Hiding from Our Demons

In 1966 I came home from Vietnam with some painful memories. I put them behind me and set about building a life with my wife Lynne and the family she was giving me, a family I absolutely adored. I was not Catholic but they were so we made it our custom to attend Mass together. When it came time for baptisms and First Holy Communion Lynne and I attended the parental classes together. Much of our social life involved church.

I thought about converting but put it off for several years. Then about the time our fifth child was born I began to ask myself why. It dawned on me that the memories were an obstacle. Before I could receive the sacraments I was going to have to have a serious talk with God about some things I really didn't want to think about. That's how I dealt with my demons. I didn't think about them.

When I realized what I had been doing I knew it wasn't healthy so I sat down and had my talk with God. It was a long talk. When I finished I told Lynne I wanted to be confirmed. Then I went to our pastor and told him. He sent me to a class for converts and I became officially Catholic.

I think something like that may be playing out in the pro-abortion community. Last year for the first time in many years most Americans described themselves as pro-life. People who follow these things say it's because of improved sonogram technology. They don't show a little green blob any more. They show a baby. People can recognize family traits in a tiny fetus only a few weeks old. It makes it harder to think of it as just another part of a woman's body.

Now comes a trial in Philadelphia that is forcing us to confront the gruesome reality that is late term abortion. Dr. Kermit Gosnell has been charged with murder in the deaths of one woman and seven babies. Three of his employees have pleaded guilty to third degree murder and are testifying for the prosecution. They describe scenes of unimaginable horror with blood and gore all over the place and living babies essentially decapitated with surgical scissors.

The notorious main stream media have been stunningly silent but now even progressive journalists have begun asking themselves why this hasn't been front page news. I think I know why. They have been hiding from their demons in much the same way I once did. If they don't think about the monster under the bed it can't harm them. But this monster is too real and too ugly. If they report the story they are going to have to think about those dead babies.

For now they are scrambling for new euphemisms. The term "post-birth abortion" doesn't really work. Once born it's a baby and killing it is infanticide. We may finally be past euphemisms altogether, at least on this subject. The images coming out of the trial are just too graphic.

The story gained critical momentum last week with a CNN segment by Anderson Cooper and a USA Today piece by Kirsten Powers. I expect the rest of the trial will be widely covered. I doubt we will be overturning Roe v Wade any time soon but there should be enough public revulsion to produce some new restrictions on the worst abortion practices. Enough to force authorities to police them too. Part of the news coming out of Philadelphia is that municipal and state agencies were willfully negligent in acting on reported abuses. Shame on them.