Documentary
2014 / 54 minutes
Rating: 8/10

This must-see is first and foremost an encouragement for anyone sitting on the sidelines to get active and start saving the unborn.

Where the film gets controversial is in the producers’ argument that we must name the sin that is going on behind clinic doors. They want Christians to start using stark, clear terms, like “murder” and “murderer” to clearly and accurately identify these shameful deeds. As one commentator in the film explains early on:

We want to go into these neighborhoods – if we go into these neighborhoods – and whisper and invite and plead. And what we need to be doing is shaming this behavior. We need to be showing people what’s going on…

Friends I’ve spoken to who are actively involved in pro-life activism have questioned whether using the word “murderer” will shame women, or simply make pro-lifers look hateful, condemning and graceless.

That’s a good question, and good reason to watch this film. The men and women we see witnessing are carrying large signs that read “Babies are Murdered Here” but there isn’t a hint of self-righteousness about them. They are clear, and generally pretty winsome too; truth is being coupled with grace. I find their approach comparable to pro-lifers who make use of large graphic pictures and pair that with soft-spoken words.

There are many other ways we can present the Truth, so we don’t have to use the words “murder” or “murderer.” But the film makes a convincing case that we must not shy away from these words, or deny their accuracy. According to the conventional pro-life presentation, abortionists are murderers, and the mothers are victims. That’s a lie we have to stop repeating. It’s a lie that obscures the crime these women are setting out to do. As RC Sproul Jr. explains:

It is, perhaps, the most heinous crime I can imagine. It is the most “against nature thing” I can imagine, for a woman who has been gifted by God and called by God to nurture and protect her children to instead turn around and murder that child. It is not just an ordinary murder. When we commit an ordinary murder the other person can fight back. When we commit an ordinary murder it’s not the very fruit of our own bodies. It is a wicked, wicked, vile thing and we need to say so… without diminishing the depth and the scope and the power of the grace of God in Jesus Christ.

We need to be clear about the crime we hope to prevent. We want to save these mothers from becoming murderers. We want to save those who have already become murderers. This is why they need the Gospel. And this is why we need to be there sharing it with them.

You can watch Babies are Murdered Here for free below or at BabiesAreMurderedHere.com.

Since this film was released in 2014, one of the commentators interviewed, RC Sproul Jr., had to resign from his position at Ligonier Ministries, related to two public sins. However, the points he makes in the film stand on their own.