Video Transcript: What’s in the Envelope?

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Hey everybody, it’s Kelsey Hazzard, the president of Secular Pro-Life, and today we have an unboxing video. Well, it’s really more of an envelope (and blacked out because the world doesn’t need to know where I live). Let’s find out what’s inside… “to open lift tab and pull quickly”… it’s another envelope, wow!

This is an abortion instrument. It’s called Sopher forceps, that’s spelled S-o-p-h-e-r. I’ve also seen it referred to as a Sopher clamp. It is named for the abortionist who invented it, David Sopher, and if you’re interested in the history, I found a really good article about it on RealChoice, which I will link to in the description.

Content warning, this is the part where I’m going to describe how it works, so if you don’t think you can stomach that, I completely sympathize, this is not going to be easy for me either. So you are welcome to click out of this video, we’ll see you next time.

So as you can see, the body of the instrument, a pretty basic design, a lot like the tongs that you probably have sitting in your kitchen right now, except of course that it’s made from medical-grade materials. But the clasping end—and I’m going to try to give you a close-up view here—you see those pointed lands and grooves going throughout the underside of the clasping end. Those lands and grooves are the critical element, because if you are caught in that, it’s very difficult to wiggle your way out; you can’t just slip out of them. (Actually left a little mark of myself there.)

Sopher forceps are used for the dilation and extraction, or “D&E,” abortion method. This is typically used on victims between 12 and 23 weeks old, or second trimester, and like all abortion methods, it begins with the abortionist dilating the cervix. Then the abortionist will go in with the forceps and grasp whatever is closest, typically one of the arms or legs. The abortionist clamps down to apply force, and then twists, so that the limb will pop off at the joint. And he will repeats that process piece by piece until the whole body is removed, concluding by crushing the skull.

And full credit where it’s due, by the way, to Live Action and their fantastic website AbortionProcedures.com, which features a former abortionist explaining D&E and several other abortion procedures as well.

Pro-life advocates frequently refer to D&E abortion as “dismemberment abortion,” because that’s plainly what it is, and several states have introduced laws to criminalize dismemberment abortion, but we’re not there yet.

All of that was really nauseating and difficult, so let me bring you one small piece of good news, which is that it was very difficult for me to obtain this. The company had a lot of questions, the shipping was delayed, presumably they were spending that time digging into my background, I had to explain exactly what it is that I wanted this for and the fact that I don’t plan to actually use it on anybody… and I’m sure that my many, many years of vocal pro-life advocacy on the internet created a history that was helpful to them resolving their investigation. So thinking ahead to when Roe v. Wade is overturned, it’s really comforting to know that there are protocols in place so that not just anybody can get their hands on something this dangerous.

Now, you’re probably wondering: why did a strong pro-life advocate like myself buy Sopher forceps in the first place? And the answer is that I’m going to use it in an experimental sculpture. Our friends at Rehumanize International are currently accepting submissions for the second annual “Create Encounter” art contest. They want your visual artwork, your poetry, your music, your short stories, any media as long as it focuses on human dignity and human rights as a theme. You can get all of the details on their website, I’ll put a link in the description, and they are accepting submissions through July 15. And the winning artists and authors in each category will have their works featured at the Life/Peace/Justice conference this coming October in Pittsburgh!

The bottom line is this instrument of death will never harm a child. Instead it will be transformed into an instrument human dignity, spreading that message even for those who are too small to speak for themselves. And I just wanted to share that message of hope with you today. Bye.