From a first-trimester abortion [photo: Priests for Life]
Are graphic images legitimate in the abortion battle? Father Frank Pavone of Priests for Life says YES: They are both legitimate and absolutely necessary.
Fr. Pavone underlined what we said last week, about the need for anti-abortion protesters to use the graphic images that show the reality of little babies being violently murdered. LifeSite News reported on his recent talk to young Canadian pro-lifers.
You can't pussyfoot with the culture of death. You can't allow that destructive force to choose the terms of the debate. How can killing a human baby be a "choice" or a "right"? (Similarly, how can we allow sexual perversion such as sodomy be called a proper basis for state-sanctioned "marriage", or homosexual "marriage" be called a "right"?) And you can't let that mindset infiltrate your forces, and hint that you should moderate your tone, oppose with gentleness and politeness.
You can't pussyfoot with the culture of death. You can't allow that destructive force to choose the terms of the debate. How can killing a human baby be a "choice" or a "right"? (Similarly, how can we allow sexual perversion such as sodomy be called a proper basis for state-sanctioned "marriage", or homosexual "marriage" be called a "right"?) And you can't let that mindset infiltrate your forces, and hint that you should moderate your tone, oppose with gentleness and politeness.
From LifeSite News, "Father Frank Pavone on the Power of Graphic Abortion Images" (7-20-07):
... Let me leave for you what I am convinced is the most powerful tool to change someone's mind about abortion. I told you that I had been involved in this since I was your age, been working on this fulltime across the world, worked with the Holy Father, and Mother Teresa and all these people, worked with the pro-life movement on every level. There is no single thing that I have seen more powerful to change people on abortion than simply showing them the pictures.
Show them what it looks like. I have challenged the media over and over again. Show the public what an abortion is because we can justify anything with our language. If you are a smooth talker, if you know how to manipulate language and logic - you can convince anyone of anything. But pictures, that is another story.When people see what abortion does to a baby, they are stung to the heart and their consciences are awakened. I am not just talking about showing pictures of the baby living in the womb. People understand, by and large, that this is a baby in the womb. Now, they will be very surprised at how much the baby looks like a baby, so early in pregnancy when they do see the pictures, the ultrasound or other ways that we have of viewing the child. Many people will be very surprised to see how well-developed that baby is. But, even if you show them the baby, that still doesn't tell them what abortion does to the baby.
That is a big difference. Some people think abortion just makes the baby kind of disappear. They still don't appreciate that it is an act of violence. It is only the pictures of the aborted children, torn apart, limb from limb that convince people that abortion is an act of violence. Now, at my website, we have one of the largest collections of these pictures - it is priestforlife.org. Right on the front we have a statement on our front page that says, "America will not reject abortion until America sees abortion." And that is true for every country. ...
