Fletcher, Jane, & John

^{2006 Elections: The Pro-Life Movement Must Chart a New Course}

Not even close. Of course, there’s an ebb and flow in politics. Today’s winners will over-reach and stumble, opening the way for tomorrow’s reversals. We lose big in 1992 and win big in 1994. We lose in 1996, tie in 2000, win in 2002, win big in 2004, and lose big in 2006. But even at the highest point on this political roller-coaster, we didn’t even get close to our goal, which is legal protection for every child. Not even close. There are simply too many other issues (e.g., economy and security) and too many uncontrollable factors (e.g., corruption and terrorism) that compete with abortion for the priorities of the voting public. If we are going to win, we must make abortion more important to more voters. Thankfully, some pro-life leaders are starting to get it.

Focus on what matters most. In spite of the obvious fact that we must change public opinion, almost nobody is doing anything about it. All over this country, the largest, most visible, and most well-funded pro-life organizations continue to do almost nothing to change public opinion on abortion. Instead, they focus almost all of their attention on elections and legislation. Yes, of course we should try to effect political change; but if that’s all we do, our efforts will fail. We can’t keep squandering most of our resources (money, volunteer hours, position, influence) on a half-strategy that simply will not work. To win, pro-life leaders must focus on the one thing that matters most – changing public opinion. You can’t change public policy until you first change public opinion. Thankfully, some pro-life leaders are starting to get it.

	Above: Pictures of racial injustice, on TV and in magazines, were essential to civil rights advances. Below: Abusive child labor practices were reformed only after people saw pictures of adolescent children working in coal mines.

See what works, and copy it. How do we change public opinion? Fortunately, others before us have shown the way. They were the successful social reformers – the ones who ended slavery, ended abusive child labor, and brought about civil rights for all. How did they win? What did they do? What did they not do?

Expose and dramatize injustice. We all know about Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. He is the model for us. First of all, look at what he did not do. He did not focus primarily on elections and legislation. He knew that this would never work unless he first changed public opinion. He achieved his goal by using the popular media to show pictures of Black men and women being attacked with dogs and water cannons. These images in magazines and on TV made people uncomfortable with the status quo. When people saw racism, the legislation followed. When Lewis Hine fought abusive child labor, he didn’t start a lobby organization. Instead, he changed public opinion with a traveling photographic display featuring pictures of adolescent boys and girls working 12-hour days in textile mills and coal mines. In each of these cases, political change occurred only as an outcome of a growing discomfort with the status quo. This discomfort was generated, magnified, and focused by the publication of horrifying images that exposed and dramatized injustice.

Prove the facts, and make them unavoidable. The successful reformers of the past didn’t start with elections and legislation, because elections and legislation only measure the will of the people. They don’t reform the culture. We must use our considerable resources to do exactly those things that other successful reformers have done, that is, to use pictures change public opinion and create discomfort with the status quo. To change public opinion, we must prove two facts: (1) that the unborn child really is a baby, even in the first trimester, and (2) that abortion is a horror.

A three-part plan. What follows is a program that will prove the facts and make people uncomfortable with the status quo on abortion. First, pro-lifers in every state should take the truth about abortion to every pubic university campus at least once every year. The Center for Bio-Ethical Reform (CBR) has been conducting the Genocide Awareness Project (GAP) on university campuses with great success since 1998 (www.abortionno.org). CBR will provide signs, equipment, and unlimited technical assistance to any responsible pro-life group that will teach college students the truth about abortion. Clearly, Right to Life affiliates in every state are uniquely positioned to conduct such a program. These organizations typically have chapters in every college town. They have access to major funding. They have considerable influence with the rank and file pro-lifer. No other groups have the money, volunteers, position, and influence necessary to do this project on a large scale in every state, at least not in the near term.

	Above: CBR's Genocide Awareness Project visits the University of South Dakota.
	Above: One of CBR's trucks travels through downtown Pittsburgh. Below: A CBR aerial tow banner exposes the face of abortion to everyone on the ground below.

Second, Right to Life affiliates, other pro-life groups, and even individuals can deliver the truth about abortion on the public highways using large, box-body trucks that feature pictures of aborted fetuses and embryos. CBR can assist any responsible pro-life organization with the acquisition of trucks, signs, equipment, and technical assistance necessary to conduct this project safely. Two trucks in every congressional district could create the kind of “constructive tension” that Dr. King said was so necessary for social change.

Third, Right to Life affiliates and other pro-life groups can deliver the truth about abortion in the skies by using airplanes with tow-banners featuring pictures of aborted fetuses. This project is still only two years old, but CBR can contract with any group to fly one of its planes over any state. One airplane for every 10 – 20 congressional districts would have a tremendous impact.

Focus on the unborn. These projects work. They work because pictures focus attention where it belongs, on the interests of unborn people. The other side wants to talk only about born people, and all too often, pro-lifers fall into their trap. For example, abortion-ban advocates in South Dakota never showed anybody what abortion is and what it does to unborn people. Instead, they focused entirely on the interests of born people (i.e., women who have had abortions). People came away from the debate thinking that the interests of born people are all that’s at stake, and they voted against the ban. To understand the folly of this strategy, do you think the abolitionists of the 1800s would have won by talking only about what slavery does to white people, but never about its effect on black people? Do you think people who fight genocide should talk only about what the Holocaust did to Aryan people, but never talk about what the Holocaust did to Jewish people?

Go to the public square. Showing pictures in public is important because most people, especially those who control the flow of information in our culture (i.e., the media, education, and religious establishments), actively resist learning and teaching about the effect of abortion on unborn people. People will not come to us — they don’t read our books or attend our meetings, seminars, and debates — so we must go to them. Remember, in order to effect social change, you must make people uncomfortable with the status quo. News flash – people don’t want to be uncomfortable, and they will resist our efforts to educate them about uncomfortable facts. If you agree with many pro-life leaders who think it’s a good strategy to allow people to remain in comfortable ignorance, I would invite you to read Dr. King’s Letter From a Birmingham Jail. He explains it better than we do.

Do it on a large scale. Large pictures reach large numbers of people. We must change hearts and minds one at a time, but to achieve societal change, we must do it on a large-scale basis. Nothing reaches more people with the truth about abortion than billboard-size pictures on trucks and aerial tow-banners.

Painful alternatives. If they are willing, the large Right to Life affiliates have powerful infrastructures, adequate to change public opinion in almost every state. The question is, are they willing? If not, thoughtful pro-lifers must consider options – either (1) replace the leadership of the existing organizations, or (2) create new organizations to do the work of changing public opinion. Of course, the second option would require duplicating infrastructure that already exists, which would cost more money, take more time, and allow more children to die. It would fractionate our movement even more than it already is. On the other hand, the first option (forcing a change in leadership) would create controversy and require more backbone than most people have. The stakes are so high – 3,500 more children will die today. CBR will help responsible pro-lifers who choose either of these alternatives.

We can do both. The irony here is that exposing the truth about abortion will be more effective at achieving a political solution than the current focus on elections and legislation. Further, the funding necessary to conduct this work need not detract from the political work. Pro-life leaders who communicate a clear vision of an effective strategy will attract new donors, new staff, and new volunteers. There are many, many pro-lifers who are now disengaged because (1) they will not invest time and money in activities that do not work, and (2) they don’t have a sense of how horrible abortion really is, because they have never seen the pictures themselves. With the right leadership and a clear vision, many new people can be motivated to help.

Who will lead? The times, they are a-changin’. Some pro-life leaders are starting to understand. Defend Life (Baltimore) is taking GAP to the University of Maryland every year. They are visiting other schools as well. Alaska Right to Life has purchased a large box-body truck with aborted-baby pictures on the sides and back. Missouri Right to Life recently sponsored the aerial billboards in their state. We pray this is a trend that others will follow, but difficult change requires leadership. Who will lead?

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!