Posts Tagged ‘abortion debate’
Pro Life on Campus at Tennessee Tech University
Justin Brown explains to a group of students how abortion advocates dehumanize their intended victims. It is amazing how much influence one student can have.
This was different, but in a good way. At Tennessee Tech University (TTU), official policy allows individual students (not just student groups) to host events on campus. So when national pro-life award-winner and TTU student Justin Brown contacted us about bringing GAP, we were eager to go.
It is amazing how much influence one student can have, by God’s grace and with your support. Thank you for making our work possible!
As it turns out, every public university student has the same right that Justin exercised at TTU; their universities just don’t know it … yet. The rights of free speech and equal access to university grounds are individual rights, not group rights. They cannot be denied to an individual student simply because he hasn’t identified others willing to join him in that speech. TTU has figured this out, and they deserve credit for that.
There were some complications, however, because several TTU administrators didn’t understand their own policies. To make matters worse, they were not very cooperative when we tried to speak with them. It’s a good thing we got those issues resolved, however, because the last thing TTU wanted was for CBR to start flying airplane tow banners bearing abortion photos over their campus on a regular basis! They can ask Notre Dame what that’s like. TTU hosts many activities for high school students throughout the summer (Boys State, cheerleading camps, etc.), so the last thing they want to see is abortion photos flying overhead. Fortunately, they read their own policy manual in time, so we can save the nasty version of ourselves for somebody else.
Justin did an outstanding job of hosting GAP at TTU, and we look forward to working with him for many years to come. We set up in front of the Library, a very good location in the middle of campus.
Media Coverage:
The GAP display and Reproductive Choice Campaign (RCC) truth trucks are a powerful combination.
Pro Life on Campus at Western Kentucky University
Abortion photos create more opportunity for dialogue than any other pro-life tactic.
It was our very first trip to Western Kentucky University (WKU) with the Genocide Awareness Project (GAP). We were not invited by a student group, but were able to reserve space as a vendor on Centennial Mall, the most heavily trafficked location on campus.
Although the WKU Students for Life (SFL) did not sponsor GAP, they were willing to host our Pro-Life Training Academy (PLTA), and we are grateful for that. SFL members learned how to articulate and defend the pro-life position, even in a hostile environment.
GAP proven effective yet again! Even though the WKU SFL didn’t sponsor or participate in GAP, they did set up an information booth at a different location nearby. They told us that many students stopped by their booth and said that our GAP display had changed their minds. Some even signed up to join SFL! That is why we say that GAP
- neutralizes the opposition,
- converts the neutral,
- activates the converted, and
- energizes the active!
Our Truth Truck carries the pro-life message throughout the campus!
Pro Life on Campus at East Carolina University (ECU)
Kendra Wright explains how genocide victims are denied rights of personhood.
Although East Carolina University (ECU) has an undergraduate enrollment of >21,000, this was our first-ever GAP at ECU. By God’s grace and with your support, it won’t be our last.
ECU has no pro-life student group—we are taking steps to fix that problem—but their policies allow outside groups to reserve space on campus, so we did! Although our location was a good one (outside the Student Center), ECU is a huge campus and there is no one collection point for all of the pedestrian traffic. That made our Truth Truck all the more important, allowing us to reach many thousands of students who may not have seen GAP in person.
The campus newspaper coverage was excellent, and included a photo of our best GAP signs on page 1, above the fold! Items in the campus paper:
Here is a copy of the first news article, as seen, with abortion photos clearly visible on page 1 above the fold! See original here.
The second article was factually incorrect about one point. We did not pay a service fee to use the space. First, ECU did not set up the display nor clean up afterward, as implied by the article. Second, ECU officials asked us to move our event from the designated public forum (near the Cupola) to the location outside the Student Center. Since the designated public forum space is available free of charge, we incurred no additional fee by agreeing to ECU’s request. Finally, we would never agree to pay any security fee (to cover the cost of policing violent pro-abortion protesters), because that is a violation of the Forsyth County v. Nationalist Movement decision of the US Supreme Court.
Pro-Life on Campus at Grand Valley State University
Patti Shanley of Raleigh, North Carolina traveled with us to Michigan for a week of GAP.
This was our first trip to Grand Valley State University (GVSU). The GVSU Students for Life did an awesome job of hosting both GAP and our Pro-Life Training Academy (PLTA).
The Quote of the Week came from one of the students who actually came out to protest against GAP:
You saved my future children. I would have aborted them. Now I won’t because I know what it looks like.
Media coverage:
Pro-Life on Campus at Oakland University
They get snow in Michigan, but that won’t stop us!
On the first day of GAP at Oakland University (OU), Christina Lo Piccolo wrote on her Facebook page:
The cost of my student group hosting the Genocide Awareness Project: $5,000
The look on my professor’s face when he asked if I saw the disgusting display outside and I told him I helped organize it: PRICELESS!
What a thrill to work with young heroes like Christina! The thrill is even sweeter because our trip was paid for by student fee money, just like last year! Students for Life collaborated with a dozen other campus groups to pay our expenses out of their respective student fee allocations.
But the best part of the week came at the very end, when Christina again posted on Facebook:
This past week was life-changing to say the least. I was able to participate in 3 days of the Genocide Awareness Project to educate students about abortion. Hearts were changed and students were motivated to take action. I can hardly wait to graduate and continue this work as a full-time career. “Y’all” are like family to me, and working beside you feels like home.
Did she say “Y’all”? How bout dat. We get to do GAP and learn a Yankee how to tawk! It don’t get no better-n-at.
Seriously, we’ll never end abortion if we don’t get folks like Christina to join the battle full-time. The other side has made killing babies a full-time profession, but we’ve made saving them a part-time hobby. We can’t do anything without volunteers and financial supporters like you, but we absolutely need more like Christina to do this full-time. Such a victory is well worth the trip to Michigan!
Thank you for making this possible with your gifts and prayers.
Pro-Life on Campus at Georgia Southern University
CBR’s Kendra Wright reinforces the abortion photos with logical arguments.
For the first time ever, CBR hit Georgia Southern University (GSU) hard with the reality of abortion. Faculty, police, press, and students alike couldn’t deny what abortion does to a human being. Nearly a dozen students said they will organize a pro-life group to continue the work. Pray that they will!
One administrator said her own daughter had been born at 24 weeks; she said her baby, “looked like the picture on your poster.” She was startled by the contrasting photo of a dead 24-week-old baby, killed by a late-term abortionist.
One of the most encouraging responses: “Where’s the sign-up sheet? I have to do something! This is horrible.”
Campus police were a constant presence. One officer debated with a couple Liberty students and did his best to defend choice. It was an unusual but welcome bonus. The officers, doing their job and standing near the display, allowed us to do ours and influence them with the pictures and our words.
We even had media before GAP:
- Police: Graphic images of abortion to be seen on Statesboro streets (story on truth trucks)
- Anti-abortion group: Graphic images to be displayed on Georgia Southern campus
A reporter from the Statesboro Herald interviewed several CBR members, students, and GSU staff. (If you can get the Statesboro Herald website to work,) You can read his article here:
One student said, “Disgusting! How can people do that?” Another commented, “I know the facts and while this is hard to see, I am glad you are here. People need to know what the word [abortion] means.”
One of the most encouraging responses: “Where’s the sign-up sheet? I have to do something! This is horrible.” Indeed.
From facetious to serious at Radford University
Ruby Nicdao
by Ruby Nicdao
We overlook flippant comments, because it is critical to engage people with opposing or dismissive views and help them reason.
As one couple walked hand-in-hand past our display, I offered a brochure and asked what they thought. The guy answered, “I’m an art student, so I’m indifferent to this.” His girlfriend smiled at the retort.
Ignoring his dismissive attitude, I asked, “Okay, so what do you think of our artistic layout? Do you agree with our comparisons?”
He responded, “Yes, I would agree with the comparison.” He pointed to the dismembered baby’s hands and feet wrapped around the top of a quarter (an obvious national symbol) and remarked, “That looks like America stands behind abortion.” Even though he was saying it in jest, there was truth in what he was saying.
I pressed further, “Okay, I know you are being facetious, but do you think the the pre-born is a human life?” He said he did, but that he is not a female and this was not his choice to make.
I pushed further, “If this were a toddler and her mother tried to kill this toddler, would you stand up for this child?” He said he would. [This is a variant of the trot out the toddler argument.]
I continued, “Okay. So if your girlfriend became pregnant and she wanted an abortion—and you just admitted that the pre-born is a human life—would you stand up and speak up for your child?”
He then said, “Yes, yes. I guess I would.”
This one man’s shift of attitude won’t change the world tomorrow, but he did begin to think of abortion as a serious human injustice. He saw the need to stand up for one child about to be killed, especially if it were his own.
Ruby Nicdao is a CBR Project Director in Virginia and is a frequent FAB contributor.
Encouraging and equipping pro-life students at Radford University
Virginia Project Director Maggie Egger explains how abortion decapitates and dismembers little human beings.
by Maggie Egger
Abortion photos don’t just make converts; they educate and energize people who are already pro-life.
At Radford University, a young man approached me and asked, “Are you the people I’m supposed to interview?”
“I don’t know,” I replied. “We’ve had a good number of people interview us for their classes.”
“OK, great! I must be in the right place!” As he pulled out a notepad, he said, “I’m Catholic. So I’m, ya know, pro-life.”
I told him I was excited to hear that, but from the way he said it, I could tell he was not strongly committed. It seemed like he was raised in a pro-life house, but he didn’t necessarily buy all of it.
“Jacob” began to ask questions about the display, e.g., what was our purpose in being there, what kind of reactions did we get, what did we think of the protesters, etc. He appeared to believe that the preborn are human beings, but he didn’t know much about abortion in general. He knew the answer to “What is the preborn?” but he didn’t yet fully understand the answer to “What is abortion and what does it do?”
Then he asked me why we compared abortion to genocide. Before talking about personhood, dehumanization, and all of that, I simply said,
“A lot of people say that our comparing abortion to genocide is ludicrous and offensive. And you know what? They’re absolutely right, if the preborn are not human beings, in the same way that you and I are human beings. If they are not human beings, then (a) abortion doesn’t kill them, (b) abortion is no different from getting a tooth pulled, and (c) any comparison with genocide is absolutely insane. But, as you and I both know (because science tells us), that every human life begins at fertilization. So, abortion kills 1.2 million human beings every year in the U.S. alone. I don’t know any word for that, other than genocide.”
“Wait, what? How many abortions a year?”
“1.2 million.”
His eyes grew wide in disbelief. He shook his head. “Wow! Yeah, you’re right. That’s what it is … a genocide!”
We walked around the rest of the display so he could see all the different pictures, and he asked a few more questions. When we finished he said, “Thank you so much for taking the time to explain all this to me. I’ve learned a lot.”
Yes, he had learned a lot. And that knowledge left him more committed to the pro-life position. That’s why you send us. There are many more like Jacob, so please send us more places, more often. And ask your Christian friends to do the same.
Maggie Egger is a CBR Project Director in Virginia and was the Project Manager for CBR’s recent GAP visit to the Commonwealth.
Knowledge reveals pain while saving lives at Rio Hondo College
Rio Hondo College welcomes GAP to campus. (Click on photo to enlarge; see yellow sign in background.)
When we expose abortion, two things happen. People who have aborted feel the pain of knowing, but babies are saved because of knowing.
“I might be pregnant now and I’ve been thinking about having an abortion.”
CBR was at Rio Hondo College in November when a 32-year-old student approached our Genocide Awareness Project (GAP). She had aborted her child some years ago and now lives with regret. She is married but unable to conceive. She told volunteer “Carol” that she thinks she is being punished by God for having aborted her only child. Carol sought to encourage her by telling her how God works in our lives and by bringing up the possibility of adoption.
“Rhonda,” the wife/girlfriend of a campus security guard, asked Carol about people’s response to GAP. As they talked, Carol shared her own testimony of having aborted, the deep regret, and how it has affected her life. Then Rhonda told her own situation to Carol, “I might be pregnant now and I’ve been thinking about having an abortion.”
Carol told her about the student who aborted and now cannot have children. Rhonda had never thought of that possible consequence. She was worried about the economics of raising a child, citing a $400,000 figure she had read. Carol helped her understand that those numbers do not reflect most people’s needs; Carol had been raised without her parents having much money, but there was always love in the home. At the end of the conversation Rhonda said, “I don’t think I’ll have that abortion now.”
Three women came up to CBR’s Lois Cunningham and one asked what Lois would tell a woman who was contemplating abortion. Lois told her we would (1) show the abortion pictures to educate her, (2) be sure the woman has adequate support in her life, including supportive family and friends, if at all possible, and (3) take her to a pregnancy help center/clinic for services. The lead woman than told Lois that she has a friend who is pregnant and planning to abort, but she was now going to show her friend our photo brochure and tell her about pregnancy help clinics.
These are only two of the babies who may have been saved as a result of CBR’s presence on campus. If you will help us, we are committed to showing students the truth about abortion so we can spare them and their children from the brutality of abortion.
James Madison University “forced” to face abortion
Over the course of 2 days at James Madison U, thousands of students were forced to face abortion.
An op-ed piece in the James Madison University (JMU) Breeze validated (again) the effectiveness of CBR’s Genocide Awareness Project (GAP):
“… our campus was so abruptly forced to face [abortion] this week.”
Mission accomplished!
Sarah Freeze, the author of the piece, was confused about whether the humanity of the preborn child was of any consequence at all.
She wrote, “The question we should be asking is this: Are you pregnant?”
We responded:
According to Ms. Freeze, it doesn’t matter at all whether the preborn child is human or not, nor if abortion unjustly kills a human being or not. The only question we must ask is, “Am I pregnant?” If the answer is “no,” then we must not have any opinion on the matter.
Really?
Let’s apply this logic in another context, 200 years ago. Applying Ms. Freeze’s logic, it wouldn’t matter if the black man is a human being or not, nor whether slavery unjustly steals the lives of black men and women. The only question we must ask is, “Do I have a cotton plantation?” If the answer is “no,” then we must not have any opinion on the matter.
She responded
While I appreciate your response, to my opinion, I do have to point out that your argument is wrongly applying my view on abortion to a view on slavery. Abortion affects no one outside of the woman’s body. Slavery obviously affected several people and generations and is definitely not the same thing.
We answered
You’d be right in your conclusion, if you had your facts straight. Of course if no person were killed by abortion, then the right to abort would be established. But you ignore the other human being, the one being decapitated and dismembered.
When you deny the humanity and personhood of the preborn child, you are making the same mistake that was made by slavery apologists who said that Black slaves were “subordinate and inferior.” They reasoned, as you do, that the victim class was not fully human, therefore the real people (the ones who counted) could do anything they wanted to those subhumans. You are making the exact same mistake … unless, of course, you can provide some compelling evidence that the preborn are, in fact, subhuman.
She will offer no such evidence, because there is none. If she bothers to formulate an argument, it will inevitably allow us to kill certain born people as well.
German student expanding horizons at James Madison University
German student: I don’t know how old you are, but …
“Frederick,” a James Madison University (JMU) student from Germany, was ashamed of his peers. He said to CBR’s Jane Bullington,
“It is so closed-minded to decide you guys have nothing worth hearing and just sit on the sidelines protesting.
I am studying genocide and human atrocities. These photos are not disturbing; the actions are disturbing. Folks need to get out of their comfort zone and engage others so they can expand their world views. It is pitiful that my peers are so pansy and childish.
I don’t know how old you are, but I do know that you know more than I do and I need to listen and learn. And whether this is genocide or not, I see the reasons for the comparisons and it is an atrocity.
You have made my Tuesday. My comfort zone has been stretched once again. Thank you for coming, and thank you for taking with me.”
He’s right about one thing. Jane is pretty old.
“I can’t believe I’m saying this, but …”: Another changed mind at James Madison
Lincoln Brandenburg explains prenatal development at James Madison University
by Lincoln Brandenburg
At James Madison U, I spoke with a young Jewish lady who had heard about GAP and came out to see it. She was Jewish and was offended by the comparisons of abortion with the Holocaust.
She opened by declaring that “Abortion is not genocide!” I responded, “You are absolutely right … if the preborn are not human. Were that true, the comparison would be inappropriate and the right to abort would be established.
“But if the preborn are human, as science tells us they are, then we kill over a million humans every year. Then there’s no better word to describe it.”
“I can’t believe I’m saying this, but you’re causing me to change how I think about this.” (protester at James Madison U)
She brought up many examples of when abortion might be “needed,” such as for a woman who is in college and cannot take care of a baby. Again, I agreed with her that abortion would be acceptable in those cases (and, indeed, in every case) … if the preborn were anything less than human.
She began to grasp the concept that the humanity of the preborn is the central question to the morality of abortion.
Some of her friends have had abortions and she didn’t want to believe they are guilty of murder. I assured her that we are not here to condemn or judge her friends; they may be good people who didn’t realize that abortion decapitates and dismembers a baby. I pointed out that, like many who have seen these images, they might not have aborted their children had they known how evil abortion really is.
As we spoke, her demeanor changed. She glanced at the pro-abortion protesters and said, “I don’t want to say this out loud, but you’re making good points. You’re really making me shift in my view.”
I told her how I personally became a pro-life activist after connecting abortion to the Holocaust. I knew that I couldn’t say I would have stood up for Jews (her ancestors) in Nazi Germany back then, if I didn’t stand up for preborn children right now.
As we continued to discuss the logic of standing up for all human beings, she hesitantly said, “I can’t believe I’m saying this, but you’re causing me to change how I think about this.”
Some respond to GAP with a closed mind, but others are willing to blindfold their own prejudices. At first, she opposed our use of abortion pictures, but she had to admit that our conversation (and many others) would not have happened without the tension created by the photos. Dr. King was right:
“I am not afraid of the word ‘tension.’ I have earnestly opposed violent tension, but there is a type of constructive, nonviolent tension which is necessary for growth.” (Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.)
Lincoln Brandenburg is a Project Director for CBR in Georgia. He iis with the GAP team in Virginia this week.
Choice Chain at University at Buffalo
Cristina Lauria displays a “Choice” sign at the U at Buffalo, which creates more opportunities to discuss abortion with her classmates than anything else she can do. What’s more, the pictures make the discussions productive because they force students to see the brutal truth of what abortion is and does.
Because you support CBR. the University at Buffalo Students for Life (UB SFL) are displaying abortion victim photos at strategic locations around campus.
UB SFL member Cristina Lauria reports
We get lots of positive comments from people walking by. Although, of course, there are those who get angry at the pictures and stomp on by them. Interesting how they won’t look at what they support.
Way to go!!!! Keep up the good work!
To support Cristina and other brave pro-life students, please partner with CBR to give them strategies and tools that work!!!! Link here to support CBR.
UK abortion industry leader debates Gregg Cunningham
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.
- 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
Half the Battle is Just Showing Up
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.
