How Not to Protest

My last post was a review of Abby Johnson’s book Unplanned. There’s a reason I decided to do that review, besides just introducing you to a fabulous pro-life resource. The other reason is today’s post.

I actually have only been to one abortion clinic protest. I’ll say that right up front. I have wanted to go to them regularly ever since I started studying the abortion debate at the ripe old age of thirteen. The one protest I did attend was a Bound4Life prayer vigil, where I stood for one hour with other protestors, all lined up on the sidewalk beside an abortion clinic, praying, with the word “LIFE” written on red duct tape over our mouths. (I assure you, my attendance at such protests will rise drastically as soon as possible.)

What I’m about to say here then is, obviously, not taken from my own experience. Most of it is taken from the powerful experience of Abby Johnson—a Planned Parenthood director for eight years, turned pro-life advocate—and from other pro-life people, as well as current abortion advocates. I’m blogging about a subject I don’t have much first-hand experience on because I think it’s extremely important.

I posted about generalizing groups of people a few weeks ago. There is a reason that pro-lifers are often painted as reckless, harassing extremists (besides that opponents love to paint each other black). Because there really are reckless, harassing extremist pro-lifers.

Clinic Escorts

Abortion clinics often have “escorts” that go out and walk clients into the clinic. They have these escorts because of the pro-life protestors that try to convince the woman to not go in.

Note those last seven words. “Convince the woman to not go in.” Ultimately, that’s what protestors outside abortion clinics are trying to do. In most, if not all, cases, the woman going in for the abortion is scared, hurt, and often alone. She may or may not be absolutely dedicated to getting the abortion, but she wants—or feels that she needs—to go in. Which do you think will convince her to stay out? Screaming people waving signs with pictures of aborted babies? That only encourages her to flee—inside, where it’s quiet and safe. Or will it be the peaceful, prayer for people, saying gently to her, “You don’t have to do this. We’re here to help. We can help you, for free. You don’t need to go through with this today.”

Are you going to convince her to stay out and talk to you when you’re screaming at her?

Of course, from what I’ve seen and read, pro-abortioners will label any type of protest as harassment. Just because they say its harassment doesn’t mean it is. Peaceful, gentle protests are effective.

From Unplanned:

"'Uh-oh. They got one,' my trainer said. 'I wish they'd leave these poor women alone. Do they have to harass them over such a personal decision?'...

"I watched as the pro-lifer handed our client some literature--she didn't look like she felt harassed to me. Clearly, she'd chosen to talk to the pro-lifer...If we are pro-choice, I thought, ...why do we feel we need to protect clients from conversatoiins about their choices?"

Strong, loud, violent opposition (abortionist shooters, I’m looking at you) only strengthens the other side. There’s nothing like opposition that solidifies the troops. (From Unplanned, after the murder of George Tiller, an infamous late-term abortionist: "Dr. Tiller's death...solidified our ause...rallied our sense of being the despised yet brave advocates for women's health and well being...")

Peaceful prayer and counseling, on the other hand, create quite a different feeling. (From Unplanned, about the 40 Days for Life campaign: "Forty days and forty nights--those are biblical proportions! That's a long time to be surrounded nonstop by a large group of people who disagree with you but are so persistently...well...nice about it. It created an atmosphere I couldn't quite articulate.")

 I could go on with more quotes, but for sake of conciseness, I won’t.

Also, I’m not saying there’s never a time for pictures of abortion and chanting pro-life slogans. There are. I only became dedicated to the pro-life cause when I saw pictures of abortion. I already knew what abortion did, but the pictures “hit it home”, so to speak. As for chanting pro-life slogans…let’s save that for the Walk for Life or to counter a PP lobby day. Not when trying this exact time and place to save lives.

Pro-abortioners claim that sidewalk counselors or other peaceful protestors change nothing, therefore we are useless, therefore go home and keep your mouth shut. Don’t listen to them. If I spent my whole life volunteering at sidewalk counseling or a crisis pregnancy center and only helped save one baby from abortion, it’d be worth it. It’s always worth it.

Images found via Google Images. No copyright infringement intended.

They're All Devils

Anti-lifers are horrible, baby-hating people. Uncaring and unfeeling, they’re only bent on squeezing as much money from murdering babies as possible. They lie through their teeth to trick women into letting their “doctors” butcher children in an extremely dangerous, horrendous procedure, yet claiming that it is safer than carrying to term. All their staff are cold to their clients. Their exam rooms are filthy, stained with blood and littered with unwashed tools. They rush through the abortions, botching many of them and harming the women they claim to protect, just for the sake as getting as many abortions done as possible and raking in as much blood money as they can. They have conned the American people into giving them millions of dollars to continue in this ghastly practice, ruining the economy and murdering children.

I hope you didn’t agree with what you just read. I’ve read many things to this degree, though few are as extreme. What’s wrong with the above paragraph?

It generalizes. 

The truth is, pro-abortioners aren’t devils. Most of them aren’t just after blood money. Many of them truly care about women and are passionate about their work. They truly think what they’re doing is right and good. My guess is that there are a generous supply of Abby Johnsons out there. (Abby Johnson was a Christian Planned Parenthood director for eight years, now a pro-life advocate. She truly believed what she was doing was right.) Remember that pro-abortion blog I read? Well, take a look at this following paragraph:

Anti-choicers are horrible, freedom-hating people. Uncaring and unfeeling, they actually think FETUSES, a tumor growing inside a women, is more important than the woman bearing it. They deceive women into thinking these parasites are actually babies, or else they intimidate and harass them by saying they’ll go to hell for their CHOICE of a LEGAL and SAFE procedure—a procedure that’s safer than pregnancy itself! They’re so bent on illegalizing abortion and reducing women to baby incubators. They don’t want abortion, yet they don’t want BIRTH CONTROL either! They can only see the fetus. They don’t see the real, living, breathing, hurting woman in front of them. ARE THEY BLIND?? They want to save the fetus, but the won’t help the woman! They don’t even care about the fetus once it’s born! They don’t care about life: they only care about devolving our society by restricting the most basic human right: the right to control our own bodies and reproduction!!

(Would you believe me if I told you that it was actually easier (as in thinking of what to say) for me to write that paragraph, reducing people like me to scum, than writing the first paragraph, reducing people like them to scum? I’m not sure what this means…)

Did that paragraph surprise you? I see it all the time in the pro-abortion literature I read (mainly in the pro-abortion blog—minus the passionate cursing). They truly think we’re blind, uncaring individuals. There are soo many things wrong with that paragraph, but I won’t get into them, because I’m sure you can see what they are.

I wrote that paragraph based on what I'd read (I promise, it's true-to-life). Here's something that, to my knowledge, was actually made by somebody pro-abortion. Take a look at the following cartoon:

Did that make you angry? It makes me angry every time. It generalizes. Generalization is rampant on both sides because it makes the enemy sound horrid, and consequently makes your side sound angelic.

Here’s another glance into the pro-abortion mind: they do their jobs at the risk of their lives. They’re afraid for their lives and the lives of their doctors. They’re afraid of anti-choice extremists. I knew that it would be worrying to them, but I hadn’t imagined the extent to which they would mention it.

There are always exceptions to the rules, of course. They have their Gosnells and we have our Roeders. That’s what lets us write our generalizations and get away with it. Because those people do exist. But not all are like that.

Now, the pro-abortion people could very well be exaggerating their fear of being attacked by pro-life extremists so they can victimize themselves. They could very well be simply lying about how much they care about women. And I’m sure many of them do. But many of them do not.

This is frustrating to no end. It is so much easier to defeat the “enemy” in our own minds if we can just see them as Satanists. But they aren’t Satanists. They’re real people, and they’re all created by God. (Not to gloss over the barbaric “safe and legal” procedure of abortion. It’s evil. Complete evil. There’s no other way to describe it.)

My point to all of this is that we cannot  and should not view them all like this. I admit it: I have a hard time loving this type of enemy. To be honest, I used to hate them. I pray for them, along with the women and their babies. God can give us the love, though. God can give us His love for them. He does love the abortionist doctors. I don’t really love them now, but I no longer hate them. I hate what they do. Not them.

God, please give us Your love.

Devil image found via Google Images. Cartoon from here.