Choosing Life, Part IV

This article is the final installment in a series by Lincoln S. Brandenburg that deals with the effectiveness of abortion victim images. If you have not already done so, please first read Part II and Part III, respectively.

“If Jesus, who was perfect, who never sinned, and who was love incarnate, could not speak the truth without being hated, rejected, and despised, who are we to think that we can do better?”

– Ben Davenport, pastor.

I’ll just say it: holding pictures of dead babies on a busy street corner is one of the most uncomfortable things a person can do to fight abortion (though asking people for money might top it). Besides the angry stares and being called names, there are concerns that cause some to question the effectiveness of abortion victim images. Let’s address these concerns:

Why not use positive, prenatal pictures instead of gory abortion images?

While prenatal pictures demonstrate the humanity of preborn children (and can be effective for some), they do nothing to horrify the viewer about the stark brutality of abortion. What portrays the horror of the Holocaust: a photo of a European Jewish family? Or pictures of bodies piled up in Auschwitz? Websites such as http://www.FacesOfDrunkDriving.com are effective because they not only show the faces of beautiful people – they show those same faces after being burned alive due to drunk driving.

Why not show pictures privately with consent, rather than forcing them on people in public?

The people who show up to events such as abortion debates are a) already pro-life or b) vehemently pro-abortion. The vast majority of people apathetic and ignorant – and quite happy to remain so. Most of them will never Google “abortion pictures” on their own accord. We simply cannot wait for them to come to us. The urgency of children being killed requires that we take our message to them – a LOT of them – NOW. To be passive “activists” would be a contradiction.

Those images turn people off, rather than promote thoughtful dialogue

This often mistakes popularity for results. By definition, no social reformer was popular during his time. Wilberforce had to hire a bodyguard after attempts were made on his life. MLK was assassinated. Jesus was crucified. The fact that some people oppose our work means that our message is pricking their conscience. And while those who are die-hard pro-abortion may oppose us loudly, that doesn’t mean that we aren’t reaching the many who sit on the fence… the many who would otherwise yawn at our small-scale, “cupcakes for life” activities.

What about children? They may be upset by seeing those images.

This concern is often raised by good people who are primarily considering their role as parents. They would prefer to talk with their children about abortion at a time of their choosing, instead of having it thrust upon them by pictures in the public square. They are (understandably) thinking about the well-being of their own children.

But as activists, we have to consider a bigger picture. Many parents will never educate their children about abortion. The extent of their discussion will be that “if you get pregnant, tell me early and we’ll get it taken care of.” Those children will likely never see the absolute evil of abortion apart from our pictures on the streets. If we can reach that child before they become sexually active and prevent them from having their baby killed in the future, love demands that we do so. There is no way (that I know of) to show the pictures to large amounts of people while shielding each child of good, pro-life parents. So we show them to the public, trusting that those who see them are the ones that God intended.

That being said, small children often don’t discern what is on the pictures. Older children’s response often mirrors the parent’s response. I have never seen a child who was not calm as long as the parent was calm. Parents regularly use our photo displays as a teaching opportunity for their children (and thank us for our work).

Children frequently become pro-life as a result of seeing abortion victim images. Kids are open-minded, blunt and still posses common sense. They haven’t yet been inoculated with the ideas of “reproductive freedom.” They know when they see our pictures that “it’s a baby.” They do not attempt to rationalize the indefensible. Internationally-acclaimed pro-life activist Lila Rose was first moved to stand up for babies who were being aborted when she was merely 9 years old… and saw a picture of an aborted child (check out Lila’s story at http://www.firstthings.com/article/2010/10/fighting-for-life)

People’s lives are more important than people’s feelings. We must ask ourselves: which is worse: for children to see the images and be upset? Or for children to continue to die? We will never end the killing by covering it up.

Post-abortive women may be hurt by those pictures

Our goal should never be to condemn women or men who have been involved in an abortion. As Christians who have ourselves been forgiven, we know that God is eager to forgive the sin of abortion, just as He is all sins.

According to many of my own post-abortive friends, the pictures are often a necessary tool in coming out of denial. No one wants to believe that they had their own baby killed, whatever the reasons. Acknowledging what was done is a necessary step towards experiencing the healing grace of God.

According to the Center for Disease Control, nearly half of all post-abortive women will have another child aborted at some point in their life. That’s a greater risk than the national average of 1 in 3 women who will abort. Again, human lives are more important than human feelings – and through compassion and post-abortive counseling resources, we can care for both.

Jesus would have used a less gory/more loving approach

The Crucifixion, while carried out by man, was orchestrated by God the Father. He could have chosen any way to have His Son sacrificed, and he chose the cross. It was a bloody, public spectacle that demonstrated the depraviltiy of our sin, as well as the great depth of love God has for sinners. The Gospels describe it in excruciating, macabre detail. There is no biblical basis for this suggestion.

The pictures show a truth that many find offensive. But we do not yell when we show them, overturn tables, chase people with whips or call them names such as “brood of vipers.” Christ – the incarnation of love itself – did each of these things when it was called for. It would be un-Christian for us to downplay the truth of abortion to our neighbors by making it seem less horrific than it is – not to mention, unloving to preborn children. Such inaction does not make us loving – it makes us spineless. To say that “Christ was love” does not necessitate that Christ was a pushover. Nor should we be.
“Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them.” – Paul, Ephesians 5:1

-Lincoln

Georgia Project Director, Center for Bio-Ethical Reform

www.ProLifeOnCampus.com

www.AbortionNo.org

 

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Thank you for taking the time to read this series. Even though I have been familiar with this approach to changing hearts about abortion, it was a tough read for me. Seeing the pictures is never, ever easy and I cry every time. My hope is that it will push us out of our apathy and cause us to be actively pro-life.

~Aimee

 

Choosing Life, Part III

This week I am sharing a series of articles by Lincoln S. Brandenburg regarding protecting the sanctity of human life.

Note: this article is the third in a four-part series discussing the injustice of abortion. If you have not read the previous article, please check it out first.

“He who defines the terms wins the argument.” – Unknown 

“What do you think about abortion?” I’ve personally asked hundreds of people on the streets that question. Thankfully, not all of them have tried to bite my head off! Among those who don’t feel strongly about the issue either way, most responses sum up to one of the following:

“It’s a woman’s body, so it’s her choice.”

“I personally wouldn’t get one, but who am I to tell others what to do?”

“Every child should be a wanted child. We need to take care of all the orphans and kids in foster care first.”

On the surface, these responses sound reasonable – even noble. Conservatives are always whining about big government, right? So why do they want the government to get involved in people’s private decisions just because it involves their pet issue?

Much like the slave trade of the past, the modern abortion lobby has effectively masked their gruesome deeds. They have redefined abortion using noble-sounding euphemisms: women’s health and freedom of choice. 

These abstract terms are the default for the average citizen. Like college football teams, marriage partners and what church one attends (if any), abortion is viewed as a matter of personal preference in terms of civil policy. The government shouldn’t be involved in people’s sex lives.

And like sugar in eighteenth-century England, the modern world revolves around sex. Restricting abortion would place a strain on women’s ability to enjoy unlimited sex without the potential consequence of an unwanted child. Men couldn’t freely enjoy sex without the nagging possibility of alimony payments in the backs of their heads. Americans simply will not accept intrusion into their civil liberties without extreme justification. Just look at the success of the gun lobby.

Given how effectively the victims of abortion have been dehumanized, is it any wonder that such justification does not exist in the minds of so many? An unwanted preborn child is referred to as a “clump of cells,” “tissue” or “product of conception.” In a surgical abortion procedure, the doctor “terminates the pregnancy,” rather than “decapitates and dismembers the baby” (of course, a wanted preborn child is referred to universally as a baby; e.g., “how far along is the baby?” “the baby kicked!” “baby on the way!”)

And so, thanks to the abstract euphemisms and dehumanizing language, we will never end the killing of preborn children by using words alone. Put yourself in the average boots of the average person when they read our pro-life signs and hear our slogans. What we mean is not what they hear:

Choose life! “We’re not saying you can’t encourage someone to carry to term. We’re just saying that people in a free country should have that choice!”

Abortion kills children! “That’s just your opinion. It’s not a child until (insert arbitrary stage of human development).”

End abortion! “End a woman’s right to choose what she does with her own body? No thank you! It’s not 1916 anymore!”

I’m not claiming that women have never changed their minds about aborting their child after seeing such slogans. I am calling into question whether using slogans alone will persuade the majority of our fellow citizens that aborting a child is an act so heinous that it ought to be against the law.

“A picture is worth a thousand words.” Unknown 

As history overwhelmingly shows us (see previous article), the way to successfully end an injustice is to use disturbing images of the victims. Why would the current crisis of children killed by abortion be an exception? When we use abortion victim images, we restore truthful meaning to the word “abortion.” And we substantiate our claim that it kills children, saying in effect, “Don’t take my word for it, believe your own eyes!”

“The death of one man is a tragedy, the death of millions is a statistic.” – Joseph Stalin

I have personally been involved in many forms of pro-life activism, from sidewalk counseling to public speaking to protests to marches. But I have never seen anything that changed minds the way that abortion victim images do. People can easily forget what we said to them, but they don’t easily forget what we show them. Think about what moved you the most – hearing the fact that six million Jews died in the Holocaust, or watching the film “Schindler’s List?”

The liberal in me still wants to be pro-choice. But after hearing scientific arguments against it, and seeing pictures of it, there’s just no way I can support it.” – Student at the University of Kentucky

Abortion victim images shown in public produce what Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. described as “non-violent, creative tension.” When my colleagues and I brought the graphic Genocide Awareness Project (GAP) to Auburn University, the pictures set that campus on fire. Pro-abortion protesters came out in droves to oppose us. Ordinary students who were going about their business as usual were arrested by the controversy. They detoured to our display to see what the hubbub was about. And we showed thousands of them that abortion was much worse than what they had originally thought.

At the end of our tour I visited the Student Center to wash up before hitting the road. As I passed students and staff sitting at tables in the cafeteria or walking together down the halls, I eavesdropped just enough to gather some important information: Every single conversation taking place was about abortion. Whether we had converted them or not, we had forced otherwise apathetic students to wrestle with an injustice we had made impossible to ignore.

“A social reformer’s greatest fear is not being hated; MLK and Wilberforce were hated. His greatest fear is being ignored.” – Greg Cunningham, Director, Center for Bio-Ethical Reform

The Auburn story has been repeated at countless campuses and street corners. Pro-life students have told us that “(GAP) reached more students in two days than we would while tabling every day for two semesters.” Tabling, soliciting literature, movie nights and baking cupcakes simply will not reach the numbers of people our movement must reach if we are to end the killing.

“I don’t want to say this too loudly, but you’re really changing the way I think about [abortion].”    –  Student at James Madison University

There are plenty of worthwhile efforts to lessen the killing and save lives: pregnancy resource centers, sidewalk counseling and adoption are all good work that Christians and people of good will should be involved with. But by themselves, non of those activities will end the killing. Historically, victim images have overwhelmingly proved to be effective and necessary. Strategically, using victim images is logical. If we are to be hell-bent on winning – and not just content to save a life here and there – we must utilize the power of the truth.

In the next article, we will address some of the concerns and questions that are often raised about using victim images in public.

-Lincoln

Georgia Project Director, Center for Bio-Ethical Reform

www.ProLifeOnCampus.com www.AbortionNo.org

“Because there are many excellent ways to fight abortion, but only one way to end it.”

It would be impossible for me to recall and credit specific ideas that I have picked up from so many of my mentors and fellow activists. Special thanks to Greg Cunningham, Dr. Fletcher Armstrong, Scott Klusendorf, Stephanie Grey and the many others who’s wisdom, logic and experience have shaped and influenced the thoughts presented here. 

 

Choosing Life, Part II

This week I am sharing a series of articles by Lincoln S. Brandenburg regarding protecting the sanctity of human life.

Note: Elective abortion takes the life of an innocent human being during his/her earliest stages of development. This being the case, it is the greatest human rights abuse of our time, taking over 1 million lives in the US and 40 million worldwide annually. This series of articles examines the methods that social reformers have used to successfully change society’s apathy towards the oppression of others, and how to apply them to the contemporary injustice of abortion.

Choosing Life, Part I

Today as we celebrated Sanctity of Life Sunday, I was once again reminded of how vital it is for followers of Christ to be actively pro-life. We all have the opportunity to do something to make a difference. One of my greatest passions in life is seeing women empowered to choose life. This week I am honored to share a series of articles discussing how Christians can be involved in protecting the sanctity of human life. For now, though, here is my list of 4 ways we can be actively pro-life: