we can stop pretending now

First things first. This is not a G-rated post. So please preview this before leaving it open on your screen for your literate children to find. 
And second...if anything in this post starts hitting home with you...I want to say Shame off you. This is a shame-free zone. Conviction and change, yes. Shame...can go to hell, where it originated. Because you are safe and loved here.
On to business. I kissed my kids this morning. I always do that; they sit at the table eating breakfast and I go around and ruffle their heads and give them smooches. It's a good way to start the day. We smile, we're happy, life is good.
The day is beginning.
Then I opened the mail and read Abby's story.

I don't know Abby personally yet. You probably don't either...but you might have heard of her. Here's what I read:
I was called into the room. I remember thinking that I was actually kind of excited to learn a new procedure, to witness a new technique. I thought it would be a good learning experience.

I got the ultrasound wand in place and I looked up on the screen and saw this perfectly formed baby. It was a full side profile - from head to foot.

Then I saw the cannula, the probe that is hooked up to the suction machine. All of a sudden, the cannula began to prod the baby in the side. The baby started to move. The legs started kicking.

The arms started moving. It was like the baby was trying to find a place to go in the uterus.

At that moment I thought to myself, "Oh my gosh. I'm about to witness something horrible."

Then the doctor turned on the suction and I watched the baby begin to twist and crumple through the suction. It was over in a matter of seconds.

This was the end of a life. It was the turning point in Abby's. Do you know who she is now?

Abby Johnson used to be a Director at a Planned Parenthood clinic in Texas. But then she saw what she was promoting, and realized how she had lied to women just as others had lied to her...and now she's on our side.

Are there sides in this? Must there be sides?

Oh, yes. There must be sides. There is no middle ground once you stop pretending and face reality.

I am not an advocate for showing pictures of abortions...unless you still think that abortion should be legal. Unless you think unborn babies should be disposed of like so much menstrual tissue. Unless you are still pretending that it's all okay...because it's not.

If you fall in that camp, you need to see the pictures. Now, don't be afraid - if you are so sure you are on the right side of this, then what do you have to be afraid of? Right?

If you're convinced you are on the right side of this, and that side is for abortion (even if that means "I-would-never-choose-it-personally-but-I-can't-make-that-choice-for-someone-else"), you can see the reality here. You ought to know what you are advocating. You ought to know what women are being lied to about. You ought to know what our country is coming to. You ought to know.

But if you don't want to see the pictures, it is an indication that you already know that something in your heart does not match up with your professed beliefs. Shame off you...you can stop pretending.

We'll stop pretending this is about choice...because women are being lied to.

We'll stop pretending women have no other options...because there is no such thing as an unwanted child in America. For every aborted baby, there are at least five families who would love to adopt that baby and give him or her a loving home.

We'll stop pretending this is about women's rights. Because women deserve better.

We deserve the truth. We deserve to be respected as people who can face the consequences of our choices. We deserve to be empowered, not simply enabled. We are so much better than this.