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Pictures of Aborted Babies Are Necessary to Change Hearts

A new video from Protect Life Michigan highlights the reasons why the group believes that showing pictures of aborted babies is vital to the pro-life movement.

In an extremely well-done, six-minute video explaining their reasoning behind why their organization chooses to use images of aborted babies to send their pro-life message, Protect Life Michigan states that “showing the victims is crucial to eliminating the injustice” of abortion.

They then go on to address and refute three objections that people have voiced about showing such pictures.

1. “Pictures of abortion disrespect the dignity of the unborn.”

We know this is far from true. Nor is showing their pictures intended to disrespect these tiny murder victims. Showing pictures of these babies honors their lives, gives them a voice, and allows the world to see their humanity. It forces people to confront the reality of abortion and to see exactly what it does to the body of a tiny baby.

There are lots of other areas of life where the dissemination of graphic images is perfectly acceptable. Holocaust images remind us what could happen when hatred leads to the slaughter of people. Images of Hamas’ terroristic actions show us the reality of the war in Israel. Even the animal cruelty video featuring Sarah McLachlan and her song “Angel” shows the horrific abuse that some animals have endured. And the amount of people who use their phones to take videos of shootings, terrorist attacks, or any other kind of act of violence has grown exponentially over the last several years. None of this is done to disrespect the lives of the human beings or the animals depicted. Quite the contrary. It’s meant to document the tragedies to help people understand that life is precious, that life is fragile, and to allow us to see the injustices with our own eyes so that we can feel the outrage and work to make a change.

Developing empathy for victims is vital if we want to create a culture where all human beings are respected and cherished. And in this digital age, one way to help people develop empathy for victims is to show the victims.

There is no reason we should not be consistent regarding images of aborted babies. The broken bodies of the most innocent among us are crying out for justice and for people to see their humanity so that we can stop their slaughter, as every day they are dying by the thousands.

These babies deserve to be seen.

2. “The images are alienating to the public.”

According to Protect Life Michigan, studies and experience have shown that this is not true and that the pictures make people think. They have found that 30% of the pro-abortion people they talk with while out in public have changed their minds about abortion after seeing images of aborted babies.

Further, the video tells the story of a woman who told pro-lifers at a Florida college campus that a friend of hers had previously yelled and cursed at them for showing images, yet soon after that incident, she found herself unexpectedly pregnant. Because she had seen those images and they stayed in her mind, she was unable to abort her baby.

This proves the most important point: The pictures save lives. They do make a difference.

3. The pictures make people “feel uncomfortable.”

In all honesty, you should feel uncomfortable when looking at the mangled and torn body of a preborn baby. You should feel disturbed. You should feel sad. You’re looking at the body of a dead baby, often in pieces. If their images don’t evoke sadness or disgust, something is wrong with you.

Images of aborted babies are difficult to look at. But they are necessary to get through to some people who persist in their hard-heartedness.

Sadly, today, this includes a lot of teens and young people, who want to focus only on the “my body, my choice” mantra and who choose to ignore the destructiveness of that choice. They need a wake-up call and a dose of reality. They need to see that preborn babies are human beings who have as much right to life as you and I do.

Showing teens and young adults—and anyone who does not understand the humanity of the preborn baby—what really happens in an abortion will help change minds and hearts.

And that is the goal of the pro-life movement—to stir the humanity in all people to see the humanity in all people, and then to teach them to treat all people with the respect and dignity they deserve.

This article first appeared in LifeSiteNews at lifesitenews.com/opinion/images-aborted-babies-change-hearts/?utm_source=featured_news&utm_campaign=usa.

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About the author

Susan Ciancio

Susan Ciancio is the editor of Celebrate Life Magazine and executive editor for the Culture of Life Studies Program.