Photos of abortion create opportunities for dialogue that would never happen otherwise.

Here are just a sampling of encouraging encounters at our Genocide Awareness Project (GAP) at Middle Tennessee State.

Genocide close to home.  Vanessa’s uncle was a Tutsi victim of the Hutu genocide. She was deeply moved by the comparison between abortion and Rwandan genocide.

Grace from God.  Jami was quite emotional. “Thank you for this. When I was 17, I got pregnant and the doctor wouldn’t give me prenatal vitamins because ‘I should not have this baby.’ I married the dad and we have a 26-year old named Grace.  She was the Grace we needed. God’s plan is always best, even when it is hard.”

Changed minds and grateful hearts.  We got reactions from many passersby at MTSU:

• This really changes my perspective.
• That is so great!  Can I pray with you?
• I’ve changed my mind.
• I didn’t know they had body parts this early. Thank you.
• I once stopped a friend from aborting.
• Students need to see this. Life has adult consequences. This is murder and I am glad you are here.

More grateful hearts.  We are grateful for you.  You make our work possible through your sacrificial giving.  May God bless you as he has blessed us in this work.

1.5 out of 10 moonbats at MTSU allowed students to quietly take in the pictures.

The 2016 Fall tour brought GAP to Middle Tennessee State University. With its rating of 1.5 out of 10 moonbats, MTSU was a quiet school, allowing us to focus on the many students with thoughtful questions.

There was a small protest group with a few signs with the typical slogans. Only one protester turned to strange antics to get their point across.  He wore an ape mask and held a sign that read, “Stop the genocide of Harambe.”

The Genocide Awareness Project returned to Tennessee Tech University.

CBR brought the Genocide Awareness Project back to Tennessee Tech University (TTU) in September.  TTU was a quiet school, with a rating of only 1 out of 10 moonbats.

Not many moonbats in Tennessee.  What can we say?  This has two beneficial effects.  First, we don’t get beat up as much.  Second, students vulnerable to moonbatism … Is moonbatism a word? … Anyway, by staying calm, they have a better chance to see the signs and reflect on their meaning.

This was our third trip to TTU. We went in 2013 with Choice signs and 2015 with a full GAP display.

Will the future leaders of foreign nations, influenced by the American pro-life movement, help us if we get to the point that we can’t help ourselves?

by Patti Shanley

The international population at Purdue is one of the largest at any university in this country.  The students who saw GAP will return home with more than a degree.

Sad Song.  Song, from China, struggled to put into English her reaction to the horrifying pictures of tiny, aborted babies.

“Is real?” she wanted to know.  She knew about forced abortion in her homeland, but this was the first time she had actually seen abortion.  She experienced that crucial moment of cognitive dissonance when truth shatters through a long-held belief.  With her head shaking, fighting back tears, all she could say was “No!  No!  No!”

Unimaginable and unbelievable.  “This is not legal in this country, yes?”  Two international students were having a hard time believing abortion is available on demand, without any reason.  He could only stare, and she was almost in tears.   I explained the importance of graphic images in reform movements, and that we want people to see the horror of abortion so they will never accept injustice as a choice.  The students had heard of forced abortions in their own country, but could not imagine voluntary abortions.  When I told them there were about 3,300 each day, the young woman cried out in disbelief.

Disgusting.  Reactions from other international students were similar, and after three days at Purdue, it was painfully clear that this country is in trouble.  Although students from other countries were shocked and disgusted at seeing the truth, American students and faculty called us “disgusting” for showing the truth.  They tried to defend decapitating and dismembering tiny, innocent human beings.  “You people are disgusting,” one faculty member hissed as she walked by.  No, abortion is disgusting.

Patti Shanley is a CBR partner and volunteer from Raleigh, North Carolina.

Black students quietly absorb the message.

by Jacqueline Hawkins

There seem to be two groups of black students who come to see our ALL Black Lives Matter (ABLM) signs, the Black Lives Matter (BLM) activists and the I’m-just-here-to-get-my-education (IJHTGME) students.

The BLM activist students lose their minds, but the IJHTGME students absorb ABLM like parched sponges.

When BLM students see us use their slogans to expose their own hypocrisy, they blow a gasket.  At Purdue University, the BLM students (mostly women) pulled out all the stops, trading in their dignity to become out-of-control, stereotypical caricatures of black women.  There was wild neck rolling, finger wagging, fist shaking, and nearly unintelligible shrieking and cursing.

According to one of the BLM students, only white people could be racist because they had power; black people had no power so they couldn’t be racist, only prejudiced. Armed with their own delusions, they spewed putrid racism for all their peers to see (and cower from).

BLM students are used to behaving like this with anyone and everyone.  They do this because it usually works to get them their way.  But it doesn’t work with us, and before long, they tire out.  The shrill screaming and wild body movements gets exhausting.  They lose their voices.  They get cricks in their necks.

But despite all the theatrics, the giant display is still there, exposing abortion and the damage it does to Black community.

So they disappear, and in their places come the quiet sponges, many of whom readily accept the comparison of abortion with Jim Crow and slavery.  They are shocked to learn about the racist origins of Planned Parenthood and the way PP is suppressing the Black vote.  Not everyone is convinced, but most are willing to listen with open minds, and for that we praise God.

Jacqueline Hawkins is a CBR Project Director and a regular FAB contributor.

Although we got a lot of pushback from pro-aborts at UNC Chapel Hill, we got a great deal of positive feedback.

The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness can never extinguish it (John 1:5).  Perhaps it is in the darkest places that the light of truth is most evident.

Mission accomplished.  “You have achieved your goal—dialogue and getting people to think.  We should have more of this on campus.”

Pro-abort suspicious of the abortion system.  CBR staffer Jane Bullington spoke with a young woman who had done a paper on abortion, but was still pro-choice.  She admitted she learned some things from our display that she did not known before.  She said, “The university culture stigmatizes pregnant girls and basically says ‘since you are I school with no job, to be pregnant is irresponsible.  So they shame you to have an abortion.  The system still pushes abortion because employers get around non-discrimination laws and won’t hire pregnant girls, usually.  The system pushes abortion on women.”

Glad you are comparing…  “The protesters were saying this is an anti-abortion display.  I am glad you are comparing it to other genocides.  You know, I actually read your brochure; I like to think and ask questions!!”

No Hitler brains!  “I really don’t want Hitler brains!”  And by that, CJ meant that he didn’t want to think like Hitler.  After volunteer Patti explained to him the reasoning behind the GAP display, he put the message in his own words and it made sense to him.  He saw the connection between the dehumanizing language for both the Jewish people used in Nazi Germany and unwanted, preborn babies today.  Some students and professors take such immediate offense, they will not even read what Rabbi Yehuda Levin stated in our brochure about the common thread that ties together each form of genocide: “the systematic slaughter, as state-sanctioned ‘choice,’ of innocent, defenseless, victims…”  But CJ got it.
 
Pro-abort? Not so much anymore.  “The chat site, Yak-Yak, was full of conversations about being pro-choice at the beginning of the day and “not -so -sure, leaning pro-life”  at the end of the day, because of seeing your display.  I wanted you to know you are making a difference.”
 
Tired of intolerant liberal crap.  Hally, a student from a small town, told us, “I want to get involved with other pro-life kids on this campus.  I am so tired of the liberal crap on this campus.  They are not tolerant and certainly not diversified in thought here.”

She’ll find a way; believe it!  A female student kept her distance for a few minutes, then strolled up to the barricade to talk with volunteer Patti Shanley.  She felt some anxiety about her plans to attend med school, because she knew that there would be pressure to prescribe abortifacients or perform abortions.  Our graphic images weren’t news to her.  She was glad we were there to share the truth about abortion with the rest of the students.   “I don’t see how anyone could do that.  It’s so obviously a little person,” she said as she shook her head.  Patti asked her if she could stand up for the little ones when she’s in med school.  To that she answered, “I’ll find a way, believe it!”

Jacqueline Hawkins is a CBR Project Director and a regular FAB contributor.

Patti Shanley speaks with Uncle Awesome.

by Patti Shanley

At UNC Chapel Hill, a really handsome, blond student hung out at the barricade, waiting for a chance to talk.  He studied the sign which illustrates the progression of life in the womb.  He was nodding his head, as he advanced from photo to photo.

He softly asked if I knew anyone who had been through an unplanned pregnancy.  I assured him I did.  With a little hesitation, he opened up and told me his sister, a single teacher, was a few months pregnant.  She considered abortion, but with support and guidance from a crisis pregnancy center, she chose life.  Now the family was rallying around her to welcome their newest member.

He beamed with pride when he spoke of his sister, and pointed to the picture of how his little niece or nephew looks now.  Before he left, he glanced again at our display and said, “Thank you.”

He will be an awesome uncle!

And we say, “Thank you!”  For supporting CBR, for making our work possible.

Patti Shanley is a CBR volunteer who lives in Raleigh, North Carolina.

We must consider the feelings of those who are post-abortive, but also the lives of those who are pre-abortive (and especially their children).

by Jacqueline Hawkins

“I was raped and had an abortion at 14, and these pictures traumatize me,” a young woman at UNC Charlotte told me, with anger in her eyes and an edge to her quiet voice.  She had been standing with a sizable group of angry (but polite) students who did not like our message.  When the group dispersed, she stayed to speak with me.

There was really only one thing I could or wanted to say to her: “I’m so sorry for what you’ve gone through and for the loss of your child.”

She wasn’t visibly shocked, but I could tell that she wasn’t expecting my response.  I proceeded to gently tell her that in this whole abortion mess we have to weigh preserving the feelings of those who were touched by abortion in the past with the lives that could and would be saved today and in the future.

In return she told me that she wasn’t sorry or regretted her abortion. “Not every woman regrets her abortion,” she insisted quietly.

Even if that is the case, I told her, the abortion doesn’t make women unpregnant, it makes them mothers of dead children.  Parents who have lost children, whether by abortion or car accident or miscarriage, should have sympathy and condolences for their loss.

Seeing that she was at least somewhat receptive to what I was saying, I gently told her that although people may not regret their abortions early on, that regret could still emerge later on.  Having other children, not being able to have children, or realizing certain landmarks for a dead child (such as birthdays) often sparks deep regret in post-abortive parents.

It is worth every effort to stop abortions, both for the sake of the children and for the sake of the parents.

When she left, she didn’t look happy, but she seemed satisfied with the response I gave her.  Please pray for her and other post-abortive parents.

Jacqueline Hawkins is a CBR Project Director and a regular FAB contributor.

CBR volunteer Laurice Baddour stands with a Rwandan man in front of the Rwandan genocide picture.  He gave the display two thumbs up!

Here are some more beautiful gems from GAP at UNC Charlotte (UNCC).  This is a continuation of Gems at UNC Charlotte, Part 1.

Grandma’s reaction.  An outraged young man shouted, “I want verification of these photos!” We gave him our verification documents. “Oh, that doesn’t count; that information is not from a local doctor!!!” he concluded.  In response, a wise older woman told Jane,  “What idiocy.  That young man is coming from guilt.  Why else all this anger?  I am taking pictures of your photos to show my 18-year-old grandson before he goes off to college.  As Christians, we don’t believe in abortion, but you can hear the word all you want, but hearing is nothing like seeing!  This is real!!”

Making Planned Parenthood decent.  After the young woman signaled her support for abortion at our poll table, Jane engaged her in conversation.  At the end, she concluded, “Let’s just keep PP open on the side that does women’s health care and close down the abortion side!”  Hey, if they just do mammograms, pap smears and adoption referrals, that’s fine by us!

22 years in and she can’t imagine …  “My parents wanted me to abort my baby, but I just couldn’t!”  She recounted how it changed her, made her mature, and made her sacrifice.  Now she has a 22-year-old son and cannot imagine her life without him. “I would love to be here and tell these students that if I can be a teenage mom, anyone can be.  Yes, it made me grow up faster than I wanted, but I wouldn’t trade that experience for anything.  I want so much to tell them not to be afraid.”

A helping hand sees the hope.  Another student chimed in that he has volunteered at a nearby pregnancy resource center.  He has seen many college-age students face the challenge of an unplanned pregnancy with hope and determination, once they hear about the options, services, and programs that can help.  He wanted to get involved with the student group to bring more displays and information to the campus.

Don’t tell them what to do…just make them not want to do it…  A 30-something  man considered abortion evil, but a necessary evil.  He considered killing anything evil but sometimes it had to be done.  He didn’t like our shock tactics.  Jackie explained that our goal is to change public opinion so that abortion was an unthinkable evil for everyone.  The light bulb went off in his head and he suddenly liked what we were doing.  He came from the standpoint that we couldn’t tell people what to do in the laws, but we could inform them so that even if it was legal they wouldn’t want to do it.  [Note: Just to be clear, we want laws against abortion.  As it is with slavery, we want abortion to be unthinkable for civilized people, but we still need to laws that will restrain uncivilized people.]

From pro-abortion to sign me up!  CBR volunteer Laurice Baddour asked a young woman if she was pro-abortion or pro-life.  She responded that she was pro-abortion, however she was willing to listen.  After speaking for no more than 15 minutes, the young woman thoughtfully admitted that she was now pro-life.  Laurice wanted to push the envelope.  Would the young want to get her new pro-life feet wet in the pro-life club on campus?  YES!  And with that Laurice signed her up.  In 15 minutes, a pro-abortion-turned-pro-life student committed to being a pro-life on Campus activist.  [Note:  Not all students who pledge to pro-life activism actually follow through with their commitment.  That is why we are thankful for you, because you make our work possible, not with your words, but with your deeds.  Thank you!]

Jacqueline Hawkins is a CBR Project Director and a regular FAB contributor.

Hampton Roads volunteers came to watch and pray, but it wasn’t long before we found them speaking with crowds of students!

A brave student opened the door for GAP at Old Dominion University (ODU), and because of you, we walked in.  Special thanks to Knights of Columbus councils in the Hampton Roads community, who $upported the effort in a big way.  In addition to finances, locals provided housing and meals for our traveling team.

To prepare KOC members and other local supporters for combat in the trenches, we held our Pro-Life Training Academy (PLTA) at the St. Benedict’s Church.  Several PLTA students engaged large groups of students, articulating and defending the pro-life movement like pros!

ODU had about 6 out of 10 moonbats.  Crowds fluctuated throughout each of the days. Towards the end of Day 2, the crowd grew larger and angrier, led by a few very loud students.

Jacqueline Hawkins is a CBR Project Director and a regular FAB contributor.

High moonbat rating but many opportunities to engage students with open minds.

We returned to Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) during our Fall 2016 tour.  VCU has the reputation for being the most leftist school in the state of Virginia and it showed. On a scale of 1 to 10 moonbats, this school scored an 8.  (This is a close second to UNC Greensboro, which earned a 9.)

Throughout the first day there were massive crowds around the site.  We hypothesized that they were whipped into a frenzy, with it being Halloween and a week before the election which would, they thought, destroy Constitutional government and forever silence anyone who would dare to question their leftist utopia.

On Day 2, there was a sizable protest group.  They, like their rape-culture-perpetuating counterparts at UNC Chapel Hill, demeaned and degraded women in an effort to get their point across.  Even the cowed males in the protest group held signs that said “Get out of my p****”.

Press coverage:

• Activists shock VCU students with graphic abortion images
• Anti-abortion advocates spark protest at VCU
• Administration speaks on First Amendment rights
• Abortion is not genocide

You can read about our 2012 visit on the FAB here and here.

Jacqueline Hawkins is a CBR Project Director and a regular FAB contributor.

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.

A young man describes the inhumanities of his own culture.

by Jacqueline Hawkins

With the massive floods of people passing by the signs at the University of Tennessee at Knoxville (UTK), the “gem yield” was encouraging.

Pro-aborts actually help
GAP at UT is always fun … by that we mean froth with protest.  The protesters set up just across the sidewalk, which actually pushed the passersby over toward our display as they walked to and from class.  We love it when a plan comes together!

GAP activates the converted
Pro-life students came out of the woodwork to thank us and even help.  Pro-life senior Federico Di Luzio was so impressed that he signed up for the Pro-Life Collegians, attended the meeting that night, and showed up the next morning to help.  Brandon Hambrick was there from the start, with his gentle but strong presence.  Solid as a rock in his Christian faith, he was an example to his male peers.

Sage philosopher
A philosophy teacher was approached by a female student who asked, “I’m holding a petri dish containing an embryo in one hand, and a viable fetus in the other.  Which should I drop?”
The philosopher answered with a question, “Before you stands a man and a woman.  Whom should you murder?”
“Neither,” replied the student.  Dr. Kress answered, “Neither will I murder either of whom is in your hands.”

Phone-a-friend
“Wow. I was pro-choice but I can’t look at this picture without changing my mind. This is a human being.”  The young man phoned three friends and they came to the display. Each one came pro-choice, but each one left saying he had a lot to think about.

Gendercide in Bangladesh
A student reported, “I have never seen these comparisons and they interest me. In Bangladesh, abortion is illegal but I know men force abortions for gender reasons. Men want a son.”

Which is more respectful?
A student asked if our methods were respectful of the dead. CBR’s Jackie Hawkins asked which was less respectful (a) hiding the slaughter of millions while the country cheers and celebrates their demise, or (b) showing their plight so we can mourn their loss and prevent others from suffering the same fate?

Reasonable pro-aborts
Five pro-aborts came to Debbie at the Deeper Still table and told her that while they weren’t on our side, they found that the twerking, condom-pushing protesters were “too aggressive and acting stupid.  They should be willing to talk to you.”