I’ll never forget the first time I heard applause from hell.
I was listening to an audiotape of abortionist Martin Haskell giving a presentation at the 16th Annual Meeting of the National Abortion Federation Conference in 1992 in San Diego. Haskell was describing to his audience how to do a partial-birth abortion. These were his words:
Haskell, having described these brutal details, shows his audience a video of himself doing one of these procedures. And at the end of the video, after the sound of the suction machine taking the brains out of the baby’s head, and the mother moaning, the audience erupts into applause.
That was applause from hell.
I heard this demonic sound again last week, when, on the 46th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, Gov. Andrew Cuomo, D-N.Y., signed the Reproductive Health Act, expanding abortion access in the state through the ninth month for virtually any reason. The new law also relieves abortionists of the need to provide life-saving care to babies accidentally born alive after abortion, and removes the unborn from the state’s crime victims list. This stands in sad contrast to the World Trade Center memorial, where the words “and her unborn child” are inscribed along with the names of the pregnant mothers who died in the Sept. 11 terror attacks.
When Cuomo signed this evil bill, his audience erupted into applause. Sarah Weddington, the pro-abortion lawyer who argued Roe v. Wade, applauded. There was jubilation all around. I heard, again, the applause from hell.
We often speak about “the fires of hell.” It is also true, however, to say that hell is very cold. It is the absence of all conscience, pity, and love. That kind of hell is reflected on earth when a group of human beings can sit around a video machine, watch someone deliberately kill a baby, and then applaud.
That’s the heart and soul of the abortion industry. That’s the heart and soul of being “pro-choice.”
But the abortion industry couldn’t exist without the help of lawmakers who believe that human beings in the womb have no right to live.
I am convinced that the most effective way to fight abortion is to expose it. People need to hear descriptions of the procedure, see what it looks like, and get a glimpse into the utter corruption of the abortion industry.
But it’s also important to understand what we’re up against politically. The push in New York and in other states for laws explicitly allowing abortion until birth is being orchestrated by Democrats. The Democratic Party has moved beyond the “safe, legal and rare” mantra and now calls for “abortion on demand and without apology.” They are not proponents of “choice,” they are unrestrained zealots for abortion.
As he spoke before the bill signing, Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie, a Democrat, proclaimed “there’s no one happier than me.” Heastie is an African-American man who represents the borough of the Bronx in New York City. In his city, more African-American babies are aborted than born. This new law will ensure that more black babies will die, and he couldn’t be happier. He said the passage of the new law reminds him of why he ran for office.
The applause that followed came straight from hell.
Hell hasn’t changed. And neither have the Democrats.
Father Frank Pavone (@frfrankpavone) is a contributor to the Washington Examiner’s Beltway Confidential blog. He is the national director of Priests for Life.
