Blog
ACP Kansas City Launches
We are proud to announce our newest Anti-Choice Project chapter has just been launched in Kansas City, MO. Our good friends Caleb and April Pearson have received a shipment of new signs, and will soon be heading up protests along the busiest streets of Kansas City.
The Anti-Choice Project is making abortion impossible to ignore or trivialize by confronting indifferent Americans with the horrifying reality that abortion is an act of violence which kills a baby. Injustices which are covered up do not end, so our strategy for ending abortion is to get these pictures in the hands of pro-lifers in every American city.
If you are in the Kansas City area and would like to join Caleb and April — or if you would like to establish an ACP chapter of your own — please email us at info@www.antichoiceproject.com.
Silverdale Planned Parenthood Closure
Almost three years after the Anti-Choice Project began regular protesting with graphic abortion photos in Silverdale, Washington, the Planned Parenthood health center in that town is closing, reports the Kitsap Sun. Kristen Glundberg-Prossor, spokeswoman for Planned Parenthood of the Great Northwest, attributes the closure to less federal and state taxpayer funding. The Anti-Choice Project readily concedes that a shortage of government subsidies played a significant role in their decision making. But it is no less true that the nation’s largest abortion provider became far less popular as soon as pictures of the dismembered babies leaving Planned Parenthood were put on display along the busiest streets of Silverdale, thanks to ACP.
Injustices which are covered up have no hope of ending. In a democracy, laws which enable victimization of the innocent — for instance, taxpayer funding of abortion laws — are overturned only after a majority are bothered enough by the injustice to end it. The Anti-Choice Project is making abortion impossible to ignore or trivialize by bothering citizens with the horrifying evidence that abortion kills children in an increasing number of counties across the country.
50,000 Views
As you know, we have a handful of our protest videos posted online. Recently — in the past month or so — the viewership of our Chad Smalley video has been growing exponentially. This is fortuitous because not only do viewers get to witness the irrational vitriol and violence which so commonly spews from pro-abortionists, but they also get to see the mangled, blood-drenched bodies of 10 week old babies killed by abortion – many for the first time. The video has been posted for well over a year now, and has almost 50,000 views. A month ago it was at 30,000. We are getting almost a thousand views a day now. (If you haven’t already seen it, watch below [Warning: extreme language].)
Naturally, the number of comments made on the video is also increasing exponentially. Someone just wrote in complaining that the word “babies” is emotionally charged, and that we should only be referring to them as “fetuses.” Using the maximum character limit, here was Tom’s reply:
“Fetus” is used deliberately as it makes them seem less human. In order to kill other innocent human beings, it is always necessary to first de-humanize them. It is why in 1857 the Supreme Court declared blacks “a subordinate and inferior class of beings.” It is why Hitler described Jews as “parasites” in Mein Kampf. As Ben Stein wrote, “Pro-aborts are like the Germans who refused to think about what was happening at Dachau and then vomitted when they saw and never wanted to see again.”
You can read the 1,500 other comments, or join the conversation yourself by visiting the page.
Pregnancy Resource Services Fundraiser with Scott Klusendorf
Pregnancy Resource Services, a crisis pregnancy clinic in Bremerton, WA, held a banquet this past week which featured nationally known, pro-life speaker, Scott Klusendorf of the Life Training Institute. Scott gave a fantastic talk on how pro-lifers can make a clear and convincing case for life. You can watch similar talks on YouTube.
Afterward, ACP Directors, Tom Herring and Andrew St.Hilaire got to meet Scott and tell him a bit about the ACP.
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| ACP Directors, Tom Herring (Left) and Andrew St.Hilaire (Right) with Scott Klusendorf |
What Scott Klusendorf has to say about the use of graphic images in the fight against abortion:
When it comes to moral persuasion, many times images of death work better than images of life.
To cite a parallel example, the modern environmental movement got its start with graphic pictures in the late 1960’s. As activist Jerry Mander points out in his book Four Arguments for the Elimination of Television, initial attempts to mobilize public support for preservation of the giant redwoods produced a giant public yawn. Breathtaking photographs of majestic trees, though inspiring, did little to incite public anger at the timber industry. So, activists took a lesson from the Vietnam War. Instead of showing pictures of pre-cut trees in all their glory, environmentalists began circulating before and after photos. ‘We started carrying around photos of acres of stumps where hundreds of redwoods had been cut down. I don’t know if you have ever seen a field of tree stumps, but it is a horrific sight, not unlike a battlefield.’
The public outcry was immediate. ‘At that moment,’ Mander concludes, ‘I realized that death is a much better subject for television than life. Images of life—whether of trees themselves or the finely-tuned Vietnamese culture—accomplished nothing. They only put people to sleep.’
The same can be said of abortion. The use of graphic pictures is not manipulative, but consistent with other mainstream campaigns of social reform. Shocking pictures have traditionally been used by social reformers to dramatize the injustices of child labor, racial violence against African-Americans, U.S. military involvement in Vietnam, etc. What has changed is that for the first time in recent history, political conservatives are using this tactic in an effort to reform an abortion-tolerating public.
This tactic is appropriate, given we live in a culture that thinks and learns visually. As Neil Postman points out in Amusing Ourselves to Death, with the advent of television, America shifted from a word-based culture—with an emphasis on coherent linear thought—to an image-based one where thinking is dominated by feeling, intuition, and images.
Postman’s point (and mine) is that visual learners have short attention spans. They make decisions based on intuition, feeling, and images. That doesn’t rule out the presentation of facts and arguments, but it does change how they are communicated. It means we must change how people feel as a predicate to changing how they think. Disturbing images change feelings in ways that words cannot.
Thank you PRS and Scott for the great work you are doing on behalf of women in crisis pregnancy and their unborn children!
Letter to the Kitsap Sun: We are here because abortion is here
In her August 18th letter, Danielle Rye says she is offended when she sees our aborted baby pictures along the streets of Kitsap County. She imagines this disruption of her otherwise pleasant commute as a bad thing, but effective social reformers know that individuals need to be bothered about an injustice before enough people will rise up to stop it.
The Anti-Choice Project uses pictures to bother those with a functioning conscience because we realize that injustices which are covered up do not end. When abortion is hidden, abortion is tolerated. When it is seen, everything changes. As abolitionist William Wilberforce once said, “You may choose to look the other way, but you can never again say you did not know.”
Ms. Rye is outraged that her child saw our signs, but these images save lives and lives trump feelings in our book. The law, of course, is on our side: “It would therefore be an unprecedented departure from bedrock First Amendment principles to allow the government to restrict speech based on listener reaction simply because the listeners are children.” (9th Circuit Court of Appeals, Center for Bioethical Reform v. L.A. County Sheriff Dept.)
Ms. Rye ought to realize that we are here because abortion is here. The only question we have for those who can’t bear to look upon “Choice” is—If it’s wrong to SHOW what goes on in an abortion clinic, why isn’t it wrong to DO what goes on in an abortion clinic?
ACP Missoula Launches
Earlier this month, our newest chapter in Missoula, Montana began hitting the streets to show those in Missoula what abortion means to unborn babies. This is all part of our mission to expand the efforts of the ACP so that one day abortion may be exposed in every major city across America, so long as it continues to be a legal and acceptable “choice”.
Our Missoula chapter is being headed up by Amy Stinnett (pictured above), a pro-life activist with a strong passion for saving babies. We are thrilled to have Amy on our team and know many lives will be spared from abortion because of her courage to show the truth in Montana.
If you are near Missoula and would like to get involved, please email us at info@www.antichoiceproject.com.
Update on Tax-Exempt Status
We are excited to share with you that as of May 27, 2011 the Anti-Choice Project is officially recognized as a 501(c)(3), tax-exempt, charitable organization by the Internal Revenue Service. All donations made to support our life saving work are now claimable on your federal income tax form. In January we will be mailing all of our donors their contribution amounts.
Will you prayerfully consider becoming a donor and making a tax-deductible gift to help with our ongoing mission to save babies? You can donate here.
A Youtube Exchange
Warning: Explicit and vulgar language contained in this post.
Speaking in reference to my audibly-shaky voice when responding to Chad Smalley (who has been charged by the Poulsbo Police Department with a misdemeanor for inciting a fight in this video), YouTube user kiastar67 writes:
“He was a PUSSY and afraid. Stop lying. You fucktards are sad and OBVIOUSLY lying. He was saying he was sorry for showing the kid as you can tell in his inflection and tone. You instigate BS and get scared when someone gives it back.You people are sad and small and do it because you THRIVE on drama. I would have done worse,.You lucked out that he didn’t curb stomp your ass.TAKE YOU LUMPS AS YOU DESERVE THEM AND STOP HIDING BEHIND A SIGN,”
I write in reply:
“He was a PUSSY and afraid.”…”You people…do it because you THRIVE on drama.”
I’m confused. Are we scared of the drama that follows our protests or are we protesting because we thrive on the drama?
For the record, by the time Mr. Smalley’s spittle was hitting my face I had made up my mind not to fight back. Yes, my nerves were shot; guilty as charged. But I was not apologizing to appease Chad or to ask forgiveness for showing the picture to his son.
Rather, I was sorry that his son had to see the pictures, and I was responding in the negative to Mr. Smalley’s request we get off “his” street. The whole point of standing on a sidewalk with a large sign depicting dismembered children is to show the horrifying, conscience-pricking truth to a society indifferent and complicit in the deaths of these babies. His son had to see the pictures because it is necessary for Chad to see the pictures. And the only way to get Chad to see them is to do it in a way that results in his son seeing the images. I’m sorry that children see the pictures — I really am. It is sad that children are exposed to such harsh realities too young. But sadder still is that children are being torn to pieces, their tiny bodies tortured and mutilated almost beyond recognition by the thousands daily in America.
We put our own well-being at risk, not because we “thrive on drama”, but because we care more about the millions of babies being destroyed by abortion than we care about what people think, or do, to us. We believe that there are some causes bigger than ourselves. We think that baby killing is the single greatest injustice in the history of man.
We don’t hide behind our signs, kiastar67. We stand behind them in full view – and arms reach – of violent men like Mr. Smalley. Yes, we are willing to take our “lumps” for it. Yes, I was lucky he didn’t “curb stomp” me. And who would have been surprised by it?
“I would have done worse,.You lucked out that he didn’t curb stomp your ass.”
I, for one, am not the least surprised that someone who supports violence against unborn people, would be willing to act violently toward born people. Fortunately this is still a land of laws, not the lawless anarchy of angry citizens curb stomping those whose messages they don’t want to see.
-Tom Herring
FDA Confronts Smokers with Graphic Images
In an even more aggressive effort to discourage tobacco use, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently released graphic warning labels that it will require be placed on cigarette packs by the fall of 2012. Here are just a few examples:
By forcing smokers to view these disturbing images, the FDA is sending a clear message: maybe something so harmful to your lungs, teeth, and throat is not such a good idea.
This is an effective approach to truth in advertising which we thought should be applied to the abortion industry as well. Notices placed on the front doors of every Planned Parenthood and abortion facility across the country, warning women about the reality of abortion. Here’s just one example:
We think the message is clear: maybe something which does this to your baby is not such a good idea.
What do you think?
911 Call Reveals Botched Abortion in Everett, WA
Abortion is legal, but it is certainly not rare or safe for women and their unborn children. Thanks to the good folks at Abortion in Washington and their excellent investigative reporting, we now know with certainty what a recent ambulance visit to Planned Parenthood in Everett, WA was all about.
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| Nothing to see here. Planned Parenthood staff attempts to cover up the scene. |
Today, AIW released the audio of a Planned Parenthood staffer named Pamela calling 911, on March 18, 2011, to report that they needed transportation to the hospital for a “patient who is bleeding.” Listen to the audio here:
This is not the first botched abortion in recent memory. So-called “safe” abortions come with a laundry list of complications, not to mention a lifetime of regret for the mother. Like abortion’s devastating effect on unborn children, so must we expose its effect upon women.