GAP sign at the Christmas Parade in Fredericksburg, Va. (All you Tennessee fans will note the Power T's in the background.)

CBR volunteer and pro-life activist Jonathan Darnel put abortion on display at the Christmas Parade in Fredericksburg, Va. on December 4.

A pro-life mother was escorting about 8 boys (members of a little league team), each between 9-11 years of age.  The kids were shocked to see what an abortion looked like, and expressed concern both for the unborn and born victim depicted on the sign.  They asked, “Why did the parents do something like that?”

We can answer that question with two words: ignorance and selfishness.  Some parents abort because they don’t know that the preborn child really is a baby, even in the first trimester.  That’s why our pictures are so important.  Others abort because they are selfish and don’t care.  Our pictures are not nearly so effective with such people.

You too can order GAP signs and also “Choice” signs from CBR and put them on display in your own community!

I was in Macon, Georgia with Kortney, just before the terrible crash that took her life.  She had organized an awesome conference for pro-life students from all over Georgia.  As we were packing to leave, we were discussing Father Frank’s “incarceration” down in Amarillo.  (For more on that, click here and here.)

I was commenting how important Fr. Frank is to our whole movement.  We are populated by people who have strong opinions, not only about abortion, but also what will stop abortion, how we go about it, and just about everything else.  We butt heads a lot.

Fr. Franks is critical to our movement because he is one of those unifying forces that brings people together.  He always has a word of encouragement.  We Protestants admire him just as much as Catholics do.  He is an advocate for the graphic pictures, but he is well respected by people who oppose them.  No matter what kind of pro-life work you do, you have a common friend in Fr. Frank.  His ability to unite people behind our common objective is critical to our mission.

As I was saying all of this, I thought of one other person like Fr. Frank.  I looked at her and said, “Kortney, I just thought of somebody else who is that kind of unifying force in the pro-life movement.  It’s you!  That’s what you do.  You bring people together.”  She smiled at being compared to Fr. Frank.

Looking forward to our next meeting, I finished packing and headed toward home.  It was only about 2 hours before that terrible crash.

Kortney, we’re going to miss you.

Students from Catholic High School gather for opening services for the Fall 40 Days for Life campaign. No other Christian school was represented.

Yesterday morning, about 50 Knoxville pro-lifers joined their counterparts in 300 other cities around the world by kicking off their semi-annual 40 Days for Life campaign. The opening services were held at Tyson Park, across the street from one of Knoxville’s three abortion facilities.

It was wonderful to see a number of teenagers, but it was a bit disheartening to know that they all came from one Christian school (Catholic High School).  How many Christian schools are there in this town, anyway?  How many “pro-life” pastors in Knoxville have ever attended a single 40 Days event?  Ever been at the abortion facility, even once?

We are thankful for the Diocese of Knoxville Peace and Justice Director Paul Simoneau and 40 Days Coordinator Lisa Morris for their tireless work on this campaign.  They really need your help … and they deserve your help.  There are many time slots available for the duration of the campaign.  If you’ve never been to a 40 Days vigil, now would be a great time to sign up!  It’s really very low-stress, non-confrontational.  It’s a time for prayer and presence.  I hope you will take part.  Check it out: http://www.40daysknoxville.com/.  E-mail Lisa at information@40DaysKnoxville.com.

Paul Simoneau and the National 40 Days for Life Director David Bereit will be joining me on WRJZ radio at 5:00 pm next Tuesday afernoon.  They both have inspiring stories to share and I hope you’ll join us!

Nearly 50 pro-lifers gather for opening services for 40 Days for Life campaign.

Travis Barham explains how the U of Wisconsin was forced to pay $500,000 for discriminating against Christian student groups in the distribution of fee money.

Travis Barham of the Alliance Defense Fund (ADF) is giving an interesting talk.  He sues universities.  He does this when student pro-life groups and other conservative groups are denied First Amendment rights and/or equal access to university resources, including student fee money.

Pro-life and pro-family groups are missing a huge opportunity to scare the crap out of every university in the country.  Conservative groups must be treated equally to everyone else when it comes to the distribution of student fee money.  It’s big money.  Left-wing groups get it; conservative groups don’t.  It’s illegal.  But the universities don’t have to give the money to conservatives if we don’t apply!

At the U of Wisconsin, the Catholic student group applied and the U of Wisconsin denied.  ADF sued and won!  Now, the U of Wisconsin will have to pay $500,000, because they discriminated against Christian student groups in the distribution of student fee money.

Yikes!  We need to make sure our students are applying to get that money!  1-800-TELL-ADF.

Amanda Lord and Kortney Gordon of SFLA describe ways for campus pro-life groups to win hearts, change minds, and save lives.

Yesterday and today, CBR and Students for Life of America (SFLA) are hosting our 6th Annual Student Leadership Conference in Knoxville.  The theme for this year’s conference is Overcoming Common Obstacles to Effective Campus Outreach.  We have students here from Indiana, Kentucky, Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee, and even from as far away as Louisiana.

The "Art" of Abortion display at Artscape 2011 was visible to thousands.

This report from CBR Maryland Directors Kurt and Samantha Linnemann:

Artscape is the largest art festival in the country, bringing 350,000 people to Baltimore over a 3-day weekend.  We were strategically located in the center of the festival, where thousands upon thousands of people walked past our display.  In addition to 4 GAP signs and 3 hand-held “Choice” signs, we also displayed a banner that said, “The Art of Abortion, The Slaughter of The Innocent.”  All of the signs featured graphic pictures of abortion.  CBR volunteers handed out pro-life literature to passersby.

When we showed the signs, the Baltimore City Police threatened to arrest us.  We simply asked what we were going to be arrested for.  Knowing they had nothing to charge us with, they backed down.  Fifteen police officers stood by and watched our display go up and stay up for the following 3 hours.

Our photos precipitated many meaningful conversations.  But more importantly, thousands of young people, many of whom said they support abortion, were faced with the reality of what abortion does to an innocent human being.   Many were challenged to re-evaluate their pro-“choice” position.

Click here to view pictures from Artscape 2011 

The "Art" of Abortion at Artscape 2011 in Baltimore

A group of Virginia college students, banded together to form The Human Rights and Scientific Honesty Initiative asked me to pass this story along to you:

Abortion, Medical Honesty Battle Takes Shape at University of Virginia

A national treasure of a building, Thomas Jefferson’s Rotunda at the University of Virginia (UVA), has a leaking roof and crumbling columns.  The University and state government have begun the chess game over how much it will cost to repair, and who will be picking up the tab.  But right across the street in the UVA president’s office, they have much bigger worries about what they have been doing with state, federal, and student funds the last 20 years under the leadership of John Casteen .   New UVA President Theresa Sullivan has been handed a series of shocking allegations from our group, The Human Rights and Scientific Honesty Initiative.

Students for Life of America has already identified the University of Virginia as one of the institutions of higher learning that has been financing elective abortions with student health funds, and not even giving their students and their students’ parents the opportunity to opt out of that.  What most people at UVA and Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) are totally unaware of is that these schools have both been secretly performing thousands of elective abortions right in their own teaching hospitals!  And, yes, these are both state taxpayer funded universities who also receive federal education grants to boot.

Elective abortions being performed secretly at taxpayer-funded universities are bad enough.  On top of that, UVA has been giving misleading information on a wide range of reproductive issues, neglecting the principle of informed consent.   Sadly, it seems one of America’s top universities allowed itself to be sucked into the Planned Parenthood template for misinforming women and keeping them in the dark about numerous threats to their health.  Somebody finally noticed.

The national pro life movement has been overlooking the universities for too long.  Sometimes we forget that it is not all about Planned Parenthood.  Pro-life activists have a lot to contend with in Charlottesville, a city of only 45,000 people that already has two other abortion facilities as it is, and a large pro-abortion cabal that includes City Council.  One of Live Action’s recent stings of Planned Parenthood aiding and abetting child sex trafficking took place at their Charlottesville area facility.  But right there, in such a hostile environment, we have a whole new front opening in the battle for human rights in America.  And what better place to start than Mr. Jefferson’s University.

We are accepting additional endorsements for our document.  If you are a student, faculty, or alumnus of any Virginia college or university, you can add your name by sending an email to co-author Siobhan Casey at siobhan-casey@hotmail.com.  Thomas Jefferson, who founded UVA back in 1819 near his home at Monticello, once wrote that “The care of human life and happiness, and not their destruction, is the first and only object of good government.”

Kurt Linnemann

Believe it or not, CBR Maryland Director Kurt Linnemann was arrested on June 10 because he reported a suspicious-looking cardboard box placed near the entrance of a Planned Parenthood abortion clinic.  This is why you should always videotape your pro-life activites.

In the wake of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, how many times were we told that we should report anything suspicious?  In this case, Kurt saw such a package outside the Planned Parenthood abortion clinic in Wilmington, Delaware.  So he reported it.  When the package turned out to be an empty box, one of the investigating officers arrested Kurt for reporting the package.  How stupid can you get?  Here’s the story.

Having the opportunity to observe law enforcement personnel over the years, I’ve observed that most of them are faithful public servants who deserve our every respect.  But about 10% of them really do love to throw their weight around.  They love that power and they want you to know they have it.  When you encourter such idiots, it is always best to obey their every command … then come back later and sue them.

You absolutely need to tape your pro-life activities.  You can expect this officer to lie under oath to cover up his stupidity.  Video recordings will go a long way to prevent him from getting away with it.

On Friday, June 17, CBR Maryland hosted a news conference.  Video here:

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z9E9Lt4XBLM

Canadian high school student shakes hand of Operation School Choice Director Francisco Gomez.

High school children are having abortions.  Others on the fence.  Who will get to them first?  Will it be us?  Will they see the truth?  Or will it be that pro-abortion professor who will lie with impunity?

See what pro-lifers are doing about it in Canada.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5fqPgPFElkw

One of the rising stars in the pro-life movement is Kelsey Hazzard, a law student at the U of Virginia.  She is also the founder and President of Secular Pro-Life.  Her latest project is a new website, AbortionSafety.com, which will target abortion-minded women with malpractice data and other information related to the “safety” of abortion.  Here’s the latest from Secular Pro-Life:

AbortionSafety.com

Secular Pro-Life announces a new women’s health website that will catalogue malpractice complaints against abortionists, and inform women about abortion’s risks and alternatives.  The website, AbortionSafety.com, has already garnered support from key pro-life leaders.

Secular Pro-Life, which encourages cooperation among pro-life people of all faith backgrounds, is organizing the project.

“There is a wealth of information in the public record about abortion providers who have injured or killed women,” said Kelsey Hazzard, the president of Secular Pro-Life.  “But the vast majority of women in crisis pregnancies simply don’t have the time or resources to go digging for that information themselves.  AbortionSafety.com will centralize the data and make it freely available.”

A team of volunteers, primarily students, is working with local advocates to gather information on abortion providers across the country.  AbortionSafety.com is set to go live in November 2011.  Fundraising is underway to cover the cost of advertisements, which will be tied to Google searches for terms like “abortion clinic” and “safe abortion.”

The site has been endorsed by Kristan Hawkins, the executive director of Students for Life of America and Pro-Life Action League president Eric Scheidler, among others.

“AbortionSafety.com is going to be a unique project and tool for the pro-life movement, because it will enable us to save thousands of preborn lives and prevent women from experiencing the trauma of abortion,” Hawkins said.

The project was inspired by the “Chicago Method,” a type of sidewalk counseling developed by the Pro-Life Action League, in which sidewalk counselors distribute copies of malpractice complaints to women entering the abortion facility.

To learn more about how you can support the project, visit AbortionSafety.com.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9UOJ-rObuQ8

Shirley Moore models the sign she held at the Planned Parenthood Framing Choice event.

Chris Lefebvre was among the pro-life crowd that attended the Planned Parenthood fundraiser at Market Square on May 6.  Here’s her story.

Hope for the Future

Seven bright-eyed high school students stood in Market Square on a recent Friday night.  Some of them held colorful hand-made signs defending life; others held signs exposing death.  They came to stand with a small group of adults, including at least one post abortive woman.  Together they formed a solemn semi-circle facing the stage where Planned Parenthood was holding its youth photo fundraiser called Framing Choice: What Choice Means to Me.

This small group had made the decision that Planned Parenthood would be confronted wherever they tried to promote their deadly deceptions.  It wasn’t easy to devote a Friday night to standing vigil; some of the folks who passed by made hostile remarks and some gave us disgusted looks.  Many more stopped to inquire and some even thanked us for being there.  Some of the people who browsed the display told us afterward that they had no idea it was a Planned Parenthood event; there were no signs indicating the name of the organization and they were surprised to learn the name from us!

Many of us who were there on Friday night face these kinds of events with a certain degree of trepidation, but it never fails that, when all is said and done, we find abundant blessings in being willing to take a stand.  This event was no different; the questions we were able to answer, the truth that was told about life and death and the seeds planted by that truth will bear fruit in uncountable ways.  The most wonderful blessing of all was the presence of those seven courageous young people.  They give us great hope for the future.

Please pray that God will guard them and add to their number.  Pray also that Planned Parenthood will not go unchallenged whenever and wherever they try to promote their deadly work in our city.

It’s one of the biggest obstacles to effective pro-life activism.

Perhaps the most important task for any pro-life campus group is choosing projects that are both strategic and effective.  Unwise choices leave the most important work undone.

But the transition of leadership from one group of leaders to the next is also very big.  In fact, we frequently encounter groups who have suffered greatly because the former leaders did not effectively pass the mantle of leadership on to the current crop.  Poor project selection and poor execution have been the inevitable result.

But we aren’t doing nothing to help the current leaders identify and train the next crop of leaders.  Each year, we co-host, along with the Students for Life of America (SFLA), our annual Pro-Life Student Leadership Conference.

SFLA has also been working very hard to improve the transition of pro-life leadership on campus.  Here is a video by SFLA’s Mary Kate Cavazos:

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VXQZRc_TmBE

We love this story that aired on Mark Crutcher’s LifeTalk show.  In this interview, “Rachel” described how she has saved nearly 40 babies, and 40 moms, just in the last few months.

In this interview, she also describes how the clinics sometimes try to sell abortions to Rachel, even though she’s not pregnant, in order to defraud her insurance company.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CtXIc1kq3Us

Leslie Sneddon of CBR Maine (left) was a key part of our team.

We were pleased to work with CBR Maryland to bring GAP to the Baltimore Inner Harbor earlier in May.  We know of one baby saved.  Here’s the story, from Leslie Sneddon of CBR Maine!

Please comment: Other than a college campus and a downtown harbor, where do you suggest we take the GAP project?  Please comment!

Baby Saved at the Baltimore Inner Harbor

I watched as she avoided the display, choosing to walk as far away as possible from the picture.  But the Lord directed her steps and now she was face to face with the signs.  I approached and asked her impression of the pictures. 

“Oh God, that is disgusting,” she declared.  “Is that an abortion?”  We moved slowly down to the sign entitled “Things you can do with an unplanned baby.”  This panel features a baby saved the first time GAP was done at the University of Tennessee.

“This baby pictured in the middle was saved from abortion because the mother decided against abortion after seeing these pictures.  She gave the baby up for adoption,” I explained. 

“I don’t think I could do that … give it up for adoption, that is.” she said.  “I mean, if I could see my baby, I would want to keep and really love it.   That’s for sure, but I can’t afford to take care of it.  I have no job, no money.”

“Are you pregnant right now?” I asked. 

“Yes.”

“Lord make me an instrument of Your Peace.”  That’s all I could think at that moment.  I spoke of my own abortions and about the hurt that never goes away.  I told her about the joy and the challenges that come with children.  I called for reinforcements.  Kurt Linnemann (CBR Maryland) and Jane Bullington (CBR Southeast) joined us.  For the next 30 minutes, the battle raged for 2 souls, mother and child.   “Michelle” was put in touch with a pregnancy resource center in her area and left with the assurance that the Lord hears our plea when we cry out to Him in our need. 

If a man has a hundred sheep and one of them strays, he leaves the ninety-nine in the hills and goes to look for the one that has strayed, doesn’t he?  Yes he does, and I thank the Lord that He let us take part in this rescue mission.

Pro Life activists in Knoxville display Choice signs (at left) and a banner announcing the PP fundraiser.

My trip to Virginia, Maryland, and Delaware continues. More on that later. Meanwhile, back at the ranch, Shirley Moore and others took a number of CBR “Choice” signs to a Planned Parenthood fundraiser (PP) at Market Square in downtown Knoxville. Here’s her account:

Framing Choice: What Choice Means to the Victim

Planned Parenthood held their annual FYI Peer-to-Peer fundraiser at Market Square in Knoxville on Friday, May 6. This was held right in the middle of the May edition of Knoxville’s summer monthly First Friday celebrations. The Peers are students trained through 40 hours of exposure to Planned Parenthood ideology and advocacy coaching. They are required to make “100 informal educational contacts with their peers.” These newly designated “sex-perts” promote Planned Parenthood in schools, churches, and anywhere else teens gather. Here is Planned Parenthood’s announcement of the May 6 event:

Framing Choice: What Choice Means to Me

For three years, the teens of FYI have exhibited photography that explores choices in life – a road, a friend, a frame of mind, etc. The framed photos are always thought-provoking. With depth and beauty these Knoxville area teens explain what choice means to them and you have the opportunity to share in that experience. This exhibit promises to challenge and inspire you. In order to make the event a success, we need your help.

There you have it; they needed our help to make the event a success! You don’t have to ask twice! So a few of us borrowed CBR’s “challenging” and “thought-provoking” photographs to set up a display of our own.

Arriving early with the signs, I saw a large man in the PP party eye me suspiciously, even though the pictures were turned face-in, leaning against a tree, and not visible … not yet, anyway. Several of us gathered and waited for the young people to arrive. When those brave young souls entered the Square, we picked up our signs and walked toward the stage. We hoped to inspire a few people to reconsider what “choice” really means, so we held signs that said “Celebrating Choice Means Celebrating This” above the graphic photos of aborted babies.

A dozen of us stood in a semi-circle facing the stage, surrounded on both sides of the Square by diners enjoying a First Friday meal at the many restaurants. Since we were toward the front of the Square and not facing them, the diners appeared to pay little heed. Two of our party stood with their backs to the stage holding a long banner, announcing to those entering the Square from the opposite direction, “Planned Parenthood: the Largest Abortion Provider in the USA.” I think PP should be glad we were there to announce it was a PP event, for they had no signage of their own. No banner proudly heralding their name, no bold identifier … just a humble grey tri-fold display board with the PP logo at the bottom. A few people wandered through the exhibit, never realizing it was a PP event. Why so shy? How popular is that brand, anyway?

Perhaps the large man on stage called the police, because a policeman arrived and stood next to the stage most of the time. Which suited me fine, because some people walking by made comments of the hostile “hit and run” variety. But others were supportive and not afraid to come up and talk. One man said, “I’m against it too, but you shouldn’t be showing those.” And there he was, holding a professional camera with an impressive lens on it, lecturing me about censoring imagery. I thought, “If you’re against it, why not use that lens to stop it?”

A young man on a bicycle whizzed by tossing off a hit-and-pedal remark: “Mind your own business.” But as Jacob Marley’s ghost (A Christmas Carol by Dickens) says,

 “Business!” cried the Ghost, wringing its hands again. “Mankind was my business. The common welfare was my business; charity, mercy, forbearance, and benevolence, were, all, my business. The dealings of my trade were but a drop of water in the comprehensive ocean of my business!”

A professorial woman critiqued our images and explained facts about fetal development to a companion, never meeting our eyes or acknowledging our presence. Invisible as the unborn, I guess.

But the most boisterous reaction was from a musical band of blasphemy singers who took up positions in front of us and played loudly, mocking religion and believers in general, best I could tell. This song of mockery greatly heartened the PP personnel on stage and they came to the edge of the steps, beaming approval.

All in all, I hope PP appreciated our taking the opportunity to “share in that experience.” Anytime they need a banner to herald their name, we’ll be glad to bring one.