“In fact my Midwest, Christian upbringing is largely responsible for my belief that providing abortion services is one of the most meaningful ways I feel I can contribute to making the world a more fair and equal place for women,” Payne continued regarding her Christian social witness.

Dr. Kermit Gosnell and his Philadelphia “House of Horrors” is what many of us picture when we imagine abortionists. Curmudgeon older men. Dirty clinics. Cold hearts. No sense of ethics, much less Christian convictions. But this imagery fails to capture the full picture when it comes to the abortion doctors who participate in the slaughter (and harvesting and selling) of 4,000 unborn babies per day in the United States.

What about an abortionist with blonde hair, compassionate motivations, and even a pastor’s girlfriend? This is the portrait of an abortionist as portrayed by the online women’s magazine,xoJane.com. In a xoJane op-ed the abortionist-in-the-making, Caroline Payne, declared her love for performing abortions. The op-ed was shared across 48,000 social media outlets.

Responding to her own question, “Who wants to be an abortionist?” Payne answered, “I do. And I don’t have a nose-ring or a tattoo. I’m a 5’ blonde from Ohio and my last boyfriend was a pastor.”

“In fact my Midwest, Christian upbringing is largely responsible for my belief that providing abortion services is one of the most meaningful ways I feel I can contribute to making the world a more fair and equal place for women,” Payne continued regarding her Christian social witness.

Sadly, Payne probably harnessed the words “Christian upbringing” for reasons other than garnering a broader audience and greater sympathies. She likely believes that Christian teaching is truly synonymous with acting in whatever way makes her feel like a good, helpful person. In reality, the evil of abortion clashes with Christianity, and hurts women. But I guess her pastor boyfriend missed that seminary lecture.

Beyond that, I’m simply stunned that Payne continues pushing the tired old narrative that tells women: “Without abortion, you are inadequate.”

“Women should have every opportunity to explore their potential in the public sphere,” Payne wrote. “[A]nd they will never be able to do that if they cannot exert agency and autonomy over their bodies. Republicans know this. Misogynists know this too.”

Maybe Payne should have listened to women speaking to Congress on abortion’s impact on their lives last week during the House Judiciary Committee’s investigation into Planned Parenthood’s illegal harvesting and trafficking of fetal parts. Gianna Jessen is an abortion survivor who asked Congress, “If abortion is about women’s rights, then what were mine?”

Payne rambles on about gender inequality, privilege, the Pill, and eventually substitutes the word abortion with healthcare. She writes, “I provide abortions, and actively take every opportunity to advance my abortion skills, because without abortion and family planning, women will never live in an equal world, let alone rule the world.”

Indeed, abortion is about women, but not in the way Payne said. It is about the murder of innocent, vulnerable baby girls who are never given an opportunity to go to school, play sports, or “compete along the career trajectory with men,” as Ms. Payne put it. Abortion allows for sex-selection abortion and robs largely unborn baby girls of life’s opportunities — because abortion snuffs out unborn women’s lives.

Misogynists know this, and so do abortion advocates. According to the Population Research Institute, because of sex-selection abortion71 million more boys than girls born have been born since 2000 across the globe. This is what gender inequality looks like my friends, and you can thank abortion.

If Ms. Payne really wants to act out Christian compassion and to advocate for women, then I suggest she immediately stop advocating and participating in the destruction of their unborn lives and try another avenue. Perhaps she could get involved withMedical Students for Life, whose motto is “putting every patient first,” especially the most marginalized, belittled and neglected within our society.

Another option for Ms. Payne is to offer her medical expertise to aid crisis pregnancy centers. Or work alongside YoungLives, a worldwide pro-life group run largely by volunteers that offers ongoing support, resources and counseling to women in crisis pregnancies. These private programs – meaning they receive zero federal dollars – supply everything from diapers to bottles for scared and/or disadvantaged pregnant teenagers and women who would otherwise view abortion as their only option.

Talk about a way to help empower women. By allowing them the chance to live. This is what Christian compassion looks like. Because no matter how much we swallow our own lies about feel-good Christianity, compassion in the name of Christ will never look like murder of these innocents.

This article first appeared on the Institute on Religion and Democracy’s blog and is used with permission.

[Editor’s note: One or more original URLs (links) referenced in this article are no longer valid; those links have been removed.]