“The pro-lifer’s first obligation is to be informed.”

Dr. and Mrs. Jack Willke, Abortion: Questions and Answers

“It is not possible to brainwash a curious person with access

 to the internet.” —Dennis Prager

One day, a waitress named Bonny found a disheveled young woman with missing hair and teeth curled up on the sidewalk, crying. She was a hungry coke and meth addict named Patricia Sandoval, a once beautiful, straight-A student who took sex-ed classes, had three abortions, and got a job at Planned Parenthood. At the abortion clinic, Patricia was told not to look the clients in the eye, so she couldn’t form a bond with them. And not to use the words “baby,” “he,” “she,” “mother,” “father,” or even “fetus.” She was to refer to the unborn babies as “sacks of tissue.” And never to tell the women or girls that their dead children would be thrown in the garbage. Clinic employees were not permitted to bring in photos of their children or of any family members. When she witnessed an actual abortion, she felt as if the woman was being raped. When a sixteen-year-old came into the clinic one day, pregnant with twins in the sixth month, Patricia ran out. Her perception of her own abortions darkened, and she turned to drugs.

Homeless for three years, she ended up on the street where Bonny found her. Bonny drove her home to her father. Eventually, Patricia found God, joined the pro-life movement, and became a fulltime employee at Rachel’s Vineyard, a ministry of Priests for Life that helps post-abortive women regain emotional stability and spiritual health. The subject of a book titled Transfigured, you can hear Patricial Sandoval speak about her experiences here.

Scores of videos on YouTube feature personal testimonies from those who regret their abortions, illustrating the deep wound abortion inflicts on individuals, families, cultures. Other videos introduce the viewer to former abortionists who, also deeply wounded, have embraced life and wish to convert others through their haunting testimonies. And there are videos for those who want to learn how to combat pro-choice propaganda and lies, how to become better debaters—whether it’s at the kitchen table or a town council meeting. In fact, anyone interested in attaining greater understanding of the multifaceted abortion culture that has taken root in the decades since Roe v. Wade, could easily put together a comprehensive education program from what is available online. Following is just a sampling.

• Silent No More Awareness Campaign: Founded in 2002 by Priests for Life and Anglicans for Life, the Silent No More website has over six hundred videos of women expressing regret for their abortions, many of whom have told their stories on the steps of the Supreme Court after the annual March for Life. One of these is Julia Holcomb, who recounts how back in the 70’s, when she a teenager, she was forced to abort a child fathered by Steven Tyler, of the rock group Aerosmith.  Holcomb, who subsequently became a Catholic, married, and has 7 children, told her story again on the Tucker Carlson Show around the time of Amy Coney Barrett’s nomination to the Court, this time speaking of Tyler’s regret, too.

• Meet the Abortion Providers: What kind of a person would make a living reaching into pregnant women’s (and girls’) wombs and ripping out chunks of chopped-up children? Now, imagine what it must take for an abortion worker to become a pro-life activist. In this film, doctors, nurses, and clinic workers recount how they became disgusted with themselves for making money by deceiving women and killing their babies. A former abortionist says, “I can still to this very day hear the . . . sound of that baby’s skull being crushed.” Another woman in the film recalls that “The smell of blood permeates the clinic on killing days . . . I could smell those babies burning.” Yet another woman describes how some of her female co-workers would “blackmail” politicians they had sex with into supporting the abortion industry, mailing them a bar of soap from the motel where they had a tryst when a crucial vote was coming up. One former abortionist who went rogue and joined the pro-life movement talks about medical malpractice that has resulted in emergency hospitalization of abortion patients. This film, produced by the Pro-Life Action League, is accessible online in four parts: Part 1, Part II, Part III, Part IV.

• “Converted”: This series, also produced by the Pro-Life Action League, features seven additional former abortion workers—Dr. Anthony Levantino, Dr. Anthony Caruso, Linda Couri, Catherine Adair, Ruth Yorston, John Bruchalski, Sue Thayer—who speak at length about how they became prolifers. (10)(11)(12)(13)(14)(15)(16).

• Pro-Life Replies to Pro-choice Arguments: This 12-part series, produced by Live Action (www.liveaction.org) presents informative and useful five-minute segments on how to respond to common pro-choice claims like “Women Will Die from Illegal Abortions,” “Abortion Will Stop Overpopulation,” “Babies with Disabilities Are Better Off Aborted,” and “No One Knows When Life Begins.” The entire series can be viewed here:

• Human Capital: Any education course about abortion should include an extended visit to the website of the Center for Medical Progress, where David Daleiden’s undercover videos documenting Planned Parenthood’s trafficking in aborted baby organs and tissue are included in the Center’s “Human Capital Project.” According the website “the video footage gathered in this project is presented in two formats: 1)as summary videos of specific undercover encounters, and 2) as a multi-part documentary web series, “Human Capital,” which integrates expert interviews, eyewitness accounts, and real-life undercover interactions to tell the story of Planned Parenthood’s commercial exploitation of aborted fetal tissue.” For an example, click here.

• It’s a Girl: This documentary, which takes no position on the acceptability of legal abortion, is a horrific account of the rampant killing of girls in China and India, inside and outside the womb. One woman admits on camera that she gave birth to eight baby girls and murdered them all. In the film, she’s shown wandering around her village, chatting to the filmmaker about the child-murder. Why let girls live when raising them will be difficult, she argues. Women have the power to create life, so don’t they have the right to kill it? It’s a Girl also explains how the demographics of China are out of whack, leaving many men with nobody to marry. Women are kidnapped from neighboring countries and forced into “marriage”; prostitution is rampant; males are pushed into the military to delay the need for marriage; and homosexuality is encouraged. The whole society is suffering from China’s decades-long killing of little girls.

The videos described here are serious and, in some cases, grim. I’ll end with one that uses humor to make a serious point: Captain Kirk Meets Ashley Judd , in which the actress appears to be losing her mind as she addresses a pro-abortion rally. The juxtaposition of the Star Trek characters with one of today’s most visible abortion zealots is funny. But we all know, don’t we, that Ashley Judd and her ilk really are possessed by their need to defend abortion—so much so that it can also be scary.

Chris Rostenberg writes from New York.