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Planned Parenthood: 4 Ways to Respond

We have come to a singularly important moment in the battle against abortion (which is to say, the battle for life). The stunning undercover videos by the Center for Medical Progress have taken us right to the heart of the abortion industry. They have shown that Planned Parenthood is enriching themselves with the bodies of murdered babies. Not only that, but Planned Parenthood is willingly increasing the risk to the women they serve in order to enrich themselves—altering the abortion procedures to deliver intact bodies. Planned Parenthood is a business, a government-supported business, that buys and sells death.

Yesterday’s video, the fifth, is the most horrendous yet. It shows a Planned Parenthood representative discussing babies as line items, considering how she can maximize profit as she sells “the products of conception.” It continues to the lab where we see people picking through the slaughtered remains of a child, lifting up pieces, separating an arm and a leg, lifting up the intestines and lungs, considering the monetary value of each one. It is absolutely sickening, absolutely shocking, absolutely unflinching, absolutely real. It exposes the industry, shining a billion-watt light into its darkest recesses. What was meant to remain hidden has now been made plain.

Once you see this, you cannot unsee it. Once you know what happens in Planned Parenthood and a host of other clinics, you cannot unknow it. That’s true even for those of us who live on the other side of an international border. What happens in America doubtless happens in Canada, England, and everywhere else.

This is an important moment.

In the face of such overwhelming evil, it can be difficult to know what we, as individuals, can actually do. Few of us have any significant power or ability. We do not have access to the ear of the President or the front page of the Times. But we can still act.

Share

Aborted Baby HandOne small but important thing you can do is share this news. The mainstream media is largely avoiding it, but this is exactly where power has shifted in an age of social media. CNN may control what is broadcast to a few million people on the television, but we control what is shared with hundreds of millions through Facebook. Hashtag activism has been much-maligned, but it is activism nonetheless. Perhaps we have overdone Twitter and Facebook outrage in the past. But not this time. Share. Share this story through your social media channels. Use hashtags like #PPSellsBabyParts and #DefundPP. Share it widely and share it consistently.

I would focus on sharing especially well-written stories, but also the few you will find in major media outlets like the Washington Post or The Atlantic. Where the mainstream press is covering the issue, share it or like it. Don’t let it go away.

Talk

Also, talk to people about this—people in your home, your church, your school, your neighborhood, your workplace. Ask them if they have seen the videos. Ask them if they are willing to watch them.

This is a good time to arm yourself with SLED, a very helpful way of Making the Case for life. A little while ago I prepared a slideshow on the issue, and you may find it helpful.

You are free to download and adapt the slides for your own purposes. Note: The slideshow uses the font Museo Slab. It is available as a free download if you plan to use the Keynote or Powerpoint.

Contact

And, of course, you can and should contact your legislator. March for Life offers some help in that. Contact them, express your horror, and demand action.

Pray

Finally, and most importantly, pray. Pray that God would use this situation to promote the cause of life, to stop the evildoers, to save the lost, and to bring glory to his name.

As I conclude, here are some helpful articles I have collected over the past few days:

And a few books that are worth reading:


  • The Path to Contentment

    The Path to Contentment

    I wonder if you have ever considered that the solution to discontentment almost always seems to be more. If I only had more money I would be content. If I only had more followers, more possessions, more beauty, then at last I would consider myself successful. If only my house was bigger, my influence wider,…

  • A La Carte Collection cover image

    A La Carte (April 22)

    A La Carte: Why my shepherd carries a rod / When Mandisa forgave Simon Cowell / An open mind is like an open mouth / Marriage: the half-time report / The church should mind its spiritual business / Kindle deals / and more.

  • It Begins and Ends with Speaking

    It Begins and Ends with Speaking

    Part of the joy of reading biography is having the opportunity to learn about a person who lived before us. An exceptional biography makes us feel as if we have actually come to know its subject, so that we rejoice in that person’s triumphs, grieve over his failures, and weep at his death.

  • A La Carte Collection cover image

    Weekend A La Carte (April 20)

    A La Carte: Living counterculturally during election season / Borrowing a death / The many ministries of godly women / When we lose loved ones and have regrets / Ethnicity and race and the colorblindness question / The case for children’s worship services / and more.

  • The Anxious Generation

    The Great Rewiring of Childhood

    I know I’m getting old and all that, and I’m aware this means that I’ll be tempted to look unfavorably at people who are younger than myself. I know I’ll be tempted to consider what people were like when I was young and to stand in judgment of what people are like today. Yet even…

  • A La Carte Collection cover image

    A La Carte (April 19)

    A La Carte: The gateway drug to post-Christian paganism / You and I probably would have been nazis / Be doers of my preference / God can work through anyone and everything / the Bible does not say God is trans / Kindle deals / and more.