Editorial

Even while millions of Americans will once again observe this month the notorious anniversary of Roe v. Wade, the 1973 Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion on demand in our nation, developments in the federal courts and – unexpectedly – the entertainment industry continue to expose the ugly truth that abortion is the unjust taking of human life.

In 2003, after more than eight years of legislative victories stymied by President Bill Clinton’s multiple vetoes, President George W. Bush signed into law the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act. The bill banned a horrendous abortion procedure in which a living baby is delivered almost entirely, except for his head, which is then punctured with scissors and his brains sucked out, resulting in the death of the child.

In clinically precise, yet chilling detail, Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas accurately described the procedure in his dissenting opinion in Stenberg v. Carhart (2000), which found partial-birth abortion constitutionally protected and overturned a Nebraska state law banning this method of abortion:

“After dilating the cervix, the physician will grab the fetus by its feet and pull the fetal body out of the uterus into the vaginal cavity. At this stage of development, the head is the largest part of the body.... The head will be held inside the uterus by the woman’s cervix. While the fetus is stuck in this position, dangling partly out of the woman’s body, and just a few inches from a completed birth, the physician uses an instrument such as a pair of scissors to tear or perforate the skull. The physician will then either crush the skull or will use a vacuum to remove the brain and other intracranial contents from the fetal skull, collapse the fetus’ head, and pull the fetus from the uterus.”

Although the federal ban on partial-birth abortion was signed into law by President Bush, several challenges to the law by the abortion lobby has prevented its enforcement. The U.S. Supreme Court is expected to announce soon whether it will hear one of the challenges, Gonzales v. Carhart, in which the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eight Circuit found the law unconstitutional in light of the Supreme Court’s 2000 ruling.

Even in the wake of these disappointing decisions which have protected the gruesome abortion procedure, the ugly truth of abortion has been increasingly revealed in detailed testimony from abortionists who were forced to explain in graphic detail how they kill innocent children. This testimony is helpfully summarized by Cathy Cleaver Ruse, “Partial-Birth Abortion on Trial,” in the current (Spring 2005) issue of Human Life Review (available online here: www.nrlc.org/abortion/pba/RusePBAonTrial.pdf).

In one of the cases out of New York, U.S. District Judge Richard Casey issued a decision Aug. 26, 2004, finding that the federal Partial-Birth Abortion Act of 2003 was unconstitutional because it contradicted the Supreme Court’s ruling in 2000.

Still, Judge Casey issued a stinging rebuke to the practice of partial-birth abortion, finding “that the testimony at trial and before Congress establishes that D&X [partial-birth abortion] is a gruesome, brutal, barbaric, and uncivilized medical procedure … [and finds] credible evidence that D&X abortions subject fetuses to severe pain.”

Meanwhile, the revolting truth about partial-birth abortion also has been exposed recently in one of the most unlikely places – Hollywood.

Jonathan Flora, a producer for one of Hollywood’s major studios, has written and directed an independent film, “A Distant Thunder,” a 35-minute story about Ann Brown, a pro-choice prosecutor who reluctantly takes a murder case and, in the process of working the case, learns a shocking truth. With the feel of TV’s “Twilight Zone” episodes, “A Distant Thunder” creatively challenges conventional wisdom about abortion, and particularly partial-birth abortion.

In an interview with Florida Baptist Witness, Flora explained that he – like many Christians – had been uninformed about abortion and had never heard of partial-birth abortion until after he and his wife were initially unable to conceive and while researching the matter “stumbled upon partial-birth abortion.”

Flora told me, “I was horrified when I discovered what it is and I knew I had to do something.”

While acknowledging the “politically incorrect” message of “A Distant Thunder,” Flora says that even those who support abortion rights have been challenged by the film to reconsider their position on abortion.

“We continue to be amazed at how many people have absolutely no idea what partial-birth abortion is, on both sides,” he said. “Many conservative and Christian groups don’t talk about it because it is a very sensitive and uncomfortable subject to discuss. But that is where we can become guilty of doing nothing. The liberal side does not want to talk about it because it’s not defendable.”

Flora added, “We are trying to educate people with facts,” while wrapping the information in “an entertaining story with some great effects.”

Available for order online at www.ADistantThunder.com, the film is indeed entertaining – and chilling at the same time. It is not appropriate for pre-teens, although both the original and edited versions are available on the DVD.

“We have produced an artistic piece that is generating awareness and dialogue about a topic surrounded by a great deal of misinformation and controversy,” Flora said.

As Christians consider the Sanctity of Human Life this month, we should thank God that the legal challenges to the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act and “A Distant Thunder” are helping to reveal the evil of abortion and continue to pray for the end of legalized murder of unborn children in our land.