Planned Parenthood treats women's wombs like factories producing parts. A fourth video demonstrating their hellish disregard for human life and dignity is out today from the Center for Medical Progress.

The third video has been suppressed by a court order after StemExpress won a temporary restraining order. StemExpress is a fetal tissue procurement agency that touted "financial profits" (pdf of StemExpress flyer here) for companies like Planned Parenthood who work with them. The videographer, David Daleiden, says that he made sure to break no laws, so it is likely that the restraining order will be lifted, and the third video will be released. There are another eight videos still to come.

 It is a good thing that these videos are being made public. Anyone who calls himself "pro-choice" should be invited to watch the unedited films in their entirety, and to read the manuscripts.  They are not hoaxes, they are not deceptively edited, and they are disturbing in the extreme.

Many Americans call themselves pro-choice, but are uncomfortable with unlimited abortion on demand, and these videos could help tip the balance in their hearts. But even as we hope and pray that the videos accomplish this conversion, let's not forget another large population of Americans, whose hearts matter just as much: the population of women who have had abortions.

Many thousands of women regret their abortions, and are haunted even decades later by what they have done, and what has been done to them.  Thousands more are troubled and wounded, but aren't ready to make the connection between their suffering and their abortions. And for every one of those thousands of mothers of an aborted child, there is a post-abortive father, too. Many of these men never had a choice in the matter, and many pushed for an abortion and later regretted it.

So let's be careful as we use the videos, how we display the preview images, and what we say about the mothers of those poor babies. There is nothing righteous about grinding someone's face in a past sin. Like everything powerful and sacred, the images of those babies should be used with great care, because they have the potential to wound and damage along with the potential to change minds. As Susan Windley-Daoust said yesterday on Facebook:

This is likely a moment when many women (and men who helped women, or told women, to get abortions) are coming face to face with the harsh reality of their past. If you are reading this and find yourself in that category, there are people who want to help ...

I did not have an abortion, but every human alive knows what it is like to be hoodwinked and to make decisions they regret.

If you have had an abortion, you are not alone. Rachel's Vinyard offers healing retreats for women wounded by abortion, and Project Rachel offers free counselling, as well as adivce for how to help a friend who has had an abortion. 

 Abortion Changes You offers post-abortive women the support of a community online. 

And for abortion workers who want to get out of the industry, And Then There Were None offers free financial, legal, and emotional support from peers who have left the industry, and helps abortion workers find ethical new jobs, 

Birthright, Catholic Charities, Birthmothers and Optionline all offer help and information for pregnant women in need of support. 

Windley-Daoust says, 

[A]s important as it is to try to get appropriate media coverage, and express our own sorrow and outrage, it is just as important to reach out and help those more personally affected by this media storm. I encourage all of you to do the same.

Great advice. The pro-life movement has always been pro-woman, as well as pro-baby. As we continue to fight to expose the truth of abortion, let's remember to offer help and hope, both to pregnant women and to post-abortive women who need help. Share the videos, get the story out, expose the abortion industry -- but also share resources for people who need help and healing.