jenny erikson
Jenny EriksonI am pro-life. I believe that abortion ends a human life. I do not think that showing people pictures of aborted fetuses helps our cause.

Missy Smith is running for D.C. delegate to the U.S. House, and she had two abortions that she now regrets. "I was told it's not a baby. They lied to me," she says in a controversial campaign ad. She continues, "And believe me I am angry. My heart has been ripped out. Obama, Pelosi, Reid, Norton -- they all support the murder of babies and the abuse of women by abortion. It's time to make child killing illegal again."

I don't have a problem with this message, and my heart breaks for Missy Smith and others that have suffered abortions by ignorance. I believe that many women are lied to about the development of their babies in utero. Planned Parenthood has been caught lying to women about the development of their babies. In the early stages of pregnancy, it's easy to suffer from out-of-sight, out-of-mind syndrome. Most women don't feel their babies moving or even look remotely pregnant until well into the second trimester, when a baby is potentially viable outside of the womb.

A law passed recently in Oklahoma allows a woman to see her baby on ultrasound before making the decision to have an abortion. Some people might think this is cruel, but I think it's empowering. Isn't knowledge power? The bill doesn't outlaw abortion; it just allows women to make the most informed decision possible.

No matter what side of the issue you stand on, there is no denying that abortion is violent. It's so violent and against our human nature as women that Abby Johnson resigned from her position as the director of a Bryan, Texas, Planned Parenthood last year after watching an ultrasound of an abortion being performed.

The problem I have with Ms. Smith's campaign ad is the use of images of aborted babies. Tiny and broken limbs are a devastating fact of abortion, but bombarding the public with these images helps no one. Pro-lifers are well aware of the crushing effects of abortion, and the pictures needlessly upset women that have already had abortions.

The worst thing that a picture of an aborted fetus does is shut down dialogue and discussion with people that consider themselves pro-choice yet anti-abortion. We can have an intelligent and reasonable discussion about the science of life and the results of choosing to have sex (even with protection), but a bloody image immediately turns people off and puts up a wall.

I appreciate Missy Smith's attempt to inject the truth of human-hood into the abortion debate, but I doubt this ad will convince many people to champion fetus rights.