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Putting a Face on Abortion

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I am outraged every time I consider the extraordinary measures the abortion industry takes to avoid putting a realistic face on the tragedy that is abortion! They call it "choice" and have gone to great lengths to keep it out of the arena of morality; instead they insist on restricting it to arenas of politics, rights, and self-gratification. Rather than exposing the reality of the shattered lives and lifelong guilt associated with slaughtering a child, they endeavor to sell it as merely a "simple" procedure that removes a "fetus" — or my personal favorite, "undeveloped tissue."

What do you suppose would happen if just one major network news show or popular talk show revealed the "real" side of abortion? Just once I would like to see an interview with a grieving mother or father who has struggled with sleep for years because of haunting dreams of a baby who was never given a chance at the most basic of human rights — life! How about showing pictures of what a baby actually looks like when it is forcefully removed from the mother's womb by way of suction or acidic chemicals! No abortionist's spin or Planned Parenthood fear tactics, just the facts about an industry that peddles death as an antiseptic convenience that is totally devoid of personal responsibility.

For me, the reality of abortion's horror was magnified when my youngest daughter, Kara, was born in 1989. She was extremely premature at only twenty-six weeks and weighed less than two pounds. In fact, I vividly remember the first time I cuddled her in my arms; at fourteen inches long she weighed only one pound and ten ounces!

As I gazed down into her beautiful blue eyes, I was struck by the tragic reality that thousands of children just like her are butchered every day at the hands of abortionists all across America. Make no mistake; these are children who have done nothing wrong. Unfortunately, the victims remain faceless and their tiny cries are never heard. And guess what; this is precisely the way abortion proponents want it!

With all of this running through my mind, I stepped into the pulpit a while back determined to "put a face" on this national tragedy. Armed with extensive cultural and biblical research secured from my friend, Dr. Kenyn Cureton, who had addressed the seven most common fallacies that abortionists use to support their ungodly views, I tried to communicate the obvious need to reexamine the spiritual and practical ramifications of allowing this travesty to continue unchallenged and unhindered in America.

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The truth is, while the information was amazingly convicting, it took "putting a face" on the situation for the reality to finally sink in. At the conclusion of the message, I read the following graphic details related to a first-hand account of a partial-birth abortion performed on a child at approximately six-months gestation. The nurse, Brenda Schafer, has since become a Christian. Here is her account:

The baby's heartbeat was clearly visible on the ultra-sound screen. The doctor delivered the baby's body and arms, everything but his little head. The baby's body was moving. His little fingers were clasping together. He was kicking his feet. Then the doctor took a pair of scissors and inserted them into the back of the baby's head, and the baby's arms jerked out in a flinch, a startled reaction, like a baby does when he thinks he might fall. Then the doctor opened the scissors up. Then he stuck the suction tube into the hole and sucked the baby's brains out. Now the baby was completely limp.1

As you can imagine, the horrendous details were greeted with a general sense of shock and nausea throughout the sanctuary. At that point I asked the crowd if they would like to see what a six-month child looked like. Then I flashed pictures of Kara shortly after she was born up on the screens. I had a picture of the first time her big sister got to touch her, the first time her mother and grandmother held her, pictures of when she was baptized, all very precious and poignant.

Then, I came down from the pulpit and called Kara from the back of the crowd to step forward. It was amazing. As this petite young lady made her way to the front, people began to spontaneously rush to the alter weeping under great conviction. It was obvious who Kara represented.

I reminded the congregation that while the abortionists work very hard to prevent "putting a face" on their industry of death, we dare not be so naive! When Christians turn a deaf ear, and pulpits remain silent and ignore obvious realities, or when one chooses to support candidates who are soft on abortion, it is children like Kara who pay the price! In the end, I told them to take a hard look at Kara and be reminded that millions of children just like her are needlessly sacrificed every year on the altar of convenience!

As a postscript, Kara recently turned sixteen and feels called to invest her life into preschool children when she grows older. Although she is challenged by the affects of mild Cerebral Palsy related to her extreme premature birth, she is quite the young evangelist and deeply loves Jesus.

Of one thing I am absolutely certain: Kara's life matters.


1 Hear the interview with Nurse Brenda Pratt Schafer at http://home.christianity.com/topics/christianity_and_culture/sanctityoflife/77554.html (Part 1) and http://home.christianity.com/topics/christianity_and_culture/sanctityoflife/77553.html (Part 2)