A few weeks after the death of 79-year-old Illinois abortion doctor, Ulrich George Klopfer, his family uncovered something unbelievably disturbing. In his garage, Klopfer had 2,246 medically preserved fetal remains.
To date, Klopfer’s clinics have not been cleaned out and some speculate there may be even more horrific finds to come. Klopfer’s clinics were shut down years ago by state authorities after they uncovered poor sanitary conditions and other medical and record-keeping problems. He lost his medical license and was forced out of practice after he failed to report abortions done on thirteen-year-old girls. Still, over his decades long career, it’s estimated Klopfer performed 30,000 abortions.
Unfortunately, Klopfer isn’t the first abortion doctor to stockpile “trophies” of his work. Kermit Gosnell, Philadelphia’s infamous baby killer, also kept parts of fetuses in milk jugs and glass jars. When authorities searched Gosnell’s office, they found bags and bottles holding aborted fetuses, including a twenty-eight-week-old baby boy frozen in a gallon water bottle, and thirty specimen jars containing fetal feet. Eventually, Gosnell was convicted of routinely delivering babies alive and then cutting their necks with scissors.
During an interview with documentary maker Mark Archer, Dr. Klopfer speculated that horrific experiences in childhood may have disturbed his “perception” of life. Klopfer was a five-year old child during the allied firebombing of Dresden during World War II.
It seems Klopfer, like Kermit Gosnell, bears more resemblance to a serial killer than anyone in the abortion industry would care to admit. Who keeps secret stashes of body parts, especially parts of babies? Who could hold an innocent, living infant in his hands and then commit the unthinkable?
The abortion industry positions itself as helping women in distress. While some categorize abortion as a terrible “necessity,” others simply call it a right. Regardless, they completely overlook the gruesome and horrific nature of the act of abortion itself. Abortion involves stopping a beating heart. Abortion requires tearing flesh. It’s impossible for a human being to not be impacted by the snuffing out of another human life. Just ask anyone who’s been to war or been guilty of manslaughter. Abortions must have a marked impact on the humanity of those who perform them. It’s impossible for them not to.
We know that women and men who choose abortion can experience mixed feelings, regret, and even depression for years after their choice. Imagine the cumulative impact of witnessing and performing this procedure thousands of times over one’s medical career. Of course, we no longer need to imagine it. We can simply read the reports of what’s been found in Gosnell’s office and Klopfer’s garage.
Kaylee McGhee put it this way in the Washington Examiner, “The abortion industry is good at hiding its ugliness, disguising it behind neat Planned Parenthood brochures that advertise women’s healthcare. Klopfer is what happens when the mask comes off.”
Unfortunately, stories like Klopfer’s struggle to get the attention they deserve in the national media. Pro-choice activists fiercely defend abortion as an expression of freedom or a humane way to protect women’s rights and equality. They argue that we need doctors to perform these services to help women in need. But, as both Gosnell and Klopfer demonstrate, there’s nothing empowering, freeing, or humane about the abortion industry. These stories stay buried to protect an agenda.
As Pro Abundant Life people, we recognize that abortion does more than destroy innocent life, it also harms the women and men who choose it and the doctors who perform it. That’s why it’s vital that we engage all in abortion’s path with the love and grace of Christ. Bernard Nathanson was an abortion doctor and co-founder of NARAL before the Gospel of Jesus Christ transformed his heart and he became a powerful pro-life advocate. Like Nathanson, Klopfer’s story could have ended with salvation and transformation, but it didn’t.
And that is a tragedy.