The Swastika of the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice

This is a detail of the old logo of the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice in Berea College blue.  Willie Parker is a member of the board of this evil organization-the RCRC.  Watch an HD video showing the old and current logos HERE.

The Root "Gen" in Genocide

These are all the words I could find containing "gen", which should give us a fuller understanding of what "genocide" can mean.  (For more background, see my article "Abortion is a Form of Genocide.")

genetics, generation, engender, genesis, genitals, progeny, progenitors, gene, eugenics, gender, generate, genealogy, generous, genius, legend, magenta, nitrogen, octogenarian, oogeny, oxygen, pathogen, pungent, regency, smidgen, tangent, Trogen, urgent, gendarme, genre, indigenous, agency, agenda, agent, allergen, androgen, argent, agent, urgent, astringent, cogent, congenial, contingency, convergence, generate, degenerate, detergent, diligent, disingenuous, divergent, emergence, estrogen, exigent, fulgent, general, generic, genteel, gentile, gentle, gently, genuine, halogen, homogenize, hydrogen, indigent, intelligence

The Essence of “Pro-Choice” Rhetoric: Misdirection (Part 2)

by Mick Hunt

In Part I, I wrote about how abortion clinic escorts use misdirection and distraction, which are among the tools of stage illusionists as a way of controlling the audience’s attention.  These same tools are also at the heart of “pro-choice” rhetoric.

Ad-hominem attacks against pro-lifers are obvious, and a trained debater won’t be sidetracked by them, but virtually every women-centered question or statement is also misdirection.  The real issue is not whether we should care about women.  Everyone knows we should.  The real issue is about caring for pre-natal children.

My answer to many questions is, “We should treat pre-natal children the same as we should treat born children.”  Or, “Whatever problem you pose with a pregnancy and a pre-natal child, we should find a solution that is, in principle, no different than if the child were born.”

To a large extent, even the scientific debate over when human life begins is misdirection and distraction.  My philosopher-carpenter friend, John S., wrote recently in a letter to a state official, “Questions like ‘when does life begin’ or ‘what is a person’ are exercises in playing dumb.  We know when life begins—it begins at conception (fertilization).  We know what a person is—it’s a human being.”

The answer then is not so much in talking about abortion, but in acting as if abortion is murder.  The Genocide Awareness Project (GAP) is a powerful appropriate indirect response to the gravity of abortion.  It’s really not debate, but a presentation of facts through imagery.  GAP is a statement of the obvious to people who are distracted.  Any contribution to debate we make has more to do with interpreting the images for people who are confused.
GAP creates problems for abortion-choice supporters. In the face of evidence of the gruesome violence, “pro-choice” rhetorical engagement is a losing proposition.  GAP compels either acquiescence, active resistance, or a dilution of our effort.  Since the activists don’t intend to quit, they must issue propaganda and organize protests.  They spread propaganda through social media and campus publications.

We see resistance in most schools, but I’d like to focus for now on the campus of the University of North Carolina (UNC), Chapel Hill, and at North Carolina State University (NCSU) in Raleigh.

At Chapel Hill, abortion supporting students lined up in front of the GAP display with signs and helium balloons.  A couple of masked male students tapped on snare drums for endless hours.  A Planned Parenthood representative stood on a wall overlooking the scene and shouted meaningless patter about condoms and filing complaints with the Dean of Students.  At NC State, the abortion “counter protest” took a further step by attempting to block the view of the GAP display and form a complete wall of bodies and signs.

The portrayal of the victims of abortion through GAP helps distracted and misdirected people attend to the real issue of abortion.  And if GAP is so effective that abortion supporters must turn out in force to distract people from seeing the images, then shouldn’t we do GAP even more often?

My Reply (rejected/unpublished)

Letter to the Daily Tar Heel

submitted about 3/22/14

A more representative title for my March 18, 2014 letter to the editor would be “Abortion could be considered genocide.”  Perhaps the Daily Tar Heel’s imperative, “should,” prompted misunderstanding contained in the March 19 reply, “Abortion letter was ignorant and hateful.”
 
But if abortion is genocide (or if it’s murder) how are we to regard women who participate in taking the lives of their pre-natal children?

Every genocide has aspects in common with other genocides, but every one is different. Women have been deceived into believing abortion is good for them.  The reality of abortion being a violent act that will destroy their child is suppressed or withheld.  They’ve grown up in a culture that believes sexuality can be separated from reproduction, and it is legal and okay to destroy their offspring.  If a comparison can be made, it would be like German young people who grew up in the 1930s. They bear a degree of responsibility for their actions, but they are also victims of those who allowed the killing to be legitimized.

The UN and other definitions of genocide do not refer to hatred. Impassive calculation is enough, because the definitions turn on intent “to destroy in whole or in part.” There are groups, national and international, campaigning to destroy all unwanted children.  Planned Parenthood with its slogan “Every child a wanted child” is an example.  And often people involved in genocide are motivated only by self-interest.

With genocide, and in any widespread killing, dehumanizing language makes it easier.  “Fetus,” commonly used by abortion-choice advocates, refers to any mammal, when the human-specific term is “child.”

For perspective, watch the introductory video at www.abortionNo.org.  How can such violence be healthy for women?  Abortion is anti-women.  Not only does it harm mothers, half of the pre-natal children killed by abortion are girls.

I would encourage readers to examine the facts (including gruesome images of the victims of abortion), ignore the petty insults and personal attacks, consider the arguments, and come to the best conclusion.  What word describes abortion better than “genocide”?

by Meredith Hunt

The photo is a GAP brochure that we handed out on 4/1 2014 on the campus of the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.  Someone lit it on fire.  Not only was my reply rejected, the Daily Tar Heel did not allow me to post any online comments.

Abortion letter was ignorant and hateful

Published in the Daily Tar Heel, 03/18/14 11:24pm

TO THE EDITOR:

Yesterday’s letter to the editor titled “Abortion should be considered genocide” is ignorant, hateful and dangerous. The author, Meredith Hunt, runs an anti-choice blog that publishes names, cars and photos of pro-choice advocates in Asheville, NC.

There is no reasonable, informed argument linking abortion to genocide. First, the comparison implicitly says that women who choose to terminate a pregnancy are equivalent to Young Turks, Nazi soldiers and Hutu extremists. This assertion is ludicrous and prejudiced toward women.

Second, the comparison is factually absurd. Hunt’s clumsy primer invoking Raphael Lemkin and Samantha Power is nothing more than a poorly written Wikipedia paragraph. In order for abortion to be considered genocide, there would need to a group of mothers campaigning to kill all unborn children and each abortion would have to be carried out because of hatred toward the fetus. In reality, there is a network of compassionate advocates and supportive medical professionals solely looking out for the health of women.

Anti-choice advocates are free to make whatever claims they would like, but it’s worth noting their implications. Creating an anti-choice narrative involving genocide means creating an anti-woman narrative. It bolsters a right-wing policy agenda to which our governor and Republican legislators subscribe.

This summer’s “Motorcycle Safety” bill proves that people like Meredith Hunt, Pat McCrory and Thom Tillis will stop at nothing to curb women’s’ rights, even if it means comparing smart, reasonable women to a bloodthirsty killer.

Reject Meredith Hunt’s argument by supporting women, facts, and history.

Sean Langberg ’14
Global Studies
Geography

Here is a link to the original article.

The photograph is of "protestors" of our 3/31-4/1 2014 GAP display at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, home of the Tar Heels.  Note my reply, not published by the Daily Tar Heel, in a following post.

Conversations at UK GAP

Two observers who . . .

. . . came closer to talk.

This fellow walked around the display several times one afternoon. His sign said, "Quit using abortion as an insurance policy for your irresponsibility." He was not connected with the Genocide Awareness Project.

Fletcher Armstrong, SE Director of the Center for Bioethical Reform is speaking to a class.

Below: Sean, President of UK Students for Life.

Another GAP at UTK, October 12 & 13, 2009

Kate, wearing the blue cap, is handing out GAP literature to students passing in front of the display.

Students writing their thoughts on the Free Speech Board that we put out. This is the first time we used this device and it worked well in engaging students in thinking about the display and giving us an opportunity to interact.

The Free Speech Board drew a crowd of those who wanted to talk and debate.

You can see Jane Bullington's hand as she speaks in the middle of a group of students. Jane is with the Center for Bioethical Reform, SE.

More GAP at UTK

Gabrielle is the president of the pro-life student group at UTK.

Students and others (above) study the Free Speech Board.

This masked pirate above was the sole "protestor." He apparently believed that the GAP display is absurd and only an (obscene) aburdity is the appropriate response.

A red-tailed hawk carrying a live squirrel landed next to the display and cried in its piercing voice, receiving everyone's attention.

GAP at UT, Chattanooga

This hawk or eagle had been perched in a tree near the GAP display, and I caught it on film as it launched. We were at the University of Tennessee, Chattanooga on November 12 and 13, 2008. More photos and information to come.

Appalachian State University

This is one of my favorite photos. At ASU the second day, in the morning when we arrived, we found no less than FOUR locks extra on the barricades. (Normally we only have one, ours.) Apparently, some students thought they could prevent us from setting up by not giving us keys or combinations. A police officer said that the black one was expensive. What a waste.

Fletcher Armstrong, SE Director of CBR is conversing in the midst of this crowd.

I have no idea what this climber's idea was.

My lovely wife, Edie, gesturing with her hands.

ASU Again

Lines of students going to classes. The GAP display is to the left.

The Genocide Awareness Project @ Transylvania University in Lexington, Kentucky, April 4, 2008

These TU students set up their educational notification early and soon afterwards, wind and rain took the brown paper banners down.
Dr. Fletcher Armstrong, SE Director of the Center for Bio-ethical Reform, talks with a TU student.

Notes on TU GAP of April 4, 2008

Transylvania University ( TU) is the first private campus I have been on . Since we were there by the indulgence of the U and not necessarily under the First Amendment, we took pains to be on our best behavior.

That week was wet much of the time and the one day, a Friday, on TU was no exception. The day was warm and not terribly rainy, but windy. Due to the smallness of the campus and weather conditions, we set up eight signs instead of the full compliment of 17. This did not compromise our effectiveness.

Some TU students organized an impromptu protest. I photographed them before the wind took its toll. A small gathering formed about midday, and by the end of the day, most individuals in it had moved to the display to observe and discuss. Frequently, students and some profs gathered to debate with us. The discussion was often intense and on a relatively sophisticated level.

Three Conversations: Early after the display set-up was complete, two professors appeared nearly at once. Professor One is “Chair, Division of Social Sciences; Professor Of History.” Initially, without words from me, he began bellowing as loudly as possible a foot from my face that our display was an outrage. He was extremely loud, and I do not wish to understate this, except that it lasted only a few seconds. I remained calm and asked him if any of his relatives had died in the Holocaust. He said, “Maybe” in a way that suggested that he did not know, or that maybe he did not wish to tell me. At some point he said that he taught a course on the Holocaust and I asked him for a course outline. He said that I couldn’t possibly understand what he was telling me, because I was “a blank wall.”

Professor Two said she taught in the Psychology Department. She insisted that no medical textbook said that an individual human life began at fertilization. I asked her to bring me a medical text, and she returned with a Developmental Psychology book that referred to the entity soon after fertilization as an “organism” I asked, what kind of organism? “Not a plant or animal, but human,” I said. I said that her text did not deny that human life began at fertilization, but was simply unclear. And then I showed her the text we carry with GAP, the page with a chart headed “prenatal human development” that indicates fertilization as the beginning. Somehow she did not understand this and did not really know what “prenatal” meant and said that she was “disappointed” that I could not discuss “responsibly.”

The History professor returned later with his course outline and we talked further. His main point then was that he questioned whether or not the victims of the Holocaust and the other atrocities would support the use of their photographs. To show him I wasn't’ a blank wall, I said, “When Schindler’s List came out, I read the book before the release of the film. And whenever I heard the music from the film, I cried.” He said quickly, as if he were sarcastic, “I’m touched.” When I told him that I could learn from him, he said that I would misuse the learning. When I returned home after GAP I sent him an e-mail. (See post below. Note that the prof never answered my e-mail.)

Conversation Three was with a Philosophy/History student. This was challenging because of the intelligence of the student, my fatigue at the end of the day at the end of the week, and because we spoke fast and furious, though civil. The student was more open minded than the profs and we were able to interject some humor, except he gave me a fake e-mail address after saying it was real, which leads me to doubt his sincerity. His main point was that an act is evil solely to the degree it inflicts suffering. I said that an act can be evil even if no one suffers, for example, abortion is evil because it robs a human being of life, though no evident suffering occurs.

More GAP at TU Photos

These Transylvania University Students, above, discuss the Genocide Awareness Project among themselves. Below, another group talks with CBR-SE Director, Dr. Fletcher Armstrong (in the red cap).

Rebecca, a CBR volunteer from Nebraska, and other CBR volunteers, talk at length with TU students.

The Genocide Awareness Project at University of Kentucky in Lexington, April 2 & 3, 2008

Rain at U of K GAP

The student on the right in the above photo engaged us in loud debate for quite some time, and then when he left the scene, he tipped over a set of our auxillary signs--one a warning sign and the other giving a Post Abortion counseling telephone number. When I called out to him he turned around, and I said, "Come back and set these up!" He replied, "I don't want to!"

U of K GAP Umbrellas

More Looks at U of Louisville GAP

University campuses are often nicely landscaped. These flowers above likely are magnolia. You can see the GAP display out of focus in the background.

Passing crowds. The yellow tape was intended to set off a zone for abortion-choice protestors, but they never showed.

Tim in the red cap, a volunteer from Louisville discusses with the student all in black.

Inexpensive rubber boots in bright colors seemed to be the rain fashion of the day.