Hunt's Press Statements Reacting to the Helpful Newly Enacted 'Woman's Right to Know Act'

Primary Statement
Abortion destroys an unborn child, a unique, individual human life, and this is what makes abortion difficult for women. Many pregnant women feel pressure into aborting a child by their circumstances, by parents, by the father of the baby, or by their own needs and goals They are nudged along by deceptive and incomplete counseling at the abortion centers, which stand to profit though abortion. The new law gives women every opportunity to know all the facts about abortion and how they can let their babies live. It will inform them about how they can find a better solution to their situations, even if they already have made a decision—because even after a woman walks into the clinic door, it’s not too late for her to change her mind.


Analysis
Most arguments against the Act are arguments for abortion, especially in the hard cases. If you believe abortion only eliminates a ball of cells or if the “fetus” is not fully human or not a person, you would think it bad to add “burdens” to a “simple, safe medical procedure.” But really, the bill is pro-choice. Why do “pro-choice” people oppose the bill? Maybe they’re not being honest—pro-choice may only be a useful slogan that they do not mean sincerely. Maybe the political pro-choice viewpoint really is pro-abortion. The Act occupies a morally absurd place where the State of North Carolina will make it easier for a pregnant woman to know that abortion destroys an unborn child at same time she retains the choice to destroy her unborn child, legally.


Overall Social Effect
The WRTK Act represents a transition from “abortion on demand” to “abortion under advisement” which is what some countries in Europe now have. Germany, for example, requires a three day waiting period after government specified counseling—far more intensive than the WRTK Act. Because of its past record on human rights, Germany understands the interest and role of government in protecting human life.


Arguments and Counter Arguments

There is the factor that the free standing abortion clinics in North Carolina do not provide an ordinary long-term relationship with a doctor. In Asheville, for example, at the abortion place on Orange Street, a woman does not get her own appointment. She arrives at the same time as a half dozen other women, and people are escorted inside the waiting room only after a security check. She stays four hours and leaves, maybe coming back for a checkup at a later time. Many people drive from out of town, even from out of state. An abortionist is not usually a woman’s personal doctor.

Planned Parenthood has four abortion centers in NC and all the other PP centers in NC do abortion referral. The other day, I looked at the website of PP of Central NC and when I checked to see what information it offered on abortion, it had a link to the PP Federation of America. I was amazed to see how much PPFA fudged the truth about the risks of abortion and the facts about pre-natal human development.

For example: PP says on its website, “The ball of cells develops into an embryo at the start of the sixth week.” That’s entirely misleading because the embryonic stage begins at fertilization, and a human embryo at six weeks is far more developed than a ball of cells.

Planned Parenthood’s assertions about the medical and emotional risks of abortion range from oversimplified to untrue.

This is why we need the Woman’s Right to Know Act: to protect women from the unethical, deceptive practices of Planned Parenthood and other abortion businesses in North Carolina.

A Planned Parenthood advertisement that said it aborts children up through the 20th week in three of its North Carolina clinics. The 20th week! It's murder.

One abortion place in Asheville that closed in 1998 was at the outskirts of Biltmore Village. This place was the pits. It was surrounded by RR tracks. The waiting room was a bridge over a dirty creek. It had peeling roofing material for siding. Had bars and broken windows in the back. The abortionists drove up from Tennessee or South Carolina. I remember catching Dr. James Oliver sneaking down the RR tracks to let himself in by the back gate. He was wearing a U.S. Customs hat and pretended to be RR security. He worked at a Catholic hospital in South Carolina where he had pledged to give up abortion. They had no admitting privileges in a local hospital. The local abortion doctors at “Femcare” tried to close this place down because they were seeing women in the emergency room who had been hurt there. Some of the abortion places in NC are of the same sleazy type.

It’s true that certain basic information is required to be offered, but that in no way prohibits a doctor from presenting it in ways that are appropriate to the hearer, and addressing the woman about her own personal situation.

The Woman’s Right to Know Act requires the use of all of appropriate medically accurate information and likely will reduce the “need” for abortion as women better understand their unborn children and all the resources available to them.


For (pro-abortion-choice) information on the requirements of other states, see: www.guttmacher.org/statecenter/spibs/spib_MWPA.pdf
and www.guttmacher.org/statecenter/spibs/spib_RFU.pdf

Americans United for Life's Investigative Report on Planned Parenthood

Go to:

http://www.aul.org/aul-special-report-the-case-for-investigating-planned-parenthood/

One item from the report's Executive Summary:
"Willingness to provide women with inaccurate and misleading information. Some Planned Parenthood affiliates continually demonstrate a disregard for women’s health and safety through their willingness to provide inaccurate and misleading information regarding fetal development and about abortion’s inherent health risks."

To a Student at Shanghai American School on "Abortion as Genocide."

This letter is a continuation of our correspondence. The student is writing as part of an AP Language class. It began with an essay of hers in response to one of mine and one of Cathleen Kaveny, professor of law and theology at Notre Dame.


Dear Emily,

I appreciate the tone of your discussion. You might be interested to know that one of my sons, who was 18 at the time, spent last spring semester at the City University of Hong Kong and also traveled some on the mainland of China while he was there.

The original context of the [my] essay that appeared in the Opposing Viewpoints Series was a university student newspaper where I was answering specific criticisms, which limited the scope of the points I made.

A fundamental issue surrounding abortion is personhood. One similarity between abortion and more recognized atrocities such as genocide is the denial of personhood status to human beings. I think that you will find it almost universally accepted in the scientific/medical world that an individual human life begins at fertilization. The controversy centers on the philosophical/political question of when a human being becomes a person. “Pro-life” people say that a human being at whatever stage of development is a person, while “pro-choice” people make a variety of claims but generally say that a human being does not become a full person with a legal right to life until “viabilty” or birth.

Citing possible positive outcomes does not solve the ethical issues of personhood because one could also find such outcomes for the Holocaust, as an example. The creation of the State of Israel as a sanctuary for Jewish survivors was one positive result, and as morally absurd as it sounds, the Holocaust reduced the overall instance of crime among the Jewish populations, which had a net effect on crime.

(In any case, the positive outcomes you referenced, and the research are certainly contested. See, for example, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Impact_of_Legalized_Abortion_on_Crime . )

I would like to address the other specifics that you mentioned, but time is limited, so I offer a referral to two books that represent the best pro-life apologetics I know, both by Francis J. Beckwith, a professor of philosophy and church-state studies at Baylor University. The books are: Politically Correct Death: Answering Arguments for Abortion Rights and Defending Life: A Moral and Legal Case Against Abortion Choice.

Both books, and editorial summaries and reviews, can be found at http://www.amazon.com/ . One item Beckwith raises is a difference between artifactual and biological development. An artifact, like a clock or a rocket, is put together piece by piece and is not functional as such until it is complete. A living being, however, begins all at once and in time its self-directed development shows us what it has been all along.

A final comment: I don’t think any word is adequate now to describe all that abortion is. “Foeticide” has as weakness the common use of the word “fetus” to dehumanize pre-natal human life. Fetus does not specifically apply to human beings, but to any mammalian species. Maybe we will just have to wait for someone like Raphel Lemkin, someone with a passionate intellectual interest in the law and in words combined with an overwhelming personal interest in the terribleness of the Holocaust, since most of his relatives were murdered. And perhaps we will have to wait for more of a consensus against abortion, since it’s not the words themselves that have power, but the weight we give to them.

WRTK Summary

The NC General Assembly may soon attempt to override Governor Perdue's veto of the Woman's Right to Know Act (WRTK), HB 854. The GA needs only one additional vote in both the House and Senate. Basically, WRTK requires a 24 hour waiting period and the informed consent of a woman before “an abortion can be performed.”

Except in a medical emergency, the information that must be made available by phone or in person 24 hours in advance are:

-The name of the physician.
-Medical risks of abortion.
-Gestational age of the unborn child.
-Medical risks of carrying the child to term.
-Ultrasound images or sound of the heartbeat are available.
-If the physician has malpractice insurance.
-The location of the hospital within 30 miles that offers OB/GYN care and at which the physician has clinical privileges. If he does not, that must be made known.
-Medical assistance benefits for pre-natal care, childbirth, and neonatal care
-Public assistance benefits
-The father is liable for child support payments even if he offered to pay for abortion
-The woman has alternatives to abortion available, including adoption and keeping the baby.
-The woman has a right to view printed materials or information online that describe the unborn child and list agencies that provide alternatives to abortion.
-The woman has the right to withdraw her consent at any time before or during the abortion without the losing the right of future care and state or federal benefits.

The other significant requirement is that an ultrasound scan of the baby must be made at least four hours prior to abortion and the woman can look at the images and listen to the fetal heart tone as well as listen to a simultaneous description of the baby, if she wishes.

This is a link to the text of the ratified bill (HB 854): www.ncga.state.nc.us/Sessions/2011/Bills/House/PDF/H854v5.pdf

Saturday, July 2, 2011 on Orange Street. 8:00 AM. The abortion site was closed for the 4th holiday. These flowers are next door at Catholic Social Services.

Harry Blackmun

The back side of Harry Blackmun's gravestone says,
"Humility Integrity Compassion Courage." Photo taken May 2, 2011 at Arlington National Cemetary.

Cecil Bothwell

Bothwell is an escort at the abortion site Femcare in Asheville. We say,
"deathscort" and "femkill." He posed for this photograph, taken in April, 2011.

GAP at Kennesaw State, November 8 & 9, 2010

Some of the foot and pedal traffic.

The girl in the green jacket.

Some kind of officers.

One half of a conversation.

GAP at UTK, November 16 & 17, 2010

One moment in the busy foot traffic passing the display.

Representative Susan Fisher: "Overkill"

Interview with NC Representative Susan Fisher of Buncombe County

On The Morning Report with Jerri Jamison of WWNC, April 22, 2011
http://www.wwnc.com/cc-common/podcast/single_page.html?podcast=jerriJameson

The relative section on HB 215, the Unborn Victims of Violence Act, begins at about 6 minutes and 07 seconds.

Jamison: "The unborn violence act has been through both chambers, it’s now waiting for the governor’s signature. Any thought on whether or not she’s gunna sign it. Do you know?"

Fisher: “I really don’t know. Ah, but, ah . . . I just want to say that, ah, I think that is a case where we are looking at, ah, a bit of, if you will, overkill. Ah, we know that if someone is murdered by another person and you can prove that, that they’re going to be punished, and, ah, they’re gunna likely to have a very, ah, a very, stiff sentence . . . death, possibly. And this, just sort of compounds that and I think it also opens the door to looking at questions of, ah, women’s choice. I think we have to look at that in light of this legislation.”

Representative Fisher, who voted against the measure,* demonstrates how extreme the classic “pro-choice” position is. If a pregnant woman is against abortion, if she believes that what is in her womb is a person, a child, and if she is attacked either with intent to destroy the child or not, that child, from the “pro-choice” perspective, should not have a right to life, should not have a right to protection under the law. In the “pro-choice” universe, that wanted and loved child—that possibly named child, that pre-born child who can inherit property under North Carolina law—should have no legal protection whatsoever.

Fisher says that if a woman is murdered, there will be a stiff sentence, but what if the woman is only punched hard and the baby dies?

Overkill? She said overkill? Abortion is overkill. “Pro-choice” is overkill.

For the text of the ratified bill, HB 215, go to: http://www.ncleg.net/Sessions/2011/Bills/House/PDF/H215v5.pdf

*Final passage in the NC House came at a vote of 77-40. In the NC Senate it was 45-4 with our own Martin Nesbitt voting “nay” with the other three. Patsy Keever of Buncombe County also voted against the measure as did Phillip Haire of Jackson, Macon, Swain, and Haywood counties. (Do the people in those counties know this about Haire?)

The Genocide Awareness Project, University of Kentucky, April 6 & 7, 2011

Notice how the students are looking, and they are probably thinking also.

Class change. Note how all heads are turned in the distant group of students on the left. (Click on any photo if you want to see a larger image.)

My role at GAP is Onsite Manager. Also, when the opportunity arises, I enjoy philosphical discussions as well as talking about the relationships between abortion and genocide. Taking photographs . . . I do that as well.

I'm not sure if this medical student understands the full message of the visuals, her with the images behind.

Another photo of traffic in this location during class changes. The images are an ongoing argument that people will remember. We are criticized, sometimes with exuberant emotion, for using "pathos" rather than reason. As those critics illustrate, emotion is important--really it is essential--for decision making. I myself first opposed abortion only after seeing gruesome images at the Clark County fair (WA State) in 1972. Later I developed a rational framework for the position and only much later I became active. The purpose of GAP is to move people a step toward being more pro-life, wherever they may be on the spectrum. Be sure to see the next two blog postings for more photos of GAP at UK.

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.

PP at UK GAP

Planned Parenthood had a table both days not far from the GAP display.

Also, PP and the Gay/Straight Alliance held a rally outside of the Student Center on the second day. Their crowd wasn't this large the whole time. One of their participants was a large fellow who had bellowed and cackled madly at us at the GAP display. He also bellowed and roared at the open air preacher. I suggested to the GSA girl that they try to talk him down.

Here is the open air preacher right next to the PP rally. He and the rally people often dueled with their loudspeakers. The girl with the GSA sign told us three times that she appreciated the quiet respectful tone of GAP. I pretty much agreed with everything the preacher said, but I felt that he was not communicating with his audience. On a college campus I think it is better to explain rather than proclaim.

Traffic passing the PP rally AND one of our 3x4 handheld "Choice" signs.

A Blast from the Past, As They Say

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/1999/03/13/national/main38705.shtml

Just as stories like this about the failed bomb in Asheville will never have not existed, the children who have been killed at "Femcare" over the many years will always have existed.

"Let's Call a Truce" (That is, You lose.)

In response to a 4/14/11 editorial "Abortion debate is a stalemate" in the Eastern Progress, the newspaper of Eastern Kentucky University, I posted the following comment: nnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn 'Neutrality between neutrality and non-neutrality is impossible. This editorial is a work of art. It begins with an appearance of neutrality, of impartially, of reasonableness, and then step by little step ends in the classic pro-abortion choice position! It's a work of art, but as a work of philosophy and rational thought, it's . . . well, it's not elegant at all. If abortion is a moral grey area; if the discussion/debate can never be settled; if we never can know when an individual human being begins, and if we as a society are not willing to live with knowingly allowing women to abort children who they consider to be unwelcome occupants of their womb, then wouldn't it be morally required to error on the side of humanity and prohibit abortion? Is it morally acceptable for a contractor to level a building if there is any chance a child is in that building? Is it enough for a workman to say, "Well, its grey . . . dark inside and I looked around, but I couldn't see too good. Some of us say there's a child inside and some say not. Let's stop bickering and bring her down. After all, the owner is the only one who can make that decision and he wants it done. The company ought to make a contribution to some historical preservation society so we don't have to blow up so many buildings." No. That would not be morally (or legally) acceptable. The demolition company must have absolute certainty that there are no children, or any people, in the building. So, if abortion indeed is grey and uncertain, shouldn't we prohibit it and take care of women another way until we know better? Because if the anti-legal-abortion people are right, if we are not just crazy, extreme kooks with a need to control women, if an individual human being (a person) begins at fertilization, then we as a society have already blown up millions upon millions of children.' nnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn
We were at EKU with the Genocide Awareness Project on April 4 & 5. To see the editorial, go to: http://media.www.easternprogress.com/media/storage/paper419/news/2011/04/14/Perspective/Abortion.Debate.Is.A.Stalemate-3992930.shtml

"You Are the Definition of a Sadist"

An anonymous person online wrote the following about me recently: "You are a delightful example of the doublethink/doublespeak. Do you want smaller government, less oversight, more personal responsibility or do you want more legislation, more laws, larger government to enforce your personal beliefs? Which is it? What you want is an America shaped in your image and yours alone. You do not care how contradictory it is, you do not care what the population wants, you do not care what science has proven. Just admit it and recognize that your vision of America is not the only one. Roe v. Wade is the law. If you do not like abortion, I suggest you avoid it. But, claiming you want smaller government and at the same time want to make sure every pregnancy comes to term is ridiculous. It will require a hugely increased government and budget to educate, hose, feed, provide medical and help these unwanted children, not to mention the pain, suffering, sadness, hunger, abuse and desperation they will experience because of your naivety. You are the definition of a sadist, deriving personal pleasure from cruelty imposed upon others."

Submitted Today as a Letter to the Editor to the Asheville Citizen-Times

French President Nicolas Sarkozy recently said:

"With our partners, especially our Arab partners, we will move to protect the civilian population from the murderous folly of a regime that, by killing its own people, has lost all legitimacy. We are intervening to allow the Libyan people to themselves choose their destiny. They cannot be deprived of their rights through violence and terror."

Our own nation is killing its own people by abortion, violence that kills pre-born children. Our government—local, state, and federal—protects the killing through police force, issues permits to kill as medical licensure, recognizes the killing to be a “constitutional right,” and supplements the funding of the largest killer in the nation, Planned Parenthood.

If Sarkozy’s moral reasoning is correct, has not our regime lost all legitimacy?

Focus on the Family & Common Ground?

Submitted to the Focus FB page: Thanks for this (2/11/11) broadcast that I heard online today. However, I was disturbed by the idea of “sitting down” with pro-legal-abortion people to save what children we can this year. This is a very murky notion ethically/spiritually and should not be undertaken without careful counsel. I myself have been at the outside edge of such conversation with abortion practitioners, one that was featured in a 2007 Time magazine cover story (See www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1590444,00.html) From my perspective, there was some good that resulted from seeking “common ground,” but at terrible costs in the long run, one effect being, essentially, an abandonment by the pro-life participants of their efforts to eliminate legal abortion altogether. And they (some of them) stopped their support of those of us engaged in sidewalk counseling and prayer presence at abortion places. Our best course rather is to save those children we can, and let the abortionists and abortion supporters join us if they will.

The Chinook Assembly is Available Now

Go to http://www.chaoticterrain.com/ to order.

GAP and I go to the Chicago Public Library

Sort of . . .
On Saturday I was poking around the internet and found my name listed on a table of contents in several places. A table of contents, alone. That was strange. Looking further I found the reason for the listing. Greenhaven Press and several related imprints publish educational resources for schools on a wide variety of science and social issues. Unknown to me, they used an article of mine in their book, Abortion, in their Opposing Issues Series. The book was published in February, 2010. Apparently the publisher reprinted an September 2007 editorial I wrote for the Sidelines, the student newspaper of Middle Tennessee State University. My article in the book was titled, “Abortion is a Form of Genocide.” The opposing side was taken by a law professor at Notre Dame. Except for mine, the essays were written by what I might call minor luminaries, like conservative commentator Armstrong Williams, or Michael New, an adjunct scholar of the Cato Institute.
While the book may be found in five branches of the Chicago Public Library, and in libraries and schools around the country, unfortunately, it does not have photos of aborted children. And it does not contain my best and most elegant arguments, which are based on etymology of gens in Latin and genos in Greek. (i.e. Fetus means offspring, progeny means offspring. Abortion is progeny-cide.) Nor does it explain that our use of photographs of aborted babies serves the same educational purpose as using pictures from the Holocaust. The book is available at www.gale.cengage.com/greenhaven/, Amazon, and Barnes & Noble. $39.70, hardbound. $27.50, paper. I will ask the publisher for a complimentary copy!

Urban GAP, Market Square, Knoxville TN Friday, July 16, 2010

You can see the display reflected in the window of the Tomato Head restaurant above, which by the way, held a fundraiser for Planned Parenthood a few weeks prior to our event. (Double click on a photo to make it bigger.)

A long view down the square.

Again, the display is reflected in the window.

This young man studied the display as they passed by. Several young women, not much older than this fellow, stopped to tell us that they would never abort and intended to remain virgins until marriage.

More from Urban GAP in Knoxville

Three people who stopped to talk and listen.


These bricks above, including the one from the pro-abortion NOW, were near a bronze monument of three women holding picket signs advocating woman’s rights, specifically the right to vote. You might think they were protesting us, but you would be mistaken. Attached to this monument, which was not 50 yards from our display, was a plaque bearing these words: “Thanks be to God that in giving Woman the crown of motherhood He made her the giver not the taker of life. Woman has no greater claim to the rights of the ballot than that she is the producer not a destroyer of life.”
—Lizzie Crozier French (1851-1926), founder of the Knoxville Equal Suffrage Association

Some of the flowers in the square. It was sooo hot that day.

Chaotic Terrain Press

Check out my new website

Chaotic Terrain Press

at www.chaoticterrain.com

Graceful Runner, the first part of my novel Universal Man will be available on the first of September. Current donors to Life Advocates will be able to purchase copies at cost plus shipping. Part two, The Chinook Assembly, will be published in November and part three, Then, A Soldier, in January. The book will not be released to the general public until all three installments are ready. More information to come!

Lorraine Cummings

Pray for this person.

Excerpt from "Universal Man," a Novel

Introduction

As I was lying in bed one morning, I thought about what special item I could share with you for Christmas. There are always encouraging “snippets” from sidewalk counseling and the Pregnancy Helpline, but I don’t have a big story from them to tell right now. And then it occurred to me—I have a story already. So, I decided to give you an except from my book, Universal Man. What I include here is not an exciting, action-filled scene, nor is it brilliantly crafted dialog, nor an exposition of the dramatic, world shattering plot. Instead, it is a humble, poignant letter written in the midst of all those things from a young woman, Sarah, to her brother, Stan Timmons. The story is like a Christmas story—joy and redemption within an environment of sorrow and pain, if you think of Herod’s slaughter of the innocents.

When he receives Sarah’s letter, Stan is secretly staying overnight at the home of his pastor, Fr. Murray Schmidt in Vancouver, Washington. Stan had been hiding on a Hutterite Colony near Spokane for about a year, and he has not seen his children, Maxwell and Chrysanthe, or heard any news of them, ever since a horrific government-inflicted “disaster” at the Mollicoat Estate. The Estate was the location of a retreat center in NW Oregon, and the second home of the Sterne family and home of many other people, including Stan’s parents. Stan’s wife, Mindy, is dead, but that is a whole different tale. (Her maiden name is Sterne.) As he reads Sarah’s letter, written a year earlier and kept by Fr. Schmidt, Stan has just left the friends he made on the Hutterite Colony, and he is poised to embark upon a noble and lonely mission that likely will cost him his life.

Sarah had been taking a break from packing for the Sterne family’s permanent move from their Columbia River house to the Mollicoat Estate when the disaster occurred. With her were Stan’s children; her young son, Guthrie, who Sarah conceived through rape before she was married; Kiyohira and Mutsumi, children of her husband, who had been widowed; and Stan’s youngest brothers-in-law. Luther Sterne was 14. Sarah’s husband, Bennett Uchida, had just been murdered in the disaster. As Sarah wrote, she and all the children were on their way to Newport Bay, Oregon where she expected to board a fishing boat, which was to meet a Coast Guard Cutter, which was to rendezvous with a submarine, which was to take them to a safe country. Fr. Schmidt was driving them in a church van.

[excerpt below]

news of Stan's children

"August 28, 2017

Dear Stan,

I am writing as we are driving to the beach. With me are Kiyohira, Mutsumi, and Guthrie, and your Maxwell and Chrysanthe, and Luther and Mallory. Seven children, all my responsibility. They are listening to a story recording right now. They are all fine and brave. Maxwell said he is looking forward to the boat ride. When things happened here, we had to leave in a hurry. Because I know he was at home, I am certain my beloved Bennett is gone, as are many we have known, and our friends. Mom and Dad are gone, too, because they were at their apartment in the morning. I had just spoken with Mom on the phone before I left to go shopping and to the park. She had planned with Dad to plant some new tulips and daffodils today in a bed on campus for next spring.

There has been no time to grieve. That will have to wait until we can rest and let down. We will be traveling for two weeks or longer until we reach our destination. I know that I should be sorrowful, but it has not impacted me yet. My mind cannot grasp what has happened. I felt the explosion through the ground and saw the huge smoke plume rising in the southwest, and thought, ‘not a good direction’ but it did not occur to me that it actually could be what it was. The evacuation message—a total stranger walked up and gave me a note—confirmed a disaster. Later on, Murray told me his guess. I suppose he told you that when we received the warning, I started back to the Sternes’ Columbia River house right away, but I felt afraid and stopped and turned back before I got there. I remembered our evacuation training, which emphasized we should run immediately to the designated place. It is just as well, because Murray said the house was burning. I tried to call you, but my phone had stopped working.

I am doing my best to remain calm for the children and so I can make good decisions. It is not hard, and I am able to focus on each little problem as it arises. Those problems have so far been ordinary—tying shoes and feeding the children… and answering their questions. Luther has been saying that he wants to stay and join his brother Bernard, who is caving somewhere, or if he cannot find him, to fight. He wants to be a man, but this would be foolish, and I told him that he could not leave us. We do not have any extra clothes, but Murray knows a second-hand store on the coast that we can run into for a few minutes. We have ample food. I trust the people who will be helping us, and if something goes wrong, I’ll take it as it comes. I am carried on the wings of eagles.

Whatever happens, Stan, do not worry. I am afraid, but fear is only the surface of my emotions. Deep inside, I am confident. It will be hardest for you, my brother, because you might be alone. I have good company, and hope you, too, will find people that you can trust and who will help you. We have lost so much, but much remains to live for. I will take care of your dear children as if they were my own, and I will give my life for them, if necessary. They are out of your hands, so you should not worry. Maybe someday we will see each other again. I will try mailing you a postcard at Murray’s address after we are settled, if it seems wise. Thank you, Stan, for all your support and love. May the Lord protect and bless you. I will pray for you every day.

Love, Sarah

p.s. I would like to write more, but we are now outside the thrift store. I am scribbling fast so I hope you can read this. Don’t do anything your children will be ashamed of, Stan. It is important what happens to you. You are their father, and someday they will want to know how you lived and how, if it is God’s will, how you died—that you lived and died fighting for what is right. Don’t ever give up hope. There is one thing more. I said I have seven children in my care, but there are eight, because I learned a week ago… I am with child. Bennett and I have been trying ever since we were married. Now he is gone, but we have this small life we made together. It seems I am destined to not have a normal family, but I will hold up. If it is a boy, I will name him Stanley Bennett Uchida. If a girl, after your wonderful wife, Mindy. She was my best friend, and I miss her terribly. Thinking about Guthrie… Until today, how he came to be was the worst thing that ever happened to me, but he is the best blessing that I ever could have. The best from the worst. Someday we may see the murder of my husband, our parents, and friends in this light. The world means it for evil, but God intends it for good.

p.p.s. Oh, Stan, we have been frantic! Luther waited in the van while we all went into the thrift store, and when we came back out, he was gone. He left a note saying that we shouldn’t worry, because he is in God’s hands. We drove around looking for him as long as we could, but we had to leave him behind. It’s almost more than I can bear.”

from, Universal Man,
Chapter 25, “Shadows of Death,”
by Meredith Eugene Hunt, copyright 2010

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.

Cappella Sistina

My photos from inside the Vatican Museum, including in the Sistine Chapel, were destroyed by X-ray. An Italian security officer at the airport compelled me to send my unprocessed film though the machine, and there were a lot of blanks in the negatives.

Perspective

Dozens of tourists exited the green or brown buses at the Eielson Visitor Center 66 miles deep into Denali National Park in Alaska. A group of women paused to photograph a ground squirrel that ran around on the outside sidewalks darting here and there quite close to people. Actually, the women were charmed by the squirrel, and excited. A young man walked around the Visitor Center with his camera, stalking the squirrels, possibly hoping for the perfect cute picture.

On one of the park buses rolling down the road, a tourist bellowed MOOSE, MOOSE, MOOSE upon seeing a fine bull specimen. This bus stopped at every caribou on the tundra or white specks of Dall sheep on cliffs. Another time, a dozen people on a bus jumped up and shouted WOLF! WOLF! preventing anyone else from seeing the creature cross the road and vanish into the willows. On rare instances tourists would see wolves or brown bear chasing a moose with a calf.

Another bus paused now and then for the passengers to view grizzly/brown bears—sows accompanied by a cub or cubs. One cub was digging frenetically and didn’t notice when mama moved away, and then the cub scampered after her. At the Savage River checkpoint, a lynx trotted out in view of four or five buses.

Only a tiny fraction of the thousands of visitors to Denali National Park walk far enough from the safety of a bus or a vehicle accessible campground to be on equal footing with moose, caribou, wolves, bear, wild sheep, or lynx, but you see, when security is gone, self reflection occurs.

When the lynx trots by as you rest on the ground, when you find huge fresh wolf tracks on the braided river bar, when the caribou feed during the bright summer night near your tent, when the grizzly is bearing down on your children as they filter water along a noisy stream, when there is no protection between you and the moose, when hordes of mosquitoes swarm around you, when you stand where Dall sheep stand, when the rain beats down and the wind threatens to tear your tent into shreds, and when you rise up from a green tundra bed at 2:AM to see the highest mountain in North America 25 miles away blazing clear in golden sunlight, then you can better reflect upon your purpose and position in the world. Or, you can afterwards.

And in Denali National Park some people have even more intense experiences as they ski cross country or dogsled in a 20-40 minus degree F. winter, or as they attempt to summit the mountain.

One does not necessarily need actual wilderness immersion to prompt self-reflection. Wilderness really is more time apart from routine occupations and customary comforts. Wilderness removes barriers between you and the Creator, and other experiences also can supply this condition, like fasts, true retreats, and or even tent camping and early morning walks at the beach. Civilization is a tool, but it can also be an impediment. We can be so busy maintaining our stuff, and flying around to all the fun or “necessary“ social functions, or responding to the crisis of the moment, that we have little left for reflection.
Wilderness forces reflection. Jesus spent time in the wilderness. John the Baptist was a voice crying in the wilderness.

So, what exactly can be gained or learned from “the wild” when it comes to our role in the impediment to the killing of pre-born children and its continued imbedding into our culture?

Preparation. Train for anticipated challenges, study the conditions you will meet and expect to learn as you go.

Discipline and Planning. Too much gear will hold you back. Learn to leave behind what is not needed and take only the essentials. Extra food and clothing is essential (and bug nets).

Trust. If God can take care of the amazing tundra flowers that can survive bitter winters, He will take care of you.

Focus. Accept the reality around you and deal with it. Do not indulge in denial about your situation. Be alert to needs and dangers.

Calm. When you yell at the bear, chances are it will run away. Know what to do next if it does not run away. In the wilderness, you assume certain risks.

Courage. Continue walking and your path will emerge step by step.

Humility. The universe is bigger than you feel it to be, and natural order rules. We are weaker than we feel we are.

Joy. The world is far more beautiful than anything we humans can make, and more so than we can imagine.

Perspective. We can not live long in the wilderness—it is a place only to visit. But without it, we can not live at all.

APPLICATIONS: Every so often I read the daily headlines from Lifenews.com . The stories are much the same as they have been for years, except for names and dates. With Obama in the White House we seem to be settled in for a time of little progress, and perhaps not a little regress. Unless there is an earthshaking event, I expect for no improvement in the big picture for years to come. As I scan the political horizon, there seems to be no human deliverer on the way—no one to provide the leadership we need. Yes, someone will point to Mr. Y or Ms. X who is full of promise. How many of these great people have fallen away or have not measured up? Of course, lives are in the balance every day. This is where we can focus and be fruitful. —These likely are the realities we must accept. We must continue in the routine of what is helpful and also we must wait upon new, daring, creative ideas and projects, not fearful to embark upon them when the Lord calls. Those ideas can grow out of our wilderness experience—from new perspective and courage developed by trials. Remember the proverb that says, “He who continuously stiffens his neck will suddenly be broken beyond healing.” We have seen many nations in history suffer such a fate, and ours appears to be becoming one of them. Let’s become prepared and prepare our children for great struggles. Challenge yourself by accepting new and difficult tasks that reach to the heart of the matter, but also allow time for rest and healthy, vigorous recreation.

Two Days at UNC-Charlotte

A handful of us went to the University of NC-Charlotte on April 20 and 21, 2009 with images of an aborted pre-born child. Our purpose was to educate University people (students, faculty and staff) on the missing element of abortion. Also, we hoped to recruit students who will start a pro-life organization on campus.

This, Above, is a replica of a Congo-ese hut. On our first day some students were promoting Congo Awareness Day nearby. Apparently six million people have been murdered there in recent years. A young woman in a colorful African dress spit up stage blood and cried, "My baby! My baby!"

We stood around the Belk Tower facing oncoming traffic.

This, Above, represents some of the traffic.

On our first day eight people total helped on our team. On the second day we had only three, so we doubled up on signs. This, Above, is Jane Bullington of the Center for Bioethical Reform, SE Region. Their office is in Knoxville, TN.

Peggy from Atlanta talking with an interested student. April 21 was international Holocaust Remembrance Day. On the trip home from Charlotte I listened to a radio program from Davidson College (Performance Today) featuring symphonic composers who were killed in Nazi death camps. One of those was Marcel Tyberg. His music is just now being performed.