Thoughts on the upcoming vote in Ohio--Matt. 18:1-9

In Sunday School today we were looking at Matthew 18:1-9 and other verses. Christians in Ohio are divided on what to do about Issue 1 on Tuesday. In fact, Christians are downright hostile towards each other on this issue. A look at these verses could speak to that.

First, Jesus sets a small child in their midst when his disciples (who seem to be slow learners) ask about who is the greatest in his Kingdom. Children in the ancient world had no standing unlike today when entire households and several generations will focus their lives and wellbeing around children and grandchildren, lavishing time and wealth on them. Jesus essentially told them to be needy, powerless and marginalized if they truly wanted status in the Kingdom. Think about it. Who is more needy, powerless and marginalized than an unborn child?

Second, Jesus then goes on to use hyperbole in showing what happens to those who would cause one of the little ones (his followers) to stumble. Really graphic and cruel--being drowned with a heavy weight attached to the neck, having limbs chopped off or eyes poked out. Again, in the ancient world, the disabled and blind would not have much social status.

 
Third, although Jesus is not referencing abortion, the cruel suffering depicted in his hyperbole, is real life and anguish for the unborn in the midst of an abortion. Right here in Ohio. Here in America. Limbs cut off and sometimes scissors jabbed into the skull to make the head small enough so the child is "still born," and not alive at birth. Late term abortion is rare in the U.S.--about 10,000 a year--some say less, some say more. That's a small city of dismembered babies!

 
When Dr. Kermit Gosnell was tried a decade ago for murdering babies in late term abortions who could have survived, only a few minutes (13 minutes and 30 seconds for a 58 day trial) of the grisly testimony ever made it to broadcast news. There will be Christians going to the polls on Tuesday who have no idea what they are voting for, enshrining abortion for any reason at any stage of the pregnancy in our Constitution. But even worse, there will be Christians who do know, yet still cling to the lie it's a "woman's right."

Now many states want to offer clear skating—no longer a slippery slope

“According to the grand jury, Gosnell's method of "abortion" in these late-term cases was infanticide, plain and simple. He or an untrained staffer would induce labor, deliver the baby alive, and then perform the procedure they called by the chilling euphemism "snipping"--slashing the infant to death with scissors to the neck and spine. "Over the years, there were hundreds of 'snippings,' " the grand jury found. But bodies had been disposed of and files destroyed, so the evidence was sufficient to prosecute in only seven cases. One of those victims, a neonatologist testified, was a boy of "32 weeks, if not more, in gestational age." That is, his mother had been at least 7½ months pregnant.

Why were these horrors allowed to persist for decades? Even if the infanticides had been concealed, there were ample other irregularities in the clinic's operations, including filth, unsanitized instruments, unqualified staff and dangerously inappropriate use of drugs. When the clinic was finally raided in 2010, it was the result of a federal narcotics investigation.

Part of the reason for the regulatory failure was simple bureaucratic indifference or incompetence. Inspectors from the Pennsylvania Department of Health visited several times between 1979 and 1993, noted problems, and didn't bother following up. But after 1993, the inspectors never reappeared until the 2010 raid. The reason was political.

In 1994 Tom Ridge, a pro-abortion Republican, was elected governor, succeeding the antiabortion Democrat Bob Casey. According to the grand jury, Ridge administration officials "concluded that inspections would be 'putting a barrier up to women' seeking abortions. Better to leave clinics to do as they pleased." The new policy did away with all regular inspections of abortion clinics. Mr. Ridge's lassitudinous approach was bipartisan, continued by his successor, Democrat Ed Rendell, who resumed the inspections only after the 2010 raid.

Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty for Gosnell and have already obtained guilty pleas from eight of his former staffers. The grand jury's report should also be seen as an indictment of America's post-Roe abortion industry. Its indifference--at best--to legal limits made possible the deaths of untold numbers of babies, lending credence to the argument that legal abortion is a slippery slope to infanticide.”  From WSJ writer, April 19, 2013, James Taranto http://jamestaranto.com/gosnell.htm?

What Obama promised us

There was a time before Obama became president, that he was the ONLY politician in the nation radical enough to vote for something like what New York has just passed. Well, he did promise to fundamentally transform the country, and unfortunately, he did.

But at least when Obama cast his vote against babies, the people of Illinois did not cheer and celebrate (he was a state senator then).

Now that New York has codified the killing of full term babies, they will begin (or continue) the efforts on the other end of life—euthanasia of the elderly or disabled.   Don’t wait.  Print off the POLST form and read it carefully.  You do NOT want to sign this form. But you definitely want to read it. http://www.cathmed.org/resources/polst/

Dr. Gosnell was our biggest mass murderer until the NY legislature and Gov. Cuomo, and now will the doctor at Mt. Carmel hospital in Columbus who has killed 34 patients (more to come) with fentanyl be considered just ahead of his time in euthanasia of the elderly and disabled?
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/doctor-accused-ordering-fatal-doses-dozens-patients-should-have-been-n962336

Gosnell and Searcy

Nick Searcy who both directed and acted in the Gosnell movie writes,

"I realize, looking back, that I was quite naïve about how this film would be received. I truly believed that if we did it the right way, even the so-called Hollywood Left would appreciate our fairness in telling the story, see its value, and, furthermore, share our goals in getting this important story before the public.

Sadly, I was wrong. As I said, this town runs on fear — the fear not only of failure but, more insidiously, of being shunned because of your political opinions. I was gratified by the talented people in this industry, many of them who differed with me politically, who did believe in our script and were willing to come on board. But many people, some of them good friends of mine, declined to work on this film, not because of its quality but because of the fear of reprisal or even ostracism by the groupthink herd in Hollywood. More than once, I was asked questions like “Are you crazy?” or “Are you sure you want to do this?”"

I had read and reviewed the book, “Gosnell, The Untold Story of America’s Most Prolific Serial Killer” by Ann McElhinney and Phelim McAleer. I have volunteered in a pregnancy crisis center for 5 years and on the prayer call list for 15—so I was not as shocked as others by this movie.  I contributed money to have this film made. I was very reluctant to see it, but I did, and it is an excellent film. A first class story with excellent production values. You won't be sorry if you see it.

We like to say we have free speech in this country, guaranteed by the First Amendment.  And to an extent, that’s true.  But we don’t have the right to a job, career, family or friends after we exercise the right. And Searcy’s disappointment in his friends is so true.

A thank you note

I'm one of the millions who sent money to make the Gosnell movie. Today I received another nice "thank you."

"Yes, your support has meant that a baby will not be killed in an abortion. It will survive thanks to you. This extraordinary miracle happened when a group went to see the Gosnell Movie in Bakersfield. A group of moms was so moved and motivated by the film that they decided to go and stand at a nearby abortion clinic with their small children. There they met a woman going for an abortion and with their babies they inspired her not to go in."

The power of a well made film with a message.

Gosnell; the untold story of America's most prolific serial killer

 
Yesterday hearings began on Ohio Right to Life's Unborn Child Dignity Act (S.B. 28), legislation which would require the humane burial or cremation of unborn children following an abortion. When police finally raided the clinic of abortionist Kermit Gosnell (for an unreported death plus drug charges), a Philadelphia "doctor" with primarily minority clients, they didn't expect a house of horrors. The smell and filth was beyond anything these long time investigators had ever experienced. A filthy, flea-infested, cat and human excrement covered clinic with expired drugs, broken unsanitary equipment and instruments, post abortion women sitting in filthy chairs covered with blood stained blankets moaning in pain with untrained, unlicensed staff to help them. Because the toilets didn't work (fetal remains and vomit clogged them) the women urinated on the walls. Gosnell kept jars of baby feet in storage and fetal remains in trash bags in closets and the basement. Some fetal parts he took to his summer home in NJ to feed to clams, which he then brought back to the clinic to feed his (illegal) sea turtles.

Yes, unborn children deserve better than this.

 During the initial investigation Gosnell had to complete an abortion that had already been started (her 4th). Upon finishing the abortion he came back to his office and ate his lunch in front of the stunned police officers without removing his blood stained, torn gloves and gown, and when a piece of food fell on the floor he just picked it up with his chop sticks and ate it. He bragged that his cat had killed over 200 mice. His clinic was licensed and inspected by the Health Dept. This is what Democrats like Hillary Clinton mean when they preach "safe, legal and rare." I might add expensive to that mantra. The investigators found the bill for the woman who died, $830.00.

Ann McElhinney and Phelim McAleer. Gosnell; the untold story of America's most prolific serial killer. Regnery Publishing, 2017.

Don't take this book on your lunch break!