In an astonishing juxtaposition of worldviews, Planned Parenthood is using the vigil of the feast of King Herod’s “slaughter of the innocents” to claim abortion is a “social good” and a way to “contribute to a more socially just world.”
On December 28, Christians across the globe celebrate the feast of the “Holy Innocents,” a day to commemorate the babies who were slaughtered throughout Judea on the orders of King Herod in an attempt to kill the newborn baby Jesus. The “innocents” are honored by Christians as martyrs.
The Christian Bible recounts that King Herod became enraged when he realized that the three wise men had chosen not to tell him where the Christ child was to be born, and in his anger he ordered the massacre of all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity two years old and under. Ever since, Christians have celebrated the memorial of the babies who died at his hands.
Christians abhor abortion as the murder of unborn babies in the wombs of their mothers, yet Planned Parenthood, the largest abortion provider in the country, chose this day to announce the benefits of abortion for advancing the common good.
The Christmas season looks to the Christ child as the model of goodness, but also of vulnerability, one whose life is in the hand of others.
In the tweet, Planned Parenthood links to an article by ObGyn resident Carolyn Payne, who announces that she is “proud” to perform abortions.
Those of us “called” into this profession to provide abortions, she declares, “are not afraid, embarrassed, or ashamed to say so.”
“I love providing abortion care to women,” Payne asserts, “and I am proud to do so.”
Payne says that for her, “abortion training was exciting,” and not “agonizing” at all. To be able to terminate women’s pregnancy’s, she said, was rather a “feel good procedure.”
Payne further says that in her experience, medical students “are committed to abortion training, not out of obligation, but out of desire.”
Payne says that her excitement over being able to terminate pregnancies comes from her “Midwest, Christian upbringing” since performing abortions “is one of the most meaningful ways I feel I can contribute to making the world a more fair and equal place for women.”
As a result, Payne says, “I provide abortions, and actively take every opportunity to advance my abortion skills.”
As far as the record shows, King Herod didn’t find killing little babies to be “exciting,” and for all we know he wasn’t particularly “proud” of it. Moreover, Herod didn’t seem particularly anxious to share his baby-killing skills.
If the Biblical account is to be believed, King Herod rounded up and killed a number of young male babies and had them massacred because he deemed it politically expedient. There is no sense that he did so as a “feel good procedure.”
Which just goes to show, that when it comes to violently exterminating the most vulnerable among us, there are always new heights to be reached.
Follow Thomas D. Williams on Twitter @tdwilliamsrome