Mik’aela Raymond was not breathing when she was born.  Does that mean she wasn’t alive?

There were varying reactions to the abortion pictures at Appalachian State University. Seeds are planted and lives are saved even if we can’t see it initially.

Talking to a living, breathing example.  “The baby is alive when it takes its first breath,” said the student.  CBR staffer Mik’aela Raymond described her own birth, “When I was born I wasn’t breathing.”

“OK, that is a little tricky,” the young woman admitted.  “I do have to think about that.”

Excuses, Excuses.  Samuel had tons of excuses for child killing.

• “I’m pro-abortion, but not after 4 months.”
• “Abortion is child killing but I’m still pro-abortion because the world is over populated and there is not enough food.”
• “My wife had to have an abortion.”
• “We do not want children, not right now.”
• “Adoption is so expensive.”

Shifting the death line.  “I am pro-choice and would never try to convince someone against their choice.  It is not a person until after 6 weeks when the heart starts beating.”  Upon looking up when the heart beat is detected, he slightly changed his tune.  “Well abortion is wrong after 4 weeks but I would not tell anyone what they should think.”

Pictures important.  “Thanks for what you are doing, these pictures are so important.”

Rape exception.  “I was raped last year, at gun point.  I didn’t get pregnant but if I had, I could not have carried that child, even to adopt.  Otherwise, I know it is a life and innocent and deserves protection.  I have friends who have had convenience abortions and I worry about them.”  Pray for this young woman and her friends.  Pray for healing.

Invisible pro-lifers.  A pro-life student told us, “I’m glad you guys are here.  I didn’t even know about any pro-life groups.  The only group I know concerning abortion is Planned Parenthood.”

In fact, there was a Students for Life student organization at Appalachian State, but they have routinely refused to help us expose abortion, preferring instead to remain hidden and ineffective.

The pictures of abortion are disgusting because abortion decapitates and dismembers defenseless human beings.

by Jo Litten-Taich

I believe a large part of GAP’s success is in the demeanor and affability of the staff and volunteers.  I know that my simple mission of getting the facts into student’s heads is an attempt to connect in some way with each student.

“So was spreading my legs and having a human life pulled out of me.”

Reading body language was very interesting. It was a high decibel in some instances.  One encounter was with a gal at Appalachian State who was very agitated by the display.  She motioned to the photos and said, “This is disgusting!”

“It is,” I agreed. “So was spreading my legs and having a human life pulled out of me.”  That arrested her for a moment.

I went on to give more personal testimony.  That I’d defended my actions for 10 years until I woke up to the truth about what I’d done.  And that it blew my mind.

She expressed outrage that we were publicly displaying offensive photos and suggested that the internet would be a more appropriate medium.  I asked her how often she’d gone to pro-life sites; I explained that since there’s an information black out about abortion, we bring the truth to campuses where young people come to be informed and challenged.

She skedaddled away in the embrace of a friend.  I hope her emotional reaction results in soul searching.

Jo Litten-Taich is a CBR partner and volunteer in North Carolina.

Varied reactions to GAP at the rather leftist school in the mountains.

Random stories from Appalachian State University.

Happy grandparents
“I was in a crisis pregnancy and my parents and the father of my baby wanted me to abort.  I did not.  I have a 2-year-old.  It is hard but…..”  Her voice trailed off.
“And I bet your parents are glad they have a grandchild, aren’t they?” CBR Staffer Jane Bullington replied.
With tears in her eyes, she smiled and said, “Yes”
[Jane makes us all cry sometimes. … but maybe for different reasons.  But we don’t want to get into that.  Anyway, …]

Consumer fraud?
“It is not alive until it comes out the vagina,” a woman told Jane.
Jane responded with a question, “Have you ever seen an ultrasound of a baby in the womb?”
“Yes, and it is not alive.”
“Maybe you missed your high school biology class,” Jane suggested, trying not to laugh.
“I am a biology major and you are stupid!”
Consumer alert: This wannabe scholar should demand a refund from ASU’s Biology Department.  Just sayin’!

More educational malpractice?
“It is an inanimate object only,” a young man said.  Riiiiight.  If this genius ever took a biology class, he too is entitled to a refund.

A functioning conscience.
“This is so awful; I don’t know how people can do this to a child,” a young woman said in tears.

Are you edible?
Some young men in preppy clothing walked by, laughing and goofing off.  “Is that edible?” one of the young men hyucked.
CBR’s Jackie Hawkins replied simply, “No more than you are.”  The goofiness calmed down after that.

GAP under the microscope.
GAP is frequently the subject of classroom discussion.  The teacher of a persuasive writing class reported that his students spent the entire class talking about GAP as an example of persuasive speech.  They discussed not only the display itself, but also the brochure that we hand out.  Even students who would not yet admit to a changed mind had to agree that GAP was an effective use of persuasive argument to communicate its message.  We knew that!

Law and Order
As Jeanette Schultz offered a pamphlet to a professor who was hoofing it passed the display.  Instead of politely declining, the woman snarled in Jeanette’s face, “Get the F*** away from me!”
Although this kind of aggressive behavior is common, but what happened next was not.  Two police officers who were standing nearby seized the woman by her arm and pulled her away from Jeanette, firmly telling her to stop her aggressive behavior and public use of expletives.  That was not how she was to act in public, they said.  The woman calmed down.  When she realized that the police were serious, she made the absurd claim that she “felt threatened” by Jeanette.  The police who had seen the whole thing rejected her claim.  With a stern warning the woman walked away chastened.

This sculpture honors ASU’s heritage as a teachers’ college. We couldn’t think of a more appropriate place to set up GAP on Day 2. The display footprint is smaller this day because of threatening weather in the forecast.

We headed into the mountains of North Carolina to bring GAP to Appalachian State University (ASU).

It was refreshing to be around people who know how to pronounce “Appalachian.”  A few damnyankees want to call it a-puh-LAY-chuhn or, even worse, a-puh-LAY-shuhn.  These mispronunciations have been advanced by the mass media since the mid 1970s … and we all know how evil the mass media are.

Phonics.  You would never call our western mountains the “ro-SHEE” mountains.  It’s ROCK-ee, just like it’s spelled.

The correct way to say my home is a-puh-LATCH-uhn.  The ASU folks told us it took three national championships (Div I FCS) to get ESPN to finally say it correctly.  Come to think of it, if you can shame ESPN into doing the right thing, maybe we do have hope.  Anyway, …

On Day 1, we set up GAP on Sanford Mall, right in the middle of campus.  The epicenter of action was the free speech board and poll table, both right next to the GAP display, where large crowds of students gathered.  Volunteer Laurice Baddour took the lead and became the star of the show (see really bad photo).   Although many were pro-abort (for now), they calmly listened as we made our case, like truly civilized adults.  We love it when that happens.

On Day 2, heavy rains and thunderstorms were forecast, so we set up a smaller display at the eastern end of Sanford Mall.  With the smaller configuration, we could deconstruct and get off the site on short notice, before lightning would become a hazard.

On Day 3, the weather was better and we followed up with a Choice Chain for a few hours in the middle of the day.

Media:

• On campus: Abortion protest (video)
• Anti-abortion display sparks controversy among students

Lincoln Brandenburg and Jackie Hawkins explain how abortion is evil because it kills a living human being.