let the shame keep you from calling this evil what it is. Through tears we must see this act for what it really is even if that adds to the pain of conviction. It is only here that we can move forward unto repentance and renewal. As David said in Psalm 32, “When I kept silent about my sin, my bones wasted away.” I don’t say this casually or from a high and pure perch, but as a fellow sinner who recognizes the painful nature of confession. The second thing I have to say is of incomparable sweetness, namely, that there is complete forgiveness and restoration in Jesus Christ for all who will confess their sin and trust in Him. Jesus came to die for sinners, bearing their shame and giving them in exchange his impeccable dignity. He came to die for abortion doctors and moms who have aborted their babies just as he came to die for King David, the Apostle Paul, and every other sinner. David understood as well as anyone the awful nature of condemnation, but also the unfathomable gift of God’s grace. As he sings to begin Psalm 32, “How blessed is the man whose sins are forgiven.” How blessed in deed.