"I have been a pro-choice believer my entire life until someone shared your web-site with me. I was first shocked then sickened by what I saw. God, how could I have been so misguided my entire life? I actually believed it was not a baby. I actually believed a first trimester abortion was fine. Boy did you open my eyes. I believe that God worked with me today to show me the right way. I have often wondered if I was wrong but always dismissed those thoughts until I saw these photographs."
I have always been convinced that showing people pictures of aborted babies is a powerful way to convince them that abortion is wrong. Because of this, I recently posted several galleries of such images on my website, at www.priestsforlife.org/images. Now despite the fact that the Priests for Life website has thousands of pages of print, and hundreds of hours of audio files, nothing on that site has changed more minds about abortion than the pictures. No pages are visited more frequently, and we keep getting emails like the one above, and like these:
"I'm 25, white...from an middle class family in NY. Before seeing this site I was 100% pro choice... However after seeing these photos, I can honestly say I have changed my opinion."
"Your website has completely changed my views. I, personally, did not believe in abortions, but I felt it should be left up to the woman. Now I have realized that the "glob of tissue" the abortion clinics often talk about is truly a human being. I will pass information about this website along to everyone I know. Thank you so much. You have saved more unborn babies, lives then you'll ever know."
"Up until now I've been indecisive on the subject of abortion, unable to decide if a foetus could be considered a person, a living thing. After seeing these images I am now against this horrific procedure."
The images also have an impact on those who are already pro-life, as the following email indicates:
"Today, I saw your website with the photos of the aborted babies and wept. I have always been anti-abortion and have voted against any candidate whose party or platform supports abortion. However, like many of the uninformed masses, abortion was something abstract, impersonal yet immoral. Your web site has changed my view of abortion forever."
There is no "magic answer" to end abortion in our nation, and I interact every day with many pro-life groups and leaders to support many different strategies. But it is a big mistake to think that the pictures "don't work" or "everyone knows" what abortion is. The more you use the photos, the more you learn that the opposite is true. They make a hidden injustice visible.
You are free to download and print the images, and their medical authentication, at http://www.priestsforlife.org/images. If people you know are unsure about abortion, send them to that web page. They will never be the same.