Doomed, doomed, doomed...

Don't even know what to say. Doubt that you'll change hearts and minds, because the battle lines have been drawn.

All I know for sure is that YOU will be labeled the extremist for posting photographs. Never mind that "moderates" support this procedure from conception to delivery, no restrictions. The continual bastardization of our language infuriates me nearly as much as the wanton destruction of 1.3 million infants every year.

I've been called worse; extremist I can handle. The truth of abortion hurts, doesn't it?

Grisly dose of reality. Recently, though, on townhall.com, Mike Adams, in an article called "
Why I became a Republican" said this:

"After seeing a film of an unborn child yawning, rubbing his eyes, and playfully rolling around in his mother’s womb, I realized that the fetus becomes a person long before birth and long after the Supreme Court allows it to be aborted. Therefore, I had to abandon my support of abortion rights."

It ought not be necessary for people to see such disturbing pictures to "get it."

Devil's advocate...

Okay, you chest-pounding, holier-than-thou pro-lifers. Are YOU going to take care of these unplanned, unwanted children after they're born? Are YOU willing to pay for their welfare and incarceration after they're raised by parents who didn't want them in the first place?

Wow. I hardly know what to say. I was brought to tears because of those images. Even as someone who considers herself pro-life, I hardly realized how intricate their tiny little bodies already are.

Calling these tiny, beautiful complex little creations of God, “just tissue” is like calling the paintings on the Sistine Chapel “just paint”, or Niagara Falls, “just water”. To those who believe that a fetus is “just tissue”- I’m going to have to say you are “just misinformed.”

Great post Stacy.

Tom, here's where I freak everyone out. Although I believe abortion to be abhorent, I'm not anti-Roe v. Wade. My thinking on this is, if you're one of the women who dumps her newborn baby in a trash dumpster outside of a local gas station-abort your baby. If you're one of those loser women who physically and/or emotionally abuse your child-abort your baby. If you have no intentions of stopping your drug use during your pregnancy, or hey even after-abort your baby. It's a sad state of affairs when one person is so selfsish and self-centered that they cannot grasp sacrifing for another. Ironically any sacrifice you make for your child is repaid 1,000 fold. DH and I were below poverty level when we married and for some years afterward, yet we never used the MANY SOCIAL PROGRAMS IN EXISTENCE to help out individuals in those circumstances. There are infinite amounts of resources available to people in need of assistance. Why is adoption never placed on the table as an option? There are many people here in our country who would love to adopt a potential abortion.

How prescient. I just wrote a post on ESC, and come here and find that the same sort of thing is on your mind. It amazes me that so few are able to see that a person is a person, no matter how small. (Didn't that line come from a Dr. Seuss story?) In answer to the question "Why is adoption never placed on the table as an option?" Because Planned Parenthood doesn't get paid for adoptions.

Although I have never had an abortion this hits close to my heart. My husband is adopted. My mom was 16 when she had me. I had two children very prematurely so I saw up close and personal what they look like that small. Mine were actually smaller than the one in the picture with the yellow glove. My best friend had an abortion at 20 and just last year had to have a total hysterectomy. She is 33.

Not every baby that was unplanned or unwanted grew up to be a burden on society. Acknowledging they are human beings and that the wholesale killing of them is wrong does not make me holier than thou. And really does anyone have to play Devil's Advocate here? He has enough influence over everything than to need an advocate. I know its just a figure of speech, but words mean something to me. Especially regarding things like life and death.

If abortion was only used as a last resort, maybe I could stomach it better. Maybe. But the fact that its out there and promoted the way it is is sick. That is why people resort to shocking pictures.

Stacy, you are very brave to post about this. It needs to be done because, really, not everybody knows the truth.

Now if you'll excuse me, I need to go bawl my eyes out.

AW, you overlook that there are always more people looking for babies to adopt than babies available to be adopted. That's number one. And then, there's a reality that many of these aborted babies are from middle and upper middle class mothers. They'd be amazingly easy to place. The ones who are most likely to wind up in trouble and on the dole happen also to be the ones least likely to be aborted.

Stacy:
"They" talk about a "women's right" to do what she wants to with her body. But what about the rights of the children in their wombs? To me, this is the absolute WORST form of child abuse, ever, on God's green earth. Aborition is also part of the "disposable mentality" of this society. It makes me sick, and I almost vomited when I saw these pictures.

And yes, I would be willing to take children in who are not "wanted". I've already done it twice, and I know there are others out there like me who would do anything to have a child.

Remember guys, Tom's with me on this one. He's just making me post a response to a comment I will most likely get.

"Okay, you chest-pounding, holier-than-thou pro-lifers. Are YOU going to take care of these unplanned, unwanted children after they're born? Are YOU willing to pay for their welfare and incarceration after they're raised by parents who didn't want them in the first place?"

Hardly the point. Suppose a man murdered his wife, because she was costing too much money or making trouble for him. She has no other friends, can't take care of herself due to paralysis from a car accident. Why was he not within his rights? No one else would have taken care of her, so somehow that makes it ok? The point is that we're talking about members of the human race worthy of life, whether the rest of us like it or not.

One question: Is it not incredibly callous to boil down the worth of a human life to the number of dollars required to care for it?

Hmmm...just realized you were playing devil's advocate adminworm. Guess you weren't really looking for input, huh?

Stacy,
Murder is abhorent, but ok in circumstances where the life was destined to be unhappy? That's hardly fair. My dad's life was very unhappy growing up, but he's glad he got the chance to live it...abusive parents and all. I'll stop now, I promise.

I get 'ya Cyndee, no worries. I have something deeper to that, but I'm not going to share it. Sorry.

Just a note to remind everyone to listen carefully to stories on the MSM....they continually refer to the unborn child as a fetus....

i.e. Woman beats neighbor, who was 8 months pregnant, with a baseball bat and slits her abdomen open in attempt to get her fetus.

Uhm, mom is now in critical condition, the baby
has been safely delivered. Lunatic in jail. But the reporter roams free talking about a fetus. Unborn child. Unborn child. Unborn child.

From the moment I knew I was pregnant with my three darlins it was always an 'UNBORN CHILD.'
I never said fetus!

I love children.

I am convicted life is a God given right paramount to all other rights. To cut the life of an innocent short is always a travesty.

Mutilation is a crime greater than murder.

I could convict an abortionist or a paitient who had an abortion of heinous murder if the law was against it. I feel the death penalty would be appropriate.

Yes. Not only could I convict, I could pull the lever and never feel an iota of guilt.

How could any person say they support the little guy. Then defend these atrocities?

I'm glad I viewed the photos. I have tended to not look at these images in the past because it brings back memories of the year I worked in a hospital pathology laboratory, where I was at the terminal end of the abortion line, having to "process" these "products of conception" [good examples of sanitizing scientific language, right!], which included having to poke around to identify human parts.

The only way to be able to do this at the time, unfortunately, was detachment; and since then I've mostly repressed the images in my mind and avoided the pictures. But I think it's better to confront these memories than to suppress, so thank you Stacy for your post.

I'll have take a little break before I can continue...

Over the years since, I have gradually moved from a tacit pro-choice position to a pro-life position, as it became increasingly evident to me that the primary motivation of "pro-life" was not about simply trying to stop abortions in a punitive spirit towards the pregnant moms, but rather that pro-life advocates and those in the clinics have a comprehensive vision to protect the life of the unborn coupled with a committment to provide support, resources, and viable alternatives for the mothers.

It's about compassion...

Also, if anyone reading this has had an abortion in their past or participated in that decision (male or female), help is available for you to find healing. Check out your local pro-life clinic(s).

Some years ago, I had a girlfriend who in her younger years, had three abortions. She never, as far as I know, found relief from the guilt of thoas abortions, and in her mid-forties, with one daughter, was almost desperately seeking to be pregnant. I know some of the circumstances surrounding two of the abortions, though I was not in her life at that time.

Though I am personally opposed to abortion in all but truly exceptional circumstances, I do not consider that there should be a law against them, and I certainly am opposed to government funding for them, again, but for truly exceptional cases.

I have long believed that the decision to abort, for a woman with any principles at all, must be a terribly difficult one. There may be those who are so jaded and cynical that they can abort without a second thought, but I have never met such a woman.

I do think that the number of abortions that have been performed since Roe v. Wade is outrageous. I would like to see Roe v. Wade overturned, but simply because it was a bad decision, based on some absurdly illogical maneuvers.

As with most things, the matter of abortion, if there is a need for laws, should fall to the States to dscide, not to the Federal government. And at the state level, I firmly believe that it should be decided by referendum, not by the state legislature. Representative democracy is a good general instrument, but there are some issues too vital to be entrusted to a representative.

How can any of you not think this should be illegal?

LOOK at the pictures!

Anybody who doesn't think this is murder is just Macabre.

This is life and death!

I do think that abortion is horrible. But I do not think that the solution to all problems lies in government. Whether or not the government is to try to resolve the issue, however, the first step must be to overturn Roe v. Wade. Until that happens, it's academic, as any state that tries to legislate against abortion will run afoul of the Supreme Court.

I'll just keep my mouth shut here; what I really want to say will open up a HUGE can of worms.

Stacy, much as I'd like to hear more from you, I think you're taking the wiser course, I'm sorry to say.

But I do want you to know that you've done much good here by your graphic demonstration that it's Not Just Tissue. Everyone needs to hear and recognize this truth -- that we're talking about human beings -- regardless of one's views on the politics of the issue. Thank you again.

If there is no law protecting life then there is anarchy. I'm not talking about a solution to all problems! This is LIFE and DEATH for crying out loud!

Stacy you can say it or not. But unless you stop me I'm opening a can!

Hey Bigwhitehat I just bought a new can opener. I will be glad to help you open that can.
Actually it was opened years ago when it was decided that murdering babies was acceptable, by certain hardhearted murdermongers.
More info is being revealed concerning what an unborn child experiences while it's body is literally torn to pieces, and now there is more public awareness in that area.
I realize that in rare cases the aborting mother may not be at fault, but killing her infant is NOT the answer. The girls should be aware that they will either raise and in most circumstances love a child they did not choose to have, or they will live their entire life with the horrible guilt af having killed their own flesh and blood.
'Now dear Heavenly Father, soften their hearts.'

The supreme irony, of course, is that statistically half of all abortions are performed on females.

What about THEIR rights? Perhaps abortion should only be allowed on male fetuses.

BWH-you are free to say whatever you want here. Mountain Mama-I love you, you should come around more often.

I have a conspiracy theory on abortion, that I will keep to myself. I've only shared it with a few people. ;)

The thing that tweaks me is the apathy. Bill I’m going to make an example of you here. Saying laws against murder don’t need to be, is insane. Dismissing life and death as a political issue is inane. If you don’t get emotional and long for justice about this, check pulse. You are dead inside.

There are some things that merit nothing other than righteous indignation. There are times when we should confine our anger. There are also times to whip the moneychangers from the Father’s house. Abortion ought to get more of a response than saying it is bad. It is beyond bad. It is MURDER!!!!!!!!!

There are few things that really get me angry. But when the innocent are murdered as not to inconvenience someone, I am ready to throw down. I am ready to do what ever is truly effective. You all know that I am not one who uses strong language lightly. But some people need a roper straight up the ass. Some Doctors need to be executed by our penal system. Some women need straight talk about the consequences of their actions.

Tom I’m going to be straight with you. Damn straight, I and millions of others are willing to take on any burden to keep a baby from being decapitated! Fuck the cost to society! We are talking about life and death! Asking me to mitigate my views on this is asking me to reconsider how I feel about your life.

I hear all of these lukewarm, half hearted, mamby pamby arguments and sit in disbelief. How can you even sit near the fence. What would you say if you were standing before Christ Almighty and had to express your views on abortion? I know I wouldn’t have to change my story! Not being extreme about abortion is tantamount to signing a treaty with Hitler!

That stuff is pure concentrated Evil. Don’t touch it!

Ack!! You ended that with Hitler reference? Who ARE you?

Hi, I hope I'm not coming into this conversation too late, but I have a couple of concerns.

First I want to make it clear that I am pro-life and I think that this is a great post, and you have all made great comments.

My concern lays in the pictures. Stacey, as a scientist, who has taken many developmental biology courses I am concerned that although most of your pictures are accurate there are a couple that I question. I would just like to know where you got the pictures from.

I firmly believe that your intentions are true and pure, but I also feel that if you are going to fight this battle, it has to be done in truth.

Thanks for your time, and if I'm wrong about a few of the pictures I apoligize, I just have to know where they are from.

Abortion is horrible on so many levels. I'm sure you are going to catch some flak for the photos. It might help if it was stated at what point during pregnancy and which procedure was used.

Jackie, with all due respect, I'd rather you contact me via e-mail. Your approach is somewhat troll baiting. You are not a regular at my site, so I'm hesitant. I do have a regular at my site that once was someone who processed abortion fragments, he did not question me and in the past has on things he's not confident in. All I will say is that they were gathered from several different pro-life groups. Any Google search will lead you to the same photos.

Thanks for posting this, Stacy. There will be people (I don't mean Jackie) who have a negative reaction to seeing them, because the picture ARE painful to look at. But they SHOULD be.

Although I can't imagine this happening today, when I was in 10th grade 20-something years ago, in our "Young Adult Living" (dumbass name) class they taught about birth control and encouraged use of it. Some might have a problem with that, but they ALSO showed us pictures like the ones you have here. Needless to say, that had a profound effect on me. I WISH schools would do that nowadays; I'd much rather see public schools encouraging use of birth control pills/condoms/whatever and discouraging abortion. Unfortunately, it seems that's not PC anymore (discouraging abortion, that is). I say show it to even younger teens now, like 12 or 13 year-olds, and then again when they're a little older. And don't freak out about birth control.

Abortion is a fucking nightmare, and I can't believe that we still not only tolerate it, for all practical purposes, it's encouraged by the pro-"choice" movement.

Mark, there are different methods for abortions.

Suction Curettage Abortion

A common first trimester abortion procedure is the suction and curettage method. The abortionist begins by dilating the mom's cervix until it is large enough to allow a cannula to be inserted into her uterus. The cannula is a hollow plastic tube that is connected to a vacuum-type pump by a flexible hose. The abortionist runs the tip of the cannula along the surface of the uterus causing the baby to be dislodged and sucked into the tube - either whole or in pieces. Amniotic fluid and the placenta are likewise suctioned through the tube and, together with the other body parts, end up in a collection jar. Any remaining parts are scraped out of the uterus with a surgical instrument called a curette. Following that, another pass is made through the mom's uterus with the suction machine to help insure that none of the baby's body parts have been left behind. The contents of the collection jar are examined to assure that all fetal parts and an adequate amount of tissue commensurate with gestational age are present.

From here.

From here.

This page has an excellent round-up of other methods as well.

Hi again,

I just wanted to apoligize if my comments were offencive or seen as troll baiting, that honestly was not my intention, and perhaps without meaning to it came off that way.

I re-read my comment, and I just wanted to clarify that I was not trying to accuse you of using inaccurate information, I just wanted to know where the pictures came from so I could understand better at what stage of pregnancy they were depicting.

Again, I'm really sorry if that comment sounded harsh. I do agree that abortion is wrong, and I also think that you made a great post about a touchy subjet.

Thanks again for your time, I may e-mail you later,

Jackie

Not offensive Jackie. All of these photos are from different stages. I wanted to cover early abortions to late ones as well. I posted links in the comments to help everyone better understand which methods are used at different stages in pregnancy.

BHW, if you're still looking, I couldn't get Stacy's site to accept my comments for a time, but you've misread my position rather seriously. There are certainly political aspects to this, but I was not dismissing abortuion as a political issue. I did say, and I still contend, that the decision (for most women) is not easily reached, and I still am opposed to a FedGov solution. This is something that should be handled at the state level. And yes, that means I could even accept that some Godless state opts in favor of abortion. I consider abortion to be an act of murder, but there are clearly millions who disagree, and that's why the founding fathers allowed for states to decide most issues.