In his argument for the acquittal of the infamous abortionist Kermit Gosnell, attorney Jack McMahon kept slipping up and referring to the victims as infants. There was no question that the babies killed in Gosnell’s facility were human babies, and no question that they had been killed during the abortion procedure; all the attorney could argue was that the prosecution couldn’t prove absolutely when the babies died. Cries and movement witnessed by the staff were discounted.

But the undeniable fact is that everyone – the abortionist, the staff, the clients, and the attorney defending the abortionist – knows that Gosnell killed babies.

Kermit Gosnell’s office

When I first became involved in opposing abortion, the pro-lifers directed their arguments toward proving that the uterus of a pregnant woman contained a baby. However, when I read what the abortion providers and their clients were saying, I realized that they already knew the unborn life was a baby. For them, that wasn’t the issue.

If those involved in abortion knew they were killing babies, if the supporters of abortion knew we were dealing with babies and not “clumps of cells,” then what was the difference between the pro-abortion position and the pro-life position?

The pro-aborts don’t believe in women.

Every argument for abortion was an argument against women. Women were too poor, too weak, too young to have their babies. They wouldn’t survive. They wouldn’t be able to finish their education. They would be beaten by their parents and deserted by the fathers of their babies. Women just couldn’t cope with a baby. Abortion was not a courageous choice, it was an admission of defeat.

On the other hand, pro-lifers believe in women. They believe that every woman given support can have her baby and survive. And the pro-life community stood ready to provide that support, not just until the baby was born, but as long as the woman needed it. That’s why pro-lifers stand outside of abortion clinics praying and offering help, making sure that no woman can say afterwards, “No one told me. No one offered help. No one cared.” And that is why pregnancy help centers outnumber abortion clinics. The pro-life community believes in women.

I also discovered all the many ways abortion is bad for women. There are physical and psychological complications, often lasting for years and sometimes affecting a woman’s ability to conceive or to carry a “wanted” pregnancy to term.

The availability of abortion on demand leaves women vulnerable to coercion. I myself stood outside an abortion clinic and watched as determined boyfriends dragged their weeping pregnant girlfriends into the facility. These fathers-not-to-be screamed at those of us who were offering women help. They weren’t interested in the needs and suffering of these women, they just wanted the problem to go away immediately so that they could dump the girl and get on with their lives.

When I debated pro-abortion feminists, I pointed out all of the negative consequences of abortion for women. I was sure that, being dedicated to helping women, when these feminists saw the evidence of abortion-related problems they would be concerned. But I was disappointed. Not only did they recognize the unborn was a baby, they knew the negative consequences of abortion for women. They knew them better than I did, because they knew more women who had abortions.

The abuses that occurred in Kermit Gosnell’s abortion clinic are not the exception. Once a person’s heart is hardened to the innocent life in the womb, it is not surprising that the staff is negligent as regards the health, safety, and even the life of the mother.

Kermit Gosnell’s bloody house of horrors is the inevitable conclusion of Roe v. Wade’s ideology of abortion on demand.