Dear Partners and Friends, 
This month we continue our coverage of the Spring 2006 GAP tour. We thank God for lives saved and hearts and minds changed through your support of this work..

Fletcher, Jane, & John

GAP Nearly Takes Flight at Oklahoma State University

We set up GAP along the major east-west pedestrian and bike route, close to the Student Center.
On Day 2, we configured the display for maximum wind resistance.  Notice the additional bracing that is firmly attached to the steel barricades.
Tennessee Volunteer Kathy Hardin is a passionate and capable member of our front-line Debate Team.
In a debate on abortion, Fletcher uses half of his debating time to answer questions from members of the class.
Not liking the result, Dr. Scott got right in Fletcher’s face.
The RCC truck adds a whole new dimension to our campus presentation.
On March 29-30, we displayed GAP on the Library Lawn at Oklahoma State University (OSU). We were hosted by the OSU College Republicans. Community support was organized by the staff and volunteers of the Stillwater Life Services.

Storm warning. The weather on Day 1 was quite calm. The forecast for that night and all of Day 2 called for heavy thunderstorms and strong winds. When the storm didn’t show, we decided to go ahead and set up GAP as scheduled, but we configured the display for maximum wind resistance. Before the day ended, we got wind gusts up to 46 miles/hour, but the signs didn’t move, not even a fraction of an inch! Kudos to Mick Hunt (Life Advocates, Asheville) and Gene Garrett (PUSH for Life, Birmingham) for expert set-up.

A storm in the classroom. On the afternoon of Day 1, I was invited to participate in a debate on abortion in Dr. Bill Scott’s class on “Psychology of Human Sexuality.” When I arrived for the debate, I learned that they hadn’t found a pro-abort to debate against me, and Dr. Scott would not allow me to speak unless both sides were represented. He said he must be impartial and avoid taking sides. Fair enough. But then he proceeded to speak against the ban on abortion that had recently passed the South Dakota legislature. So much for “impartiality.” He did allow me to pass out GAP literature, and one of his teaching assistants handed out pro-abortion literature she had obtained from a local group. After handing out the GAP brochures, I left.

About 20 minutes later, one of Dr. Scott’s teaching assistants found me at the display site and said they had found an opponent for me to debate. It was a team of two college students representing one of the campus pro-abortion groups. They did their best to frame the debate around “choice” and avoid the topic of exactly what is being chosen. Whether or not I successfully rebutted their arguments I will leave for others to say, but it was clear that Dr. Scott didn’t like the outcome. I think he expected that I would be destroyed by the logic of their position. When he saw that pro-abortion slogans were no match for reasoned arguments, he was clearly angry. He walked over and stood right in my face. His teaching assistants tried to calm him down, but he wanted to make a point.

At the time, it appeared to me that this guy was about two feet taller than me and just might take me out. But I didn’t back down. Upon further review, video evidence conclusively showed that he and I are about the same height. Must have been the Mickey Mouse tie that made him look bigger.

Dr. Scott demanded to know who would select the doctor that would decide if a pregnancy endangered a woman’s life or not. Perhaps he feared that South Dakota would appoint a pro-life doctor. Perhaps he feared that I would appoint myself. I told him that if he didn’t like my doctor, he could pick his own. I didn’t say this at the time, but I am confident that reasonable people can fashion reasonable safeguards that will protect the interests of both woman and child in the rare but heart-wrenching circumstance in which a mother’s life is threatened.

This is really a red-herring argument. The implication of his question is that if we pro-lifers can’t come up with a fool-proof recipe for deciding every single hard case (a recipe acceptable to the pro-aborts, by the way), then they should be allowed to keep killing 1.3 million children every year.

At the end, Dr. Scott thanked us for coming and reminded everybody that I was a seasoned professional and my debating opponents were college students. That’s a fair point. But it occurred to me that for a brief 20-minute period in that one class, one professional adult had the same advantages (education, knowledge, experience, preparation, and practice) over two left-leaning college students that Dr. Scott and most other left-leaning professors enjoy over their conservative students every single day of every year. Oh, the power!

Media Coverage. The Daily O’Collegian ran an extensive front-page article covering GAP. They put one of our GAP pictures (featuring the hand of a 10-week fetus) on the front page, they addressed all the important points, and they got all the quotes right. Not bad!

Student Reaction. Reactions from OSU students ran the gamut:

I come from a really liberal family. I think the project is good. It is needed because the pro-life movement has become so stagnant. These pictures show the truth and move it to a higher level. I don’t believe most women who see these pictures will choose to have an abortion. (female sophomore)

You people are idiots! (older male, maybe a professor)

At first I thought these images were too graphic, but I walked around the display and listened to the way people reacted and I realized that it works. I think that these images would be shown all over the TV and in magazines, if that’s what it takes to get the point across to people and start debate.

I want to throw eggs at it.

This made me think more than I have in a long time. … It gets people’s attention and it made me want to know more.

I feel scared by this display; I fear people like you.

I’ve had an abortion; I wish I had seen these pictures before I did that. (Note: she took down a number for post-abortion counseling.) (female student)

Thank you for being here. (female)

Thank you, CBR supporter. We were able to be at OSU, for those students and their children, only because of your prayers and financial support. Please do all you can, so that, by God’s grace, we can do all we must.

To arrange your automatic monthly bank draft to support our work:

1. Download and print the Electronic Gift Transfer Authorization:
http://www.abortionno.org/...GiftTransferSE.pdf
2. Fill out the form.  Make sure you designate the gift for "CBR Southeast"
3. Enclose a voided check or deposit slip bearing the account number of the account we should draft.
4. Mail the Transfer Authorization form and a voided check (or deposit slip) to CBR Southeast, P.O. Box 20115, Knoxville, TN 37940.

Please pray that God will raise up others to help you support this life-saving work!