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!

The following is Part Two of a reflection written by CBR Project Manager Brad Martel about an encounter he had with a student at Cleveland State. Part One was sent last week and can also be viewed here. 

As Stevie neared the end of her story, I knew the answer: Stevie needed the Gospel. “God loves you,” I began. I had her full attention. Had anyone ever said this to her before? “God knows everything about you. He knows the parts that you don’t share with others and even the parts that you don’t understand yourself. And He loves you. He wants an eternal relationship with you. But there’s a problem.”

I told her how our sins separate us from God and how Jesus reconciles those who trust him. I then thanked Stevie for her time and wished her well. She left the display, found a friend nearby, and wept with her. We both experienced the power of the Gospel message.

Transgender people are especially ready to hear the good news about Jesus, for a few reasons. First, they know something is wrong. The Gospel makes clear that we all have a deeply rooted problem. We agree on this main point. It remains for Christians to explain the problem, what separates individuals from God.

Second, they are looking for a major transformation. The Gospel explains that when anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation! Christians are further exhorted to be transformed by renewing our mind, to put away the “old man.” Here again, we both agree on this main point. It remains for us to explain the healthy and truly necessary transformation.

Lastly, they want, above all, to be accepted. The Gospel assures us that there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ, and that there is fellowship for the believer with God and man. As a church, we are members of a body. Transgender people lead difficult lives and they need the Gospel. They need the truth about their inherent dignity as people created in the image of God.

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?

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.

Responses to GAP at West Virginia University ran the gamut.  Protestors personally insulted staff and volunteers and gave ranting monologues into megaphones. We even had an incident with Starbucks refusing us service. Not exactly how we imagined “almost heaven” to be. However, campus police were diligent, pro-lifers stopped by to say thank you, and a multitude of good conversations were had.

Unexpected support. Many transgender students wanted us to know that they were not “with” the protestors. We had genuine conversations with them and discussed the contagion situation of young girls struggling with their identity and running to the trans “fix.” This reaction was surprising to say the least!

Utilitarianism. “We judge value based on the ability to do something. This entity you call a human from fertilization is unknown potential. Our move toward AI (artificial intelligence) may make this human potential unnecessary.” Who gets to decide whose potential is “unnecessary” or not valuable? Many regimes have decided certain groups of people are not valuable based on arbitrary characteristics. Is that the example we want to follow?

Hurting faculty member. A Jewish professor screamed accusations that we were being disrespectful to “her people” and that we were exploiting the pain of her three miscarriages. Exposing injustice against Jews honors, not disrespects them, as is proven by museums that document the Holocaust.  Miscarriage is a tragedy that affects many.  We hope she finds healing that she needs, and we educate others to enable them to avoid the lasting pain of abortion.

Check out some more encounters we had at the Genocide Awareness Project at Marshall University.

ALL Black Lives Matter. A group of black students told us we couldn’t use BLM slogans while discussing abortion, claiming that BLM is about systemic racism. What would you call targeting millions of black babies if not systemic racism? We know that eugenicists in the 20th century built abortion centers in predominately black neighborhoods.

Hungry for knowledge. A few students stepped up to ask us questions and have polite discussion. Despite their obvious disagreements with us, we could tell they were hungry for knowledge and for God.

Responsible for suicide? If the law prevents a young girl from aborting, one man claimed, it’s our fault if she then kills herself! Help is widely available for pregnant women in all kinds of different circumstances. Emotional distress doesn’t justify killing a born child, so why would it justify killing a preborn child?

A glimmer of hope. We met one student with an amazing story of survival. “I was born at 23 weeks and my mom had to FIGHT the doctors to keep me alive. And here I am, thankful.” Praise God for courageous moms!

Can you believe we have never taken GAP to Wild and Wonderful West Virginia? After traveling their famed Country Roads, we found ourselves at Marshall University. The Herd, as their students are known, was quite unwelcoming and had few rational responses. However, we truly saw 1 Peter 2:15 in action: “For such is the will of God, that by doing right you may silence the ignorance of foolish men.” Many hearts were softened, if not completely changed, that day.

Hypocrisy at its finest. After agreeing that late term abortion is morally wrong, one student claimed it was still a woman’s right to choose. Another took the same view seconds after declaring that targeting gay babies in the womb is wrong.

Sharing the Gospel of Life. A young Christian student agreed with our stance on abortion but said we should only preach the Gospel to change minds. What would’ve happened if we used her methods to stop the racial segregation in the 1960s?

No regrets. It’s always sad to see women flaunting their abortions, claiming to have no regrets. The only thing we can do is pray for these women and hope the display touches their hearts.

Next week we’ll share even more stories from Marshall!

Not the point.  One protestor’s sign said “How can I be old enough to be a mother but not old enough to have an abortion?”  Our images show the truth about abortion; it is child killing in the womb.  The age of the mother does not determine the humanity of the child.

Hope in our youth. Two young men were standing near our signs, discussing amongst themselves. Jane overheard one say, “Because I am not in a situation where I can afford to take responsibility for a child, I plan to wait.”

Student to student.  Dan said he was against abortion, but we were “doing it wrong” by showing abortion images.  His friend Ellen had a different view.  She had had an abortion and was lied to; she was told her baby was a blob of tissue.  After learning the truth about abortion, she felt betrayed and regretted her abortion.  She told Dan that we were actually “doing it right” in showing the truth to others who were undoubtedly being lied to as well.  Amen.

Enemies of the Left. In his book Siege, Mark Crutcher says that this is not our war; it is a war between the pro-aborts and the pre-born children. We, the pro-lifers, are an army fighting for those who can’t fight for themselves. We were reminded of this while at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte when students held signs that said “F*** those kids!” They must make the poor children their enemies to justify murdering them.

Possessed or triggered?  One woman yelled at GAP staffers without allowing them to answer.  When asked if we could respond, she yelled louder, until she got tired and left.  Some may say she was possessed, others say she’s just triggered.

Old and useless. An older professor was yelling into a megaphone, encouraging students to go vote. Jane, tired of her egging on the kids, walked over and kindly said, “You know these students won’t take care of you when you need them; you’ll be old and useless, like me.” That shut her up.

We’ve taken GAP to the University of North Carolina at Charlotte many times over the past 20+ years. This campus illustrates how our culture has become more and more hateful. Still, the Light shines in the dark.

The danger of opinion on campus. Pro-life students often tell us they feel unsafe around the pro-abortion mob. One student had to be escorted off campus by our staff after being surrounded by a gang of angry pro-aborts. When he tried to leave, they followed him, and campus police did nothing to ensure his protection. We invited him to stay with us until the mob dissipated.

The aggressive truth. “This is really aggressive,” said one student while looking at our signs, “but you know what? It’s the truth.” She had planned on giving us her information and heading to class, but she decided to stick around for a few hours. At one point, she even jumped into a conversation with a student about the pregnancy resource center where she volunteers. Pro-life students are always refreshing.