“No abortion. No exceptions.”  It’s a common statement among pro-lifers. At face value, it makes sense. Or does it?

Exceptions to what, exactly?  When people say the word “abortion,” not everyone means the same thing. Before Roe v. Wade, abortion meant any termination of pregnancy accompanied by or resulting in the death of the embryo or fetus, which would include miscarriage and stillbirth.

Since Roe, the term “abortion” has come to be understood by most people as induced abortions only, thus excluding miscarriage and stillbirth. There is no distinction between procedures performed to save a woman’s life and those done only for convenience. All are abortions.

Many pro-lifers, however, insist that an abortion necessary to save a woman’s life is not an abortion. Perhaps it makes them feel more bold. Regardless of why it is said, saying “no exceptions” is confusing and disingenuous. We must be clear about what we mean, and it’s important that we use correct definitions.  Otherwise, we will be misunderstood, at great cost to our own credibility and our cause.

The general public understands that the treatment of an ectopic pregnancy is, by definition, an abortion. Whatever other words you might assign to it, that procedure is the immediate cause of the child’s death.  Therefore, the procedure necessary to save the mother’s life is an abortion.

When many states drafted laws restricting abortion in the wake of Dobbs, the focus became what, if any, exceptions would be allowed.  These debates quickly devolved into false accusations that pro-lifers wanted to ban medical care for miscarriages and let women die from ectopic pregnancies.  Nothing could be further from the truth, but we saw many pro-lifers talking past our opponents because they were unwilling to use the correct definition of abortion, and therefore clouding the definition of exception.

Our new sign quotes almost verbatim from Tennessee House Bill 883, which states that abortion is not criminal if the termination of pregnancy “was necessary to prevent the death of the pregnant woman or to prevent serious risk of substantial and irreversible impairment of a major bodily function.”  TN HB883 goes on to explain that threats of suicide or self-harm or any reason relating to mental health do not qualify.

So, how would this policy be applied?  Here are three commonly raised scenarios:

• If the complication arises early in pregnancy (e.g. an ectopic pregnancy), unfortunately, nothing can be done to save the child’s life. If no action is taken, both mother and child die. The only pro-life response is to save the life you can.
• If the complication arises later in pregnancy (after about 24 weeks), the mother can deliver prematurely, and appropriate efforts will be made to save the child.
• If the mother has uterine cancer, she may act heroically to carry the baby until the age of viability, even if the growing cancer imperils her own life.  However, such a sacrifice cannot be required by law.  She must be allowed any medical intervention necessary to save her own life.

Medical professionals must act in good faith when making medical judgments.  Even if laws with exceptions were not properly applied, however, we would still oppose a legal solution that denies women legitimate life-saving medical care.

Pro-abortion advocates wish to label our side as uncaring toward pregnant mothers with serious medical problems. By clarifying the life of the mother exception, we affirm the value of both mother and child.

Even more stories from our outreach at Kent State University.

Not everyone was rude. Angela stopped to tell volunteer Pam, “I am a pre-med student, and my textbooks confirm exactly what you are saying about human development.” She returned later in the day with a friend and they both began enthusiastically defending the preborn.

They even thanked us! Lisa boldly stepped between us and the protesters and proclaimed, “Thank you for being here.”  She encouraged each of us with her sweet demeanor. We always appreciate it when students express their support, but it’s even more inspiring to see when the campus environment is particularly hostile.

While some were truly touched… One young woman stood at a distance and stared at the photos for a long while. Eventually, she approached CBR staffer Amanda saying, “Wow, this is so graphic.  I have never seen anything like this before.  This is so sad.”  They spoke for a bit, and it was clear that she was very deeply moved by what she saw. Finally, she walked away, still pondering in her sadness.

Others remained hard-hearted. Unfortunately, not everyone was as open. A male student briskly walked past the display and gruffly said, “Give me a coat hanger.  I’ll do it any day!” We hope that one day his heart will be softened toward his preborn brothers and sisters.

Here are even more stories from Cody & Caleb’s trip to Florida with our Canadian colleagues.

Showing the truth before it’s too late. After hearing the facts of human embryology, Andre agreed that the preborn are living human beings. But, he raised several concerns, such as foster care, life of the mother, and rape. Andre said, “Logically, factually, objectively, I agree with you, but when put in hard situations, I’m not sure people would make the logical decision.”

That is why projects like GAP and AAP are so important; so that people can see abortion and consider the child’s worth before they find themselves in a terrible situation.

The science of life before birth. Jasmine ranted, “All y’all want to do is talk about the baby and not anything else!” But her true objection was that she doubted our photos were real. So, Cody showed her the See Baby Grow app from the Education Resource Fund (www.ERF.science).

Jasmine was shocked by the endoscopy video of what the baby looks like in the womb so early. She was so visibly affected she could barely even talk. As she was about to leave, Cody gave her information on pregnancy resource centers and post-abortion healing ministries.

A baby is always a blessing. Vincent told Cody that he thought abortion should be permissible only in cases of sexual assault. Cody acknowledged the difficulties regarding conception from rape and Vincent acknowledged that the preborn is a living human being. He was touched when Cody told him the baby would be the only good thing that comes out of that scenario and that abortion would just add another trauma. Vincent walked away with lots to think about.

 We are always ecstatic when we have an opportunity for outreach on a campus that we’ve never visited before. Those of us from south of the Mason-Dixon Line aren’t quite so ecstatic when it involves the threat of snow. Luckily, that remained just a threat and we were able to conduct two full days of outreach to students at Kent State University. They had some chilly dispositions, but those didn’t phase us one bit. 

What a charmer. Due to administrative regulations, we deployed our handheld 5’x5’ signs and soon had many protesters chanting, yelling, and cursing. One young man turned to volunteer Pam and said, “Why are you hiding behind that sign?” She laughed and said, “I’m not hiding, I’m just really short!” With no good answer, he responded “Well, go f*** yourself!”

And he wasn’t the only one. One of the female protesters was getting loud and agitated. Walking around our signs, she was yelling, “Do you have a medical degree? How many children have you adopted?”  CBR staffer Jane asked, “How many do I have to adopt?”  She kept screaming her questions and Jane kept asking the same one back to her, “How many do I have to adopt?”  Finally, she just screamed “All of them, b****!”

Each February, our friends from the Canadian Centre for Bio-Ethical Reform (CCBR) escape the Great White North to conduct their Abortion Awareness Project (AAP) at universities in Florida. (The AAP is similar to our Genocide Awareness Project.)

CBR staffers Caleb Johnson and Cody Levi joined the Canucks and had dozens of life-changing encounters with students. They came back with many fantastic stories.

Human rights for all human beings. Caleb asked a young man approaching the display if he thought abortion was okay. He said, “No, but it’s the mother’s choice.” So, Caleb used three questions to get to the heart of the issue:

· If something is growing, isn’t it alive?

· If a male human and a female human reproduce, isn’t the offspring human?

· Do you believe in human rights?

The student answered “Yes” to all three. Then, Caleb brought it full circle and asked “And who do you think should get human rights?” The young man smiled widely, “Every living human being.”

Food for thought. Another young man flipped the bird, cursed at Caleb’s question and stomped away. However, about ten steps later, he turned around and came back, saying, “You know what, a respectful question deserves a respectful answer. I’m so sorry.” After that, they had a friendly exchange, during which Caleb was able to make our pro-life position clear. We don’t always change someone’s mind on the spot, but we always give them something to think about. 

Silently pro-life. A pro-life woman from Brazil shared that in her home country, if someone finds out that you are pro-life, you are harassed and hounded until you change your mind or until you won’t dare bring up the topic anymore. And we thought we had it bad!

Click here to learn more about our very first Capitol GAP at the Tennessee Legislature in Nashville. Below is the letter we hand delivered to all the legislators that day.

The following is Part One of a reflection written by CBR Project Manager Brad Martel about an encounter he had with a student at Cleveland State. See Part Two here.

How do you talk to college students about the transgender issue? I was still a volunteer when CBR introduced new signs tackling this topic in 2022. After much experience, I was comfortable debating abortion with students, but this was a whole new world. Though I felt tentative about the subject, I understood its necessity. It’s not as if CBR sought out another moral evil to address. No, the transgender issue found us.

At each college we visited in 2021, we encountered students advocating to normalize transgenderism. In 2022, we discovered that at least 1,130 girls under 18 years old received “top surgeries” between 2016 and 2019 in the United States. These surgeries consist of removing healthy breasts from girls who identify as boys. This child mutilation masquerading as “gender-affirming care” demands a response.

At Cleveland State University, I met “Stevie”. Based on her own experience, Stevie believed that girls, at least as young as 16, should be allowed to receive “gender transition surgery.” She shared stories of being bullied growing up, of not being allowed to use either male or female bathrooms at times, and of parents complaining to her school about their children having to be in the same room with her. Stevie attempted suicide at 17.

Stevie later underwent a double mastectomy, but she still suffers from scoliosis from the years of binding her breasts to hide them. She described many rounds of therapy and vetting before transitioning. Her life would have been less difficult, she claimed, had she been allowed to have her surgery earlier.

At this point, my sympathy for Stevie was immense. She had suffered for years from gender dysphoria and ostracism. She was convinced that her decision to transition to a “man” was the right choice for her. What do you say to such a person?

When the Tennessee General Assembly opened its 2024 session, CBR was there to greet lawmakers with a timely message: Planned Parenthood (PP) kills more children than guns do.

Recently in Tennessee, PP has been sermonizing on issues that have little to do with abortion, birth control, or even parenthood. For example, PP has cited bans on drag shows for kids and “gender-affirming care” for children as “lowlights” for the 2023 General Assembly. (Thank you, Tennessee!) Another so-called “lowlight” was failure to pass “meaningful gun control legislation.”

So why would PP, who kills children as their primary “service,” then turn around and claim the mantle of protecting children from gun violence? Because they can’t make money killing children in Tennessee anymore, and they have little support in the legislature, so they need to ally with other causes to make themselves appear relevant.

They are not going to just go away, so our goal was to expose their hypocrisy as we reminded lawmakers that abortion decapitates and dismembers little children.

First, we stood outside the lawmakers’ only entrance to the Capitol parking garage, thereby reaching all of them as they arrived for the first day of session. Next, we took our signs to the Capitol entrance to engage pedestrian visitors as they arrived to observe the proceedings. Lastly, and perhaps most importantly, we hand-delivered a letter (See next week’s email to get the full text) to all 132 representatives and senators in their offices.

Many pro-life lawmakers said they were encouraged and thankful for our presence. One female legislator even said, “I sponsored pro-life legislation in 2019. I had no idea Roe would be overturned so soon. I appreciate you being here.” A well-dressed young man smiled as he told us, “I was all ready to dislike your signs, but you guys actually have it right!”

The positive response from Tennessee legislators is a strong rebuttal to pro-lifers who refuse to expose abortion for fear it might reduce our influence with lawmakers. In Nashville, we showed that the opposite is true.

This was our first Capitol GAP, but we pray it won’t be our last. If you want to see this at your own state capitol, please email us at CBRSoutheast@CBRinfo.org.

More stories from our outreach at Cleveland State University in Ohio.

How can you? Fatima was so angry with our comparison of abortion to genocide that she left her class mid-lecture to tell Amanda just that! Amanda remained calm despite her attacks, and they eventually had a productive conversation. Before Fatima left, she said “I need to go home and think about the things you have mentioned. They make a lot of sense.” That’s a win in our book!

Activating the convicted. With tears in her eyes, a young woman told Jane “Thank you. This is just never seen here. I am surprised you are here. I am glad. This needs to be seen.” Another young woman expressed similar sentiments, “I know the truth of these pictures and I am so thankful you are here.” We are always so glad when pro-life students are encouraged by our presence on their campus. We try to connect them to pro-life student groups so that they can make a difference themselves after GAP is over. 

24 hours to a change of heart. On the first day, Vinny claimed to be pro-choice but admitted he is opposed to abortions after 13 weeks.  He asked volunteer Bill many thoughtful questions before wandering around listening to pro-choicers’ arguments. He returned the next day and began debating from a pro-life position. When obnoxious students tried to interrupt, he said, “Please leave, so the rest of us can have a very important conversation.” He just needed to sleep on it before he understood the consistency of the pro-life position and the horrible consequences of the pro-choice mentality.

CBR has varied its visual message at the March for Life in Washington, DC over the years. What has remained constant, however, is our two-fold purpose. First, we are there to reach school children who attend the March, not because they are pro-life, but because they want to go on the field trip with their friends. These children need to know why abortion is wrong. Second, we are there to convict pro-life people that they should do more than just march once a year. 

Convincing marchers to take abortion more seriously is made difficult by the atmosphere, which is often more like a celebration (of what, we’re not sure) than a call to arms. More like a birthday party than a funeral. This sentiment was made painfully obvious this year by an individual seeking to draw attention to himself just a few yards away from our display. 

Standing atop a cart with a loudspeaker and dressed like a continental soldier, this man was blasting disco music and encouraging marchers to sing along and dance. Many enthusiastically obliged, reveling in the party atmosphere. Ugh.

The next moment, they realized why there is a March for Life. They were confronted with our photos of the dismembered victims of abortion. The juxtaposition could not have been more stark. It was readily apparent on their faces. The smiles vanished, replaced with appropriate expressions of somber realization and grief.

This misguided, disco-loving continental soldier could have set up his sideshow anywhere along the route. Fortunately, he was right next to us. His knavery, though regrettable, made our message all the more powerful. Our photos of the victims of abortion gave thousands of marchers the opportunity to reflect on how they can take further action to end legalized child killing.

Abortion education had ramped up at Cleveland State University for many months thanks to the courageous efforts of our former intern Ilyssa and her student group Advocates for Life. That prep work paved the way for our visit with the Genocide Awareness Project and resulted in many seeds being planted, watered, and even some beginning to bear fruit.

They can’t fight back. A male student gave every reason he could think of for why abortion was okay and even good in some cases. Tired of all his excuses, long-time volunteer Pam asked him to consider what abortion does to that child. That didn’t seem to make any difference to him. Finally, Pam said, “I think the only reason we can get away with abortion is because the baby can’t fight back.”  That stopped him cold, and he slowly said, “You know, I think you’re right.”

Let’s be civilized. As three female students pelted Amanda and Brad with rapid-fire questions, Marshawn, an older black man, listened silently nearby. They were interrupting each other as well as our staff. Eventually Marshawn calmly interjected, “Why do you have to yell?  Why do you have to use profanity?  If we’re going to talk, let’s be civilized!”  The three girls were stunned, but his words had an effect. They then restarted the conversation, much more politely.

Here is the last in our series on our recent visit to East Tennessee State University. We thoroughly enjoyed our time there. We hope that you have also enjoyed hearing our stories. You can read the first two installments here and here.

Older and wiser. One student observed that the pro-abortion students protesting were “all so young,” but that CBR staff were older and “older people have wisdom.” This appearance of maturity, along with the abortion images themselves, caused several students to break away from the mob and seek dialogue. If being called “old” means we can better expose abortion, then we’ll take it!

More proof that abortion hurts women. A Nigerian mother of three said, “It’s hard to look at the pictures. These kids are selfish. They do not understand.” She told us about when she became pregnant and her father forced her to abort. “I know I am forgiven by God, but I have never forgotten,” she said, “It is a great sadness.”

The amazing Turning Point USA student group sponsored us at ETSU and they gave us so much hope for the future!

A campus divided. We were blessed to have a large contingent of fearless helpers. However, evil was also present in full force as students screamed falsehoods and accusations. Instead of responding to their absurdity outright, a family of GAP volunteers began singing worship music. Of course, that only made the mob angrier.

Safety hazards. One hateful student told volunteer Patty that he wished we would all die that night. As you might imagine, pro-life students felt threatened by this. One wrote us a note saying she wanted to speak with us but was afraid for her own safety

Twenty going on two. Some pro-aborts threw tantrums. They stomped up to the barricades, clenching their fists, screaming at the top of their lungs, “Get off our campus!” Again and again. Sometimes those terrible twos turn into terrible twenties!

Understanding pro-aborts. Still, God does work in the hearts of men. Some of the students broke away from the mob and found themselves in conversation with us. “En masse, they scream. In groups of two or three, they listen thoughtfully,” noted one volunteer.

Stay tuned for more from ETSU next week.

The following was written by our 2023 Summer Intern Taylor Breeden.

Before the summer internship, I didn’t have a solid opinion on using graphic imagery to expose abortion. I had researched abortion and seen pictures, but I always felt icky at the thought of placing those images in the public square.

Now I do have a solid opinion: I very much dislike it. Let me explain.

CBR’s activism methods can be overwhelming. It’s difficult to feel like you’re doing good by showing something so horrible. I have found that nobody likes the abortion victim images; pro-lifers, pro-aborts, CBR employees, and passersby alike. Nobody feels completely comfortable with images of a dead baby – and they shouldn’t.

The whole point of our work is to expose the truth about abortion. And the truth is, it’s disgusting, so we should all be absolutely horrified when faced with it.

In A Letter from a Birmingham Jail, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. stated that “we… are not the creators of tension. We merely bring to the surface the hidden tension that is already alive. We bring it out in the open, where it can be seen and dealt with.” This statement completely changed my mind set on abortion graphics. Before, I thought it was just as disgusting to show the horror of abortion as it was to commit an abortion. I figured it only had a negative impact on the movement, making people turn away from the topic all together.

Once I read Dr. King’s words, I understood that we weren’t making people uncomfortable; abortion was.

After releasing the burden of guilt, CBR’s methods made perfect sense to me. I’ve even come to see it as a necessity in the pro-life movement. So, while I dislike showing graphic images of abortion victims to the public, I do it, because it must be done.

Our Summer Internship Program is well underway (actually it’s already half over!) but it’s been so jam-packed already, we’ve barely had time to introduce you to our 2022 Summer Interns! Here they are!

Bonnie is a sophomore at Roane State Community College, majoring in communications.  Born and raised in Clinton, Tennessee, she is the second of 11 children.  Her parents have homeschooled all of them.

Bonnie heard about CBR through an uncle who supports our work.  She has always been pro-life and wanted to do something about it. Painfully, she realized that just as German Christians had, through their silence, allowed Nazis to operate death camps, she too was allowing abortion through her silence.

She joined CBR because she believes abortion must be exposed in order to turn public opinion against it.  “CBR has a plan to win the fight against abortion, and I want to be part of it.”  Currently, Bonnie helps with our social media.  Check it out her awesome work!  Our handle on all platforms is @centerforbioethicalreform. 

Bonnie is also great in the field: “Doing GAP is surprisingly freeing.  I’ve gotten used to people yelling obscenities; that just makes me more bold and more determined.  It’s almost funny when someone is screaming and flipping us off.  I mentally respond, ‘Is that all you got?’  They can’t argue with the pictures.”

Noah is studying business administration at Columbus State University in Georgia.  He believes action is his moral obligation.

He first learned about CBR when we brought GAP to his campus in April.  For two days, he stood with CBR and debated pro-aborts. Within a week, he applied for the internship.

During his first outing with CBR, Noah found it generally amusing that pro-aborts think heckling will slow down the pro-life movement. 

Isaiah is a lover of Jesus, 4Runners, tacos, and quesadillas.  A returning intern from last year’s class, he has been studying life and working on a major in Jesus Christ.  Perhaps you are wondering, “How did someone like Isaiah get started in pro-life work?”  Never doubt the power of a pretty girl saying, “I’ll go next year if you do.”

This year Isaiah is setting out to do all things for Christ.  This has included cleaning bathrooms in a church, holding signs downtown, and witnessing to confused and calloused people.

One of his favorite Bible verses is Ezekiel 33:11: “Say to them, ‘As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign Lord, I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that they turn from their ways and live.  Turn!  Turn from your evil ways!  Why will you die, People of Israel?’”

Ilyssa is a rising college senior studying anthropology at Cleveland State University.  After the past few years of living on a very leftist campus and having no conservative community, she needed to find an internship that “brings me closer to God, surrounds me with sane people, and helps end the atrocity of abortion.”  CBR was the perfect opportunity! (OK, she’s beginning to wonder about that “sane people” part.)

Growing up as a Christian, she has always been pro-life. But at Cleveland State, Ilyssa encountered the dangerously unhinged views of the left.  She knew they were wrong, but she couldn’t articulate why.  “CBR is perfect because I get to learn how to defend the pro-life position, do research, partake in activism, and interact with real people.  I hope to take what I learn back to Cleveland State and apply it.”

Her first GAP was enlightening.  It was like watching those demonic pro-abortion Tik Toks, but in real life.  Ilyssa also found it crazy how many people simply avoided looking at the signs.  “Standing outside holding those signs felt amazing. I could’ve stayed out there longer because, finally, I was doing something concrete about my pro-life beliefs.”  Ilyssa is so glad that she is a part of CBR and she is excited for the rest of the summer!

Thank you for supporting CBR and these outstanding young people. You have made this all possible. Please pray that God will bring them back to us and also send many more.