Why I’ve Been Posting So Many Articles about #PlannedParenthood Lately

Let me start with a confession: I don’t like politics. I’m a bit of a pessimist when it comes to the political system. And I’m relatively busy—it’s a lot to keep up with. Not very good excuses, but an honest admission.

But if we’re Facebook friends, then you may have noticed that I have been posting a lot of articles recently about abortion and Planned Parenthood. I thought I’d take a minute to explain why. Here are four reasons:

1. I believe abortion is a life and death issue. Women’s healthcare is critical and important. But it does not have to be bundled with the destruction, dissection, and sale of unborn humans (at least half of whom are women).

The practice of abortion is not a healthcare issue; it is a termination of life issue. Saying that it’s okay to terminate your child in the womb but not once it’s born is like having a law that says it’s okay to murder your child in the kitchen but not in the bathroom. Anyone honest enough to look at the medical, rational, and biblical evidence can see this. And if we fail to care for the wellbeing of those who cannot care for themselves, we are on our way to becoming less than human ourselves.

That doesn’t mean abortion is the unforgiveable sin. There is grace and mercy and cleansing for all who come to Christ in faith and repentance. But holding out the sufficiency of grace, which we must do, doesn’t mean we downplay the sinfulness of sin.

But you don’t have to be a Christian to recognize truth when it stares you in the face: abortion is involves ending a human life.

2. I am troubled that so many remain either unconvinced or unconcerned about this critical issue. Despite what appears so clear to so many, not least the co-founder of NARAL, the abortion industry is alive and well in America, having legally terminated the lives of 57 million people since 1973. More than that, America’s loose standards for late-term abortion place them in a category shared only with China, North Korea, and Canada.

I, like many, find this outrageous. Not because I have everything figured out, or think I’m more righteous than the next guy (I am a sinner saved by grace). But because I am sickened by such a widespread, callous disregard for life. And I don’t believe I have the luxury of remaining silent. As many have said, if we don’t speak for those who have no voice, who will?

3. I believe that we are witnessing a unique historical moment. The recent undercover videos by the Center for Medical Progress have created an opportunity unlike anything we’ve seen in recent years to expose the dark realities of the abortion industry, and the particular atrocities of Planned Parenthood. Many of us who care deeply about this issue had hoped that Gosnell would have a similar effect, but the main stream media blackout effectively silenced the conversation. After all, for those who paid any attention, Gosnell was just a twisted guy—most abortion clinics aren’t that brutal or sadistic. Except they are, and these videos have now shown us that the evils of abortion are not the stuff of back alley hack jobs, but mainstream, federally funded clinics—the very face of the abortion industry, Planned Parenthood.

The brutality of abortion itself should be repugnant to anyone. But for those who have fallen asleep to this atrocity, the realization that Planned Parenthood sells baby body parts is “disturbing” wake up call—even to liberal politicians. After all, what is it that makes so-called “fetal tissue” (read: liver, thymus, heart, brain, eyes, arms, legs) so valuable for research? The fact that they are human. If an ultrasound doesn’t convince us of the humanity of the unborn, watching a doctor pick through the body parts for sale certainly should.

Since Planned Parenthood is selling human body parts, there is no legitimate basis for receiving federal funds. There are a lot of ways to fund women’s health without feeding the blood thirsty monster that preys on the unborn, particularly among minorities.

But this is admittedly about much more than Planned Parenthood. Defunding Planned Parenthood, in my dreams, will be but the start of a national repentance on the issue of abortion.

4. I want to do what I can to keep the conversation on the table. It is for these reasons that we need to do everything to not let this conversation die until real and lasting change happens. As many have said, abortion is our abolitionist cause. It took William Wilberforce 42 years to move the British Parliament to end slavery; we need to approach this issue with the same resolve. And one of the most critical tactics for opening blind eyes is showing people again and again the bloody truth of abortion they have been thus far happy to neglect. This is why Planned Parenthood and others who profit from abortions are seeking legal injunctions to block the release of more videos—they don’t want you to see the truth. Because as Wilberforce reminded us, once we see, “You may choose to look the other way, but you can never say again that you did not know.”

And so I post. Because I want everyone to see. And social media provides a platform when main stream media refuse to do their job, as they often do on this issue (not least when they’re bullied by Planned Parenthood itself).

The videos will keep coming. So will the articles and posts. You don’t have to look. But if you don’t see, I want it to be because you are unwilling to see, not because the truth was hidden from plain sight.

“If I say to the wicked, ‘You shall surely die,’ and you give him no warning, nor speak to warn the wicked from his wicked way, in order to save his life, that wicked person shall die for his iniquity, but his blood I will require at your hand. But if you warn the wicked, and he does not turn from his wickedness, or from his wicked way, he shall die for his iniquity, but you will have delivered your soul.” (Ezekiel 33:18-19)