CBR UK displays abortion photos outside a BPAS abortion facility.  (Click to enlarge.)

Excellent debate between Ann Furedi, CEO of the British Pregnancy Advisory Service (BPAS), the UK’s largest private abortion provider, and Gregg Cunningham, Executive Director of the Center for Bio-Ethical Reform (CBR).

They debated the question of whether it is morally wrong to display graphic abortion images outside UK abortion clinics.  Furedi argued that it is immoral for CBR to show her prospective customers what she intends to do to their babies.  Cunningham argued it is immoral to hide the horror from them.

CBR-UK and Christian Concern, an association of Christian attorneys, co-sponsored this debate, and a capacity crowd filled the Emmanuel Center in Westminster, London.

More on this story:

• Story by Christian Concern: Debate on use of graphic abortion pictures
• Story in CBR Communique:  Historic Debate: CBR graciously demolishes UK’s largest abortion provider

Choice Chain at George Mason University. (Click to enlarge photo.)

by Maggie Egger

A young woman approached me and as she got closer I could see she was breathing very heavily; she seemed upset. She looked at our signs for just a moment and then quickly voiced her complaint: “I would call myself pro-life, but was about rape? I think it’s kind of insensitive for someone to tell a woman who’s been raped that she has to carry that baby.”

“First, I want to say that we as individuals, and as a society, need to do everything we can to help women who have been raped. We don’t do enough. We don’t do enough to punish rapists, and we don’t do enough to help women deal with the trauma. You would agree, right?”

“Yeah, absolutely.”

“Okay, then let me ask you a question. Would you be in favor of giving rapists the death penalty?”

She looked a little uncomfortable….I waited a bit. Trying to coax her, I said, “I don’t support the death penalty at all, so I would say ‘no.’”

“Yeah, I don’t support it either.”

“Okay then. No death penalty for rapists. Should we give the woman the death penalty because she was raped?”

She looked flabbergasted. “No, of course not!”

“No! Of course not! She’s the victim! But, there are some cultures where a woman who has been raped is killed because she’s seen to have brought dishonor on her family.”

“I know, it’s horrible.”

“You’re right, it is. Okay, so here’s my last question. Should we give the unborn child the death penalty because their father was a rapist?”

A young man standing next to her, who had just a few minutes earlier said he wanted to remain moderate on the issue, suddenly said, “Oh my gosh, I totally get what you’re saying. That’s a good one.” I almost felt like I was watching a cartoon, and a light bulb had just begun to glow above his head.

She smiled sheepishly, knowing that she was stuck. “No, I guess that doesn’t really make sense at all.”

Your support will allow us to do Choice Chains more places, more often.  Please click here and be as generous as you can.

Maggie Egger is a CBR Project Director in Virginia.

By Mick Hunt

The following poem is best experienced by watching the video.  Listen, watch, read.  It’s powerful.

Civil War
Written and performed by Shawn Welcome

1861. Musket, rifles with miniball bullets blast across the Mason-Dixon line, from both sides. Bayonets in my neighbor’s neck if they’re close enough, gun-smoke and tensions in the air, this won’t end for another four years. The American Civil War, a bloody conflict within the same nation. On the backs of Blacks was built the wealthiest. Lincoln had no use for these slave trades. He had more honorable ways of being successful. The Confederate South couldn’t stand it and a house divided against itself, can’t anyway.

Firearms changed everything.

Slave ships were packed and hearts were hardened, never asked to be here, how unfair that we’re the problem. Never asked to be here, how unfair that they’re the problem.

All in the name of freedom.

Party like a rock-star while little ones are dying. Silent screams from injected saline and dreams you will never hear because little lungs were punctured before they could fully function. Who will be a voice for the voiceless?

The abolitionists.

How many freight trains of injustice will roll by behind church buildings while service inside sings louder? Hands in the air, pump up the volume, bass, kick, snare, drowning out the rumblings of oppression. No formal funerals, nor miniature caskets, only the likes of medical waste to management tell me “how many pounds of flesh do you pick up for profit?”

And when will that wait begin to weigh down on your conscience?

Jim Jones, no thanks. You can keep your kool-aid.

This sugar coated genocide is sponsored by media, abortion pills, birth control, control the growth, convince them to commit cultural suicide. Not televised, and the Hill’s killer number one among African-Americans is done by a wolf in sheep’s clothing. Music soft, white coats. Put them on, take them off. How much does it cost to ignore the exotic white tiger in the bathroom? Or, are we too hung over to pick up the phone. “I know you don’t want to go through with this, but are these counselors counseling, or selling a service?”

Tell me, who’s going to sue an abortionist for malpractice if the purpose is to keep it under hush. If they don’t care about your baby, they don’t care about your body. This is called “making it rain under the umbrella of womens’ health.”

Fifty dollar bills are filled with the faces of Ulysses S. Grant, who led the Union army into victory. Cash wins again and still rules everything around me. Methods of man are like Hulk, busting from the seams with all green. And if they could put a tax on crack, you will find it at your local Walgreens.

Trust me.

We take less than 2% of the cases, rape, incest and life on the line to justify the 99. Reckless, who occupy all streets.

Listen, men and women need higher standards and better judgement. On my wish list. But hurt people, hurt people. This all boils down to forgiveness. Where’s the humility? Daddies running away like slaves from the so-called shackles and chains of responsibility

Meanwhile, Mommy wants to secede from this union, and it only ends in bloodshed. History repeats itself. The new civil war where African Americans are still on the front lines. No jury. Dying for the same reasons. They’re not human, fully. Slavery wouldn’t have ended if it depended on quiet. Folks willing to take a bullet to the head and some riots, and I’m all for non-violence because words can change trends, but worse than words from my enemies is the silence from my friends.

 Author Notes:

1. I transcribed the words from the video, so it’s not arranged on the page like Mr. Welcome would.  If you want to see brief commentary on the poem by Dr. Alveda King, go here.  The video is a promotional for Stand4Life.
2. This is another, different performance of the poem.
3. Please visit Shawn Welcome’s website, where you can find recordings of other of his poems.  Mr. Welcome is available to speak to groups.

Mick Hunt (Meredith Eugene Hunt) is a FAB contributor.  He has helped organize more than 50 Genocide Awareness Projects (GAPs) all over the southeast and elsewhere.

By Mick Hunt

In mid-July the Republican governor of North Carolina dropped a bombshell, or so you’d think if you read any quotes from his natural opponents, the Lions of the Literary Left.

The Democrats of our state are still roaring because of the demise in 2012 of their 140 year dynasty, during which they controlled one or more of the two legislative bodies and/or the office of Governor. Since then we’ve been barraged by “Moral Monday” marches and rallies and other truly meaningless events across the state that captivate the attention of a discriminating media, discriminating against what’s really important.

Written on the free speech board at North Carolina State. (Click on image to enlarge.)

by Maggie Egger

I’d been dealing with protesters and administrators all morning — not sure which is worse, sometimes —  but things had quieted down a bit.  I was finally ready to engage a few students, so I went over to our free speech board.  It is a low-stress place they can write whatever they want without fear of confrontation, but we can often use their comments as springboards for dialogue.

I saw a young woman writing on the board, so I casually walked over to see what she was writing and to possibly start a conversation.  What I saw next moved me.  She was writing furiously fast, right in the middle of the board.  I discreetly looked over her shoulder to read her comments, expecting to see some justification for abortion, a rant about women’s rights, or whatever.  Instead, I discovered this:

People say they shouldn’t have to give birth to conceptions of rape.  As a probable conception of rape writing this, I feel discriminated against, as if my life is worth less than everyone else’s.  You don’t have to raise a child of rape, ADOPTION IS AN OPTION!  You would not believe how thankful my parents are that I was not aborted, but given to them, a couple who were not able to conceive.

As soon as she finished writing, before I had a chance to speak with her, she walked away.  Honestly though, I don’t know what else she could have said that she hadn’t already.

Not long after that, I was standing near the poll table when a young man came up to answer “Yes” to our poll question “Should abortion remain legal?” I asked him why he thought that.

His main argument was that it’s a woman’s choice to make, and therefore it has to be legal, regardless of her justifications.  We started discussing some of those justifications and soon another young man joined our conversation.  He said he was pro-life, except in the case of rape.

I said to him, “You have to be careful when you start making exceptions to who has a right to life.  There are people on this campus, your fellow students, who were conceived in rape and you have effectively just told them ‘I wouldn’t care if your mothers had killed you before you were born,’ simply because of circumstances outside of their control.  Have you thought about that?”

I walked them over to the free speech board and showed them what the woman had written earlier.  I could see the wheels turning, turning.  The “pro-life” student started to look a little guilty.  The pro-choice student said, “Yeah, maybe some of the reasons women get abortions aren’t that valid after all.”

I have always said that abortion can be justified only when necessary to save the mother’s life.  However, I have still found the case of rape to be one of the hardest questions to answer satisfactorily.  People get so focused on the woman being the victim and easing her pain, they just can’t see the other victim who needs their compassion and love.  They can’t imagine “forcing” the woman to do anything else she doesn’t wholeheartedly agree to (i.e. carrying a pregnancy to term).

That day at NC State helped me realize what the problem is, for some.  They want to help the victim, but they don’t realize that they are actively creating more victims, in two ways.  First, they are condoning a woman’s choice to destroy her unborn child based on how the child was conceived.  Second, they are victimizing those born people conceived in rape whose mothers chose not to kill them, by saying their lives are less valuable.

Sadly, most college students in America have a personal experience with rape, whether it was themselves or their classmates.  They can relate to those victims.  But how many of them have a personal experience with someone who is a “conception of rape”?  They can’t relate, because they don’t see the face of the second victim.  GAP brings those faces out into the open.

Now showing at a campus near you!

Maggie Egger is a CBR Project Director and FAB contributor.  She served as site manager for CBR’s Genocide Awareness Project (GAP) at North Carolina State University in April 2014.

People in this tour group of parents and prospective students were trying not to look at the GAP display, but eventually, they couldn’t help but see. (Click to enlarge.)

by Mick Hunt

Fall is coming and classes have begun at the major universities in the United States and Canada. Which means it’s the Genocide Awareness Project (GAP) season again. I hope you will consider joining the team for the GAP nearest you. At least come out to observe. There’s a need for every kind of personality and set of interests and abilities.

We just need to show up, and that’s where we fail most often.

Some people are really good at speaking to crowds. Fletcher Armstrong is one of the best at this. Every group that gathers becomes his class and he is the professor. Stephanie Grey of CBR Canada is best at give and take in a crowd. I prefer the one-on-one, off-script, creative, philosophical discussion.

All of us struggle with the angry, bright, loud, combative student or professor. Sometimes the most you can do is listen, and let the pictures speak for themselves. I enjoy talking or debating with really smart people, and invariably they know more about certain subjects than I do, in which case I’m usually quiet while listening and asking questions. I look at these times as an opportunity to learn.

The one thing that makes it all easier is the fact that our position is right. We represent truth, fact, and reason. And no matter how smart or educated you are, no matter how polished your PhD looks, or how many peer-reviewed publications you have, or how many academic honors you’ve received, if you are trying to defend the indefensible, you will have a hard time, especially if you believe too many things that aren’t true. We pro-lifers, on the other hand, win the debate without saying a word. We just need to show up, and that’s where we fail most often.  Very few pro-life people are involved when needed (or as often).

Showing up. Let me tell you about a classic confrontation during our Genocide Awareness Project at North Carolina State University (NCSU) last spring.

I was standing at the corner of the GAP display nearest the student center where most of the traffic was. Between me and the main walking lane was a line of pro-abortion-choice students holding signs. All of a sudden someone started shouting. He was a rather nice looking student with a clear baritone voice in an Australian accent. He had been talking with one of the GAP volunteers, another man about my age. Something apparently ticked the student off, which set him hurling insults at the volunteer.

He then said, “Who’s in charge here, who is the mastermind? Who can answer my questions?”

He then shouted a few of the usual derogatory remarks about GAP. A few people around cheered.

True, he was angry, but he obviously was clear-headed, fearless, and bright. Capable of sarcastic, winsome insight. I was intimidated. So, when he looked directly at me and asked loudly if I was the mastermind, I was relieved when an attractive girl just then spoke to me out of the blue from my left when I had been looking toward the commotion on the right. She had asked a question, an easy one. So, I was saved from being drawn into a public spectacle in which I had a clear disadvantage. No way I could look good and respond to this guy in front of a crowd. I just can’t yell and be winsome.

Things quieted down and I took a break and sat on a brick wall away from the action. Then I noticed our Australian friend was talking quietly with Starla, a pro-life acquaintance of mine from Asheville. I joined them just as the young man asked her about the classic “Famous Violinist” thought-experiment of Judith Jarvis Thomson, the scenario taught in every introductory liberal rhetoric class.

In a few moments I could tell Starla wasn’t prepared for this question, and I joined in. She left after a minute. (She said later it was fine for me to butt in.) Then I talked with the young man for the next hour. It turned out that he had been a war paramedic in Afghanistan and had seen more than his share of blood, death, and mangled bodies. Also, he said his mother was strongly pro-life and had often debated with him about abortion. So, he was good at this.

I believe (for the reasons given above) I won the debate. He could only assert but not defend his claim that it’s OK to kill a prenatal child and not OK to kill a born child, but he wouldn’t admit it, of course. His argument was built around “agency” or the mother’s right to “bodily integrity”, which means a woman is morally permitted to repel a person who “invades” her body, even if the person is her own child whose very existence came into being by the child’s mother’s actions, actions which are by nature those bringing people into existence. And even if society ordinarily places a burden on parents, even unwilling parents, to either provide for a child or safely turn the child over to another agent.

My conclusion was to say his position was “brutal”. He said it wasn’t, and basically that’s where we ended the debate. If a person can’t see how it is brutal to kill a child in the womb when looking at the photographs of brutally killed children, I don’t know what else to say. My conversation with him took place on our first day we were at NCSU, and I saw him again the second day when we spoke again briefly.

At least I gave him an amicable, cogent presentation, but conversations like this point out the price we are paying for 47 years of legal child killing by abortion since 1967. The brutality of it isn’t so raw anymore. Over time, some people have become so accustomed to the violence that they don’t believe it is violence. Which is all the more reason to reach as many people as possible as soon as possible before it’s too late to turn things around.

So, we need to show up. We need to stand and talk.

Mick Hunt is a regular contributor to FAB.

by Mick Hunt

“Abortion bias seeps into news.”

Well, we older pro-lifers have known this a long time.  In fact, a stunning revelation of the universal modern phenomena written by a staff writer appeared with this exact title in the LA Times in 1990, 24 years ago.  One reason for the bias, the author says, is because as many as 90% of reporters and editors “favor abortion rights.”

… we bypass the bias and censorship of the news media and go directly to people, which is to say, it is media, carrying the message to readers, listeners, and viewers.

Since Roe v. Wade and before, the American populace has been subjected to daily distortion, misinformation, and news blackouts about abortion and the pro-life movement. No wonder we encounter so much inertia and resistance to protecting pre-natal children.

If anything, what once was bias has transformed into abortion advocacy.

When the old Soviet Union controlled all the open media within its empire, it still could not suppress the truth. Radio Free Europe and Radio Liberty broadcast news into communist controlled territories. From within, dissidents secretly typed, reproduced on mimeograph machines, and hand-distributed censored publications, including fiction, poetry, and unofficial news accounts, which all was called samizdat.

The Center for Bio-Ethical Reform (CBR) and its Genocide Awareness Project (GAP) are like Radio Liberty and samizdat.  With GAP, we bypass the bias and censorship of the news media and go directly to people, which is to say, it is media, carrying the message to readers, listeners, and viewers.

And not only does GAP communicate and generate discussion at the display and between people around campus, it provokes multiple news stories and commentary.

Soviet dissident and Nobel Prize winner Alexander Solzhenitsyn once wrote that even distorted, deceptive propaganda can be informative once you have learned to read between the lines, so keep this in mind as you look into the media reports and published comments.  And with some material, such as this revealing Facebook Event page from the group that attempted to censor GAP at NC State University last spring (as with C.S. Lewis’s book The Screwtape Letters), you have to reverse the values and meanings portrayed.

This summer my son spent ten days in Prague, Czech Republic.  He said a dominant feature of the city skyline was the imposing Žižkov television tower, standing at seven hundred and nine feet tall, a remnant of the Soviet Union’s intention to block television broadcasts from free Germany and the West.

The story is always the same.

With the help of supporters (click here to help), CBR will continue to broadcast the uncensored truth about the oppression of abortion directly to the many thousands of students, staff, and faculty on our nation’s university campuses and to people on our public highways and byways.  We will go back again and again.  And then we pray truth and courage together will topple the abortion empire.

Mick Hunt (Meredith Eugene Hunt) is a FAB contributor.  He has helped organize more than 50 Genocide Awareness Projects (GAPs) all over the southeast and elsewhere.