"Is This What You Mean?"
Fr. Frank Pavone
National Director, Priests for Life
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We in the pro-life community have been fed up for
a long time with “public servants” who can’t seem to tell the difference between
serving the public and killing the public. They mask the violence of abortion
with the smooth language of “choice,” and refuse to protect the victims.
These politicians are found in both major
political parties; some hold public office and others seek it. And many Church
leaders have been hesitant to discipline such individuals, even though many of
them claim to practice their faith.
These abortion supporting politicians get away
with what they are doing in large measure because they refuse to talk about what
the “choice” actually is. They try to avoid the word “abortion” altogether; but
even when they use it, the word has lost practically all its meaning. Voters
hear the word but are left with little or no awareness of the gruesome horror it
represents.
This election season, it’s time for that to
change. No matter what politicians or voters or Church officials are or are not
going to do, it’s time that we who know what abortion is draw a line in the sand
and give candidates and office-holders alike this challenge:
If you’re going to
take a position on abortion, then you’re going to have to come clean about what
it is. We are no longer going to let you obscure or trivialize the
issue. Whether people agree with you or not, you owe it to them to be honest
about what you’re talking about.
Therefore we issue this
simple call to honesty: We will describe abortion to you, and you tell us
if that’s what you’re talking about.
That’s it, pure and
simple. This is not a debate, nor a threat. It’s a call to clarity, a demand for
honesty. That is not partisan, nor is it unreasonable; it is not fanatical or
inappropriate in any way. Nor is this about religion or morality.
We just want to make
sure that we’re hearing you. When you say “abortion,” we just want to make sure
we’re both talking about the same thing.
I recently posted two videos on You Tube in which
I describe and demonstrate the two most common abortion techniques, using the
actual instruments of abortion and the words found in medical textbooks and
court testimony. Click
here and you will see the links to these videos, as well as brief quotes you
can use from abortionists themselves.
For example, Dr. Carolyn Westhoff testified, “In
the dismemberment D&E…it is necessary to insert our forceps…and then crush the
head.” (National Abortion Federation v. Ashcroft, April 2004, US District
Court, Southern District of New York).
Then simply ask “pro-choice” politicians (whether
they are candidates or already in public office) if this is what they mean when
they say “abortion.” Yes or no. Ask it publicly. Ask it repeatedly. Ask it at
town meetings, on blogs, in editorials. Those whose support they are seeking
deserve to know.
You Tube links on the
abortion procedures:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=us_y9GP_-DA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QBOAPleF1t0
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