In her opening remarks, Dr. McLean asserted that the fetus is not a human. She made several other assertions and arguments that I rebutted, but this was the most glaring error of the debate. As Daniel Patrick Moynihan once said, “Everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not to his own facts.”

My introductory comments were posted yesterday. In them, I challenged Dr. McLean to prove her assertion that the fetus was not human. I would accept almost all of her points. I would agree that abortion should be legal, that abortion should be covered by insurance, that I would even quit my job and find another career. I would do all of this, if and only if she could present conclusive scientific and/or philosophic evidence to show that the preborn child is not human. As you may be aware, no such evidence exists.

To rebut the myth that the unborn child is not human (or that life doesn’t begin at conception), I quoted both medical textbooks and pro-abortion sources:

Zygote. This cell results from the union of an oocyte and a sperm during fertilization. A zygote is the beginning of a new human being (i.e., an embryo). … [The zygote] marked the beginning of each of us as a unique individual. (Keith L. Moore and T.V.N. Persaud, The Developing Human: Clinically Oriented Embryology, 7th ed., Philadelphia: Saunders, 2003, pp 2,16)

It is the penetration of the ovum by a spermatozoan and resultant mingling of the nuclear material … that constitutes the culmination of the process of fertilization and marks the initiation of the life of a new individual. (Bradley M. Patten, Human Embryology, 3rd ed., New York: McGraw Hill, 1968, p 43)

We of today know that man is born of sexual union; that he starts life as an embryo within the body of the female; and that the embryo is formed from the fusion of two single cells, the ovum and the sperm. This all seems so simple and evident to us that it is difficult to picture a time when it was not part of the common knowledge. (Alan F. Guttmacher. Life in the Making: The Story of Human Procreation. New York: Viking Press, 1933. p 3.) [Alan Guttmacher is a former president of Planned Parenthood.]

Perhaps the most straightforward relation between you and me on the one hand and every human fetus from conception onward on the other is this: All are living members of the same species, homo sapiens. A human fetus, after all, is simply a human being at a very early stage in his or her development. (David Boonin, A Defense of Abortion, New York: Cambridge University Press, 2002, p 20)

In the top drawer of my desk, I keep [a picture of my son]. This picture was taken on September 7, 1993, 24 weeks before he was born. The sonogram image is murky, but it reveals clear enough a small head tilted back slightly, and an arm raised up and bent, with the hand pointing back toward the face and the thumb extended out toward the mouth. There is no doubt in my mind that this picture, too, shows [my son] at a very early stage in his physical development. And there is no question that the position I defend in this book entails that it would have been morally permissible to end his life at this point. (David Boonin, A Defense of Abortion, New York: Cambridge University Press, 2003, p xiv)

Case closed, but if you want more proof, check out this article: When does life begin?

More coverage to follow in Part 4.

It’s true.  Check out this link for the audio.

Yes, Yale University has proven the sexual revolution to be a disaster for women.  Chuck Colson tells us how:

For some time now, I’ve been telling you that the Christian worldview is the only worldview that provides us with a rational way to live in the world. It’s the only worldview that we can live with.

We simply can’t live with the logical outcomes of other worldviews like secular naturalism, new age-ism, or Freudianism.

And thanks to the daily news, I’m never short of material to prove it. A group of mostly female students is suing Yale University for allowing a “sexually hostile environment” to exist on campus.

The women, of course, have a point. After all, when frat boys are allowed to parade around the old campus chanting “No Means Yes,” or to hold up signs that read “We Love Yale Sluts,” I guess you could say that’s a sexually hostile environment.

But may I ask a question? What did you expect?

The disgusting, intimidating behavior at Yale — and on many college campuses — is a classic example of the post-modern impasse. For nearly 50 years, academia, the feminist movement, and post-modern society have embraced sexual freedom as the ultimate good.

And the feminists led the way. They wanted to control their bodies; to be free from any consequences of sexual license.

Well, guess what. If you promote sexual license — especially on campuses — what do you get? That’s right. Sexual license. You approve and encourage immoral behavior, and then you’re surprised when young men don’t behave like gentlemen? Are you kidding me?

And as for Yale…What else would you expect at a university when every year its hosts a campus-wide event called “Sex week,” where students get to attend seminars on sexual practices, presentations by sex workers, and plenty of porn films?

As an aside: Parents, before you send your daughter off to college, do some homework about life on campus. Why send your daughter to a school that promotes such promiscuity?  [FAB comment: We believe in equality at FAB, so why would you send your son there, either?]

But back to my point: The women of Yale have discovered that they can’t live with the post-modern, sexually licentious Freudian worldview. It doesn’t work. It leads to moral chaos.

Where might you think such students would find a safer, more congenial environment? Perhaps at an institution that still clings to the Judeo-Christian worldview and the ethical principles that shaped Western Civilization. Does the Christian view of sex promote intimidation, harassment, and brutish behavior like we’re seeing at Yale, or does it promote moral and ethical virtue?

Well, it ought to be obvious. All worldviews are not equal. But that’s a controversial thing to say in this relativistic age. But examine any particular worldview, follow it to its logical conclusions, and you’ll discover whether we can live with the consequences.

Today on my “Two-Minute Warning,” which you can watch at ColsonCenter.org, I talk about our new six-part video series, “Doing the Right Thing.” It is a fabulous series, and it makes a compelling argument for rejecting the relativistic, “anything goes” mentality that has led to the kind of unethical behavior we’re seeing on college campuses — and in corporate board rooms and city halls.

“Doing the Right Thing” is impassioned plea — and a roadmap — for restoring a culture of responsibility. At Yale and everywhere else. Please, come to ColsonCenter.org, watch my “Two Minute Warning,” and learn more about “Doing the Right Thing.”

Debbie Picarello represents the healing ministry of Deeper Still at EKU

GAP was a huge success on Day 2 at Eastern Kentucky University (EKU).  The weather was great, although cold, and we had a steady stream of visitors.  I think twenty or so people signed up for the student pro-life group.

Media Coverage:

• Story in The Eastern Progress.  Check out the photos!

Genocide Awareness Project (GAP) at Eastern Kentucky University

We put up our Genocide Awareness Project at Eastern Kentucky University today.  With rain and 30-mph winds in the forecast, we constructed the display in a perfect location, sheltered from the rain and the worst of the wind.  We managed to get the display taken down and loaded up on the truck before the heavy rains came.

The pro-aborts had promised to demonstrate, but only one showed up.  Bummer.

Supervolunteers Gary Johnson and Larry Goad drove the RCC truck around campus.

RCC truck driving through the EKU campus.

Jay Watts shows the audience how to deal with pro-choice atheists like ... well ... his former self.

Our Pro Life Training Academy in Richmond, Kentucky on Saturday was a home run.  More than 30 attended, including students from Eastern Kentucky U (EKU)  and the U of Kentucky (UK), members of Central Kentucky Right to Life and Madison County Right to Life, and women from Silent No More.

We are thrilled that post-abortive women from Silent No More have volunteered to participate in our GAP events at EKU and UK this coming week!  The compassion of post-abortive women alongside the difficult photos of abortion are a powerful combination.  Silent No More and Deeper Still are an answer to prayer.

Jay Watts of the Life Training Institute was our featured speaker.  As a former pro-choice atheist, Jay showed us all how to deal with people like … well … his former self!  Jay demonstrated the Columbo technique for assessing and responding to pro-choice questions and arguments.  He also taught the students how to use SLED and trot out the toddler.

I spoke about the need to use abortion pictures to show people the truth about abortion and demonstrated how to use the various apologetics techniques in front of our GAP display.  Here’s an Pro Life Training Academy course outline.  We spent about 20 minutes doing role-playing.

Next stop for the Academy is Baltimore, MD (April 30) and the University of Deleware (May 1).  Contact us to bring the Pro Life Training Academy to your city.

Pro Life on Campus at University of West Florida

On February 14-15, CBR took the Genocide Awareness Project (GAP) to the University of West Florida.  The video below features students talking about the project.

Media coverage was extensive:

• Genocide on Display
• Abortion will always exit
• Free speech zones brought into question
• CBR responds

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4IscsEjw11E

Winning hearts, changing minds, and saving lives at Florida State University

CBR’s Florida GAP tour continues.  Wednesday and Thursday, GAP made it’s 3rd appearance at Florida State University.

Media:  FSU Student Newspaper

Pro Life on Campus at University of West Florida

Monday and Tuesday of this week, we had our Genocide Awareness Project (GAP) at the University of West Florida.  This is part of a tour of 4 Florida universities being sponsored by CBR Southeast, CBR Midwest, and CBR Florida.

Media:

1. The Voyager (story)
2. The Voyager (editorial)

CBR is following the model of social reform demonstrated by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Lewis Hine, the American abolitionists of the 1800s, and William Wilberforce and Thomas Clarkson, who helped end the slave trade in England.

Dr. King found ways to show people what racism really looked like. Pictures of racist attacks on TV and in magazines opened people’s eyes and helped end segregation in less than 10 years.

CBR uses this same model of social reform to open people’s eyes to the truth about abortion.

Here is the video we’ll be showing tonight at our Celebrating Life event.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b8Rk44gn824

On my way to Pensacola.  Sunday, we are doing our Pro Life Training Academy in preparation for GAP at the University of West Florida Monday and Tuesday.  I’ll won’t be able to stay for the GAP, however, because of our big Celebrating Life event in Knoxville Monday night.

Speaking of Celebrating Life, we’re sold out!  How about that!  Hope to see you there!

Gabrielle and her classmates are fighting the good fight on the battleground that must not be lost. The consequences of losing are too horrifying to contemplate, but they are outnumbered and surrounded.

Today, 66 years ago, the Battle of the Bulge began.  Soon, the eyes of the world would focus on Bastogne, a little town in Belgium.  As it turns out, the 101st Airborne had gone to Bastogne for some well-deserved R&R.  Nobody expected the battle that was about to ensue.

Geography made Bastogne the most important location on the battlefield.  All roads led to Bastogne.  (Tennesseans know the strategic importance of Chattanooga in the War Between the States, because all railroads went through this city.)  It was squarely in the middle of the German salient, and it was the key to victory.

The 101st Airborne fought bravely to hold the city, but they were surrounded, outnumbered, and outgunned.  Still, they fought on.  They were teenagers.

George Patton knew the war could be won or lost at Bastone, so he turned his army 90 degrees to the north and raced toward the city.  Yes, they were already in a battle of their own.  Yes, it was cold.  Yes, it was difficult.  But Patton knew the consequences of German victory would be too horrifying to contemplate.  On December 26, 1944, Patton’s army broke through to relieve the 101st.  For all practical purposes, the war was decided.

In the culture wars, the college campus is Bastogne.  That is where the war will be decided.  The Left understands this.  Although liberals comprise only 20% of the American population, they are 72% of all college professors.  They decide what is taught to the next generation.  They fight to remove all traces of Christian morality and thought.

Christian pro-lifers in this environment are like the 101st Airborne.  When they head off to college, they don’t know about the battle that will soon engulf them.  They are teenagers.

From their first day on campus, their beliefs are viscously and relentlessly attacked and mocked, by professors and fellow students alike.  They fight bravely, but they are outnumbered and surrounded.  They deserve our help.

The culture wars will be won or lost on the college campus.  We (all of us) are Patton’s army.  At CBR / Pro Life on Campus, we race to college campuses with the ammunition of plain truth about abortion.  We train pro-lifers how to articulate and defend the pro-life position.  We bring our GAP project and our truth trucks to reinforce the message that (1) the unborn child is a baby and (2) abortion is much worse than people think.

We are helping pro-life students fight the good fight, not against flesh and blood, but “against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high [places]” (Ephesians 6:12).

We need your help.  At a bare minimum, would you consider $20/month, over and above what you are already doing?  If we can get 1,500 of you to do this—if you do it, the others will—we can visit an additional 42 major universities every single year.  Your $20/month will help us reach a million students every single year.  If $20 seems too little compared to what’s at stake, feel free to do more.  If $10 is all you have, then we ask you to commit that much.

Yes, you are already doing other things. Yes, it will cost you something.  But we ask you to join this battle for the future of our nation, because the consequences of losing are just to horrifying to contemplate.

Pro Life on Campus at Kennesaw State University

The Kennesaw University Sentinel:

• The men behind the display

The University of Georgia Red and Black:

• Anti-abortion display an offensive spectacle (letter)
• Freedom of speech prevails in Tate Plaza
• Tate Plaza Abortion Display
• Abortion display offensive (letter)
• Abortions do not equal Holocaust
• Display violates University Code of Conduct
• Abortion display shows the truth (letter)

The Student Free Press

• A misguided call for censorship in UGA student newspaper

On January 23, 2011 CBR will be at the Students for Life of America National Conference in Bethesda, Maryland.  This is the largest pro-life youth conference in the nation!

The SFLA 2011 National Conference is only a few months away and we want to invite you to come out to listen to Fletcher Armstrong’s workshop and get energized and activated in your own pro-life efforts!  Thanks to the generous support of Alliance Defense Fund, **from now until December 1st student registration is only $40** (after that it goes back up to $50).  That is for an entire day of training given by national leaders in the pro-life movement, networking with people from your communities and across the nation as well as breakfast, lunch, and dinner!  This is an unbelievable price for a conference with this much to offer.

Even though this conference is hosted by Students for Life it is not only for students but for adults as well.  Adult registration is $60 and also includes the same great training and meals.

You won’t want to miss such great speakers as Scott Klusendorf, Life Training Institute; David French, Alliance Defense Fund; Alveda King, Priests for Life; David  Bereit, 40 Days for Life; former Planned Parenthood Director turned Pro-Life activist, Abby Johnson and so many more.  To see the schedule go here    http://studentsforlife.org/conference/conferenceschedule/

For more information about the conference go to http://studentsforlife.org/conference/  and to register go to http://www.cvent.com/EVENTS/Info/Summary.aspx?e=525341b0-9616-42cd-95a4-b377c23c41b5

Abortion Photo over Liberty University

CBR is flying a huge photo of abortion over Liberty University this week, so that Liberty students can learn the truth. For many of them, it will be the first time. WSET-TV has the story.  Watch the video!

Most people have abortions simply because they don’t know who the unborn child is, nor do they know what abortion does. Christian youth are just as vulnerable, because “pro-life” churches are covering up the truth as effectively as everyone else. If your church is not showing abortion photos or video, babies are being lost that could have been saved.

The coverup at Christian schools is just as egregious, if not more so. The most striking examples are Notre Dame University and Liberty University, arguably the flagship universities of the Catholic and Protestant worlds, respectively. Both have prevented the display of abortion photos on their campuses. The First Amendment protects pro-life education at public universities, but not at private schools. It is mind-blowing to think that public university students know more about abortion than Christian university students.

Just a year ago, I showed abortion to a small group of maybe five Liberty University students. None had seen abortion before. One of them later wrote,

Seeing all those graphic photos and that video brought me to tears and showed me [abortion] is murder; it is wrong. I want to now fight for their lives.

Another wrote,

I witnessed my first abortion through the images and clips by the Center for Bio-Ethical Reform. That has changed my view on abortion. … [After] actually seeing the results of this murder, I am pro-life because abortion is bluntly murder and should be outlawed!! I believe these pictures should be shown to change the minds of people on abortion.

Fortunately, the airspace over these universities is still free. Last year, we flew abortion photos over the Notre Dame campus.

Expect us to be more and more aggressive in educating Christians in the public spaces around their schools and churches.  If abortion is to be stopped, three adverse conditions must be corrected:

1. Christian people must know what abortion is and does.  (They don’t.)
2. Christian people must act in proportion to the injustice.  (We don’t.)
3. The Church must lead.  (It doesn’t.)

By ourselves, we can’t do much about #2 and #3, but we will do everything we can to correct the lack of knowledge.

UGa students call this their annual "Don't Go By Tate Plaza if You're In a Hurry" Day.

One of our favorite places to carry the pro-life message is the University of Georgia.  We always get huge crowds, and today was no different.

The center-piece and magnet for our presentation was obviously the Pro Life on Campus GAP display on Tate Plaza.   But that was just the beginning.

Add to that a poll table, in this case staffed by Toby Tatum of Georgia Right to Life.  Using a simple question, “Should abortion remain legal?”, Toby was able to engage a steady stream of students

Add to that a table-top display by the Athens Pregnancy Center.  Add to that a table-top display by Deeper Still, a post-abortion counseling ministry.

Pro-abort coment and our response

Add to that our Free Speech Board, where students are invited to write their comments.  We (along with other students) write responses.  For example, a student wrote, “Don’t judge people!  You never know why they decided abortion was right for them.”  I responded, “Let’s see if this works … ‘Don’t judge people.  You never know why they decided owning slaves was right for them.”

Catherine Davis of Georgia Right to Life, Director of Minority Outreach at GRTL, drew huge crowds as she described how abortion providers target minoirity communities.