Images of Murdered Babies Change Hearts and Save Lives

The UK Life League pioneered the use of pictures of aborted babies as a powerful shock tactic to bring home the horror of abortion and to save lives. The Life League and groups such as Pro-Life Care continue to use them today, and many pro-life groups around the world have followed their example.

There are three common objections to doing this. Here they are - complete with the answers to those objections:

1. “Pictures of abortion disrespect the dignity of the unborn.” 

We know this is far from true. Nor is showing their pictures intended to disrespect these tiny murder victims. Showing pictures of these babies honours their lives, gives them a voice, and allows the world to see their humanity. It forces people to confront the reality of abortion and to see exactly what it does to the body of a tiny baby. 

There are many other areas of life where the dissemination of graphic images is perfectly acceptable. The Holocaust, for example. Or the images of dead babies in Gaza, which bring home the terrible cost of the war there. Even the animal cruelty video featuring Sarah McLachlan and her song “Angel” shows the horrific abuse that some animals have endured. And the amount of people who use their phones to take videos of shootings, terrorist attacks, or any other kind of act of violence has grown exponentially over the last several years. None of this is done to disrespect the lives of the human beings or the animals depicted. Quite the contrary. It’s meant to document the tragedies to help people understand that life is precious, that life is fragile, and to allow us to see the injustices with our own eyes so that we can feel the outrage and work to make a change. 

Developing empathy for victims is vital if we want to create a culture where all human beings are respected and cherished. And in this digital age, one way to help people develop empathy for victims is to show the victims.

There is no reason we should not be consistent regarding images of aborted babies. The broken bodies of the most innocent among us are crying out for justice and for people to see their humanity so that we can stop their slaughter, as every day they are dying by the thousands.

These babies deserve to be seen.

2. “The images are alienating to the public.” 

According to Protect Life Michigan, which uses such images in its campaigns in the USA, studies and experience have shown that this is not true and that the pictures make people think. They have found that 30% of the pro-abortion people they talk with while out in public have changed their minds about abortion after seeing images of aborted babies. We in the Life League have always found the same.

A powerful video produced by Protect Life Michigan tells the story of a woman who told pro-lifers at a Florida college campus that a friend of hers had previously yelled and cursed at them for showing images, yet soon after that incident, she found herself unexpectedly pregnant. Because she had seen those images and they stayed in her mind, she was unable to abort her baby. 

This proves the most important point: The pictures save lives. They do make a difference. 

3. The pictures make people “feel uncomfortable.” 

In all honesty, you should feel uncomfortable when looking at the mangled and torn body of a preborn baby. You should feel disturbed. You should feel sad. You’re looking at the body of a dead baby, often in pieces. If their images don’t evoke sadness or disgust, something is wrong with you.

Images of aborted babies are difficult to look at. But they are necessary to get through to some people who persist in their hard-heartedness. 

Sadly, today, this includes a lot of teens and young people, who want to focus only on the “my body, my choice” mantra and who choose to ignore the destructiveness of that choice. They need a wake-up call and a dose of reality. They need to see that preborn babies are human beings who have as much right to life as you and I do.

Showing teens and young adults – and anyone who does not understand the humanity of the preborn baby – what really happens in an abortion will help change minds and hearts. 

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