I would say you’ve been living under a rock if you hadn’t heard about the explosions at the Boston Marathon. Practically within seconds, this grotesque crime was broadcast on every major news outlet. Less familiar, but equally horrific, is the trial of a man who gruesomely killed hundreds of babies born alive in his abortion clinic. However, as many have noted, the mainstream media either ignored the trial of mass murderer Kermit Gosnell or wrote a brief piece and stuck it in the back of the paper.

Pro-lifers, many Catholics among them, have challenged this media blackout by posting blogs about the trial, questioning editorial content selections and individually calling out reporters through social media interaction.

Abortionist Kermit Gosnell

“You covered the Newtown shooting” some ask, “why aren’t you covering this equally sickening act of violence?” “We aren’t talking about death through abortion, we are talking about babies outside of the womb whose necks are beings snipped and no one is protesting” others say. Clearly, major news outlets do not want to cover fully a story that puts an abortion clinic in an unfavorable light, despite the atrocities that everyone – pro-choice and pro-life – can recognize.

A reporter for the Daily Beast responded to inquiries and explained that the story made her squeamish; she had no interest in exploring the details of the horror of Gosnell’s clinic. She was also honest enough to admit that, “The truth is that most of us tend to be less interested in sick-making stories—if the sick-making was done by ‘our side.’” Additionally, she recognized that those who were pro-choice were clearly concerned that this trial was going to bring about stricter regulations for abortion clinics, thereby limiting the “choice” women were making to abort their children.

While I can’t prove it, I’d venture a guess that those who profess to be pro-choice don’t want to touch this story with a ten foot pole because it does more than just make them uncomfortable – it challenges their belief that life starts outside of the womb. Gosnell was just as prepared to kill babies when they survived abortion attempts just as much as he was when they were inside their mothers’ wombs. He saw little difference between the two actions. The grand jury reported:

Gosnell had a simple solution for the unwanted babies he delivered: he killed them…He didn’t call it that. He called it “ensuring fetal demise.” The way he ensured fetal demise was by sticking scissors into the back of the baby’s neck and cutting the spinal cord. He called that “snipping.”

Is it possible, a pro-choice person might ask, that Gosnell is right about the lack of differences between a baby inside a womb and a baby outside? That maybe, just maybe, a fully formed baby just about to be born is as fully human as a baby who was born an hour ago? It is certainly a “safer” route to ignore this story, so that one does not have to face the reality of the situation, to come to terms with what a pro-abortion position really means. And yet, isn’t facing reality head-on part of what makes us mature as human persons?

It is not only reporters who are reluctant to dwell on this story – I had a similar reaction. When I first saw a devastating photo of a slaughtered baby on my newsfeed, I quickly scrolled past. It took several more sightings of news headlines for me to read about it and even longer for me to decide to write on this monstrosity. Like the concentration camps in North Korea, the genocide of women across the world, and the Holocaust in World War II, I don’t want to dwell on facts that are the fabric of nightmares.

At first, it was easy enough for me to explain away my desire to admit on the surface that these monstrosities exist, but interiorly ignore them and focus on the positive. I imagine I am not alone in my desire to spend my time contemplating beautiful stories of survival, cures from illness and loving families. However, is it possible that I, like so many news reporters, don’t want to think about this trial because there is something about my belief system I want to leave unchallenged?

It’s certainly true that I think the killing of any child (outside or inside the womb) is horrific. In fact, it is such a monstrosity that my mind can’t comprehend such evil, such blatant rejection of God’s gift of life. My mind shuts down when it encounters such evil, perhaps in part because it seems like within the bloody walls of that abortion clinic, Satan has won.

And yet, this is just one more lie that the devil tempts us to believe. Of course, the Lord is there with those babies even as they die. He is with those mothers as they struggle with their choice to allow their children to be killed. He is there as the doctors and assistants convince themselves that these living breathing children have no right to live. God is waiting, respectful of our freedom – even to turn away from Him – but also ready to freely give us His mercy and love.

While I do not think there is any purpose in obsessing over the incredibly sad details of the Gosnell case, as a Christian, I can’t black it out entirely. Rather, it is an opportunity for me to reaffirm my faith in Jesus Christ. He came to save us from the darkness, even in those circumstances when human lives are destroyed and human dignity is ignored. As the Psalmist writes, “Even when I walk through a dark valley, I fear no harm for you are at my side; your rod and staff give me courage.” Christ accompanies us – at the Boston Marathon, in concentration camps and wars, and in the chambers of a late term abortion clinic. We need not fear.

Caitlin Bootsma is the editor of Human Life International’s Truth and Charity Forum. Mrs. Bootsma received a Licentiate in Catholic Social Communications at the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross in Rome as well as a Master’s of Systematic Theology from Notre Dame Graduate School of Christendom College. She lives in Richmond, Virginia with her husband and two sons.

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