I'm all for free speech, BUT...

[mumto2]

And remember, these demonstrations don't have the shock value for kids that they do for us -- most school-age kids are less bothered by visions and stories of violence and mayhem than us middle-agers (unfortunately).

I beg to differ - these signs have had a lasting impact on my 9yo.

 

[Mr. & Mrs. Smith]

With all due respect, you're not pro-life personally and pro-choice politically. Your just pro-choice, in that you believe women should have the choice to get abortions, raise children, or put babies up for adoption. You just happen to choose the second option for yourself and could not see yourself doing either of the other two. That's still pro-choice.

 

[MushyMushy]

With all due respect, you're not pro-life personally and pro-choice politically. Your just pro-choice, in that you believe women should have the choice to get abortions, raise children, or put babies up for adoption. You just happen to choose the second option for yourself and could not see yourself doing either of the other two. That's still pro-choice.

Semantics.

 

[PatsGirl]

No, not really... the only choice I could not make is abortion. I am a firm believer in adoption and would have put a baby up for adoption before terminating a pregnancy. And FWIW, if I HAVE to pick one or the other, I would prefer to say I am pro-life. The only reason I liked and repeated the "pro-life personally, pro-choice politically" is because although I have for many years paid much attention to this issue, I cannot firmly stand at one or the other but if given the choice...well,already said didn't I?

 

[poohandwendy]

I think the dead fetus posters are offensive and ineffective. (I am pro life)

Educating people about birth control options is the most effective way to prevent abortions and should be the primary focus of the pro life agenda. As well as helping women in unplanned/crisis pregnancies. (and yes, I do put my money where my mouth is)

As always, JMHO

 

[Fitswimmer]

The Pro Life people that I know and who are part of our Church do ALL those things recommended in the posts above. They work with the mothers, they help babysit, they help with groceries, they help pay for well baby and prenatal visits and all kinds of little things that don't make the papers. They're too busy helping out the mothers to be standing in front of places with signs. Unfortunately, to people outside our church, these hard working people don't exist. When the average person thinks of Pro Life people, they think of these angry people with those hideous signs, not of the faithful women and men who actually do help the mothers and the babies.

 

[poohandwendy]

The Pro Life people that I know and who are part of our Church do ALL those things recommended in the posts above. They work with the mothers, they help babysit, they help with groceries, they help pay for well baby and prenatal visits and all kinds of little things that don't make the papers. They're too busy helping out the mothers to be standing in front of places with signs. Unfortunately, to people outside our church, these hard working people don't exist. When the average person thinks of Pro Life people, they think of these angry people with those hideous signs, not of the faithful women and men who actually do help the mothers and the babies.

Thank you. This is very true.

The thousands of behind the scenes pro lifers who have dedicated themselves to being part of the solution are so often overlooked for the in-your-face extremists carrying the posters.

 

[Cool-Beans]

I get what they are trying to do, but it is like showing smokers pictures of damaged lungs. They know what they're doing, they've seen those pictures before, they don't care. All it does is irritate the people you are trying to persuade.

 

[SeeVee]

You're not going to convert anyone to your point of view by grossing them out or scaring them. It's a foolish tactic.

Wow.

 

[poohandwendy]

Wow.

care to elaborate?

 

[SeeVee]

We have a guy like that in Sacramento. He parks his hate truck next to the Capitol pretty frequently.

I don't agree with the protesters holding up signs either, especially when they are men. Since no man will ever have to make that kind of decision, I don't think they have any right to hold up such a sign.

Yeah. Cuz everyone knows that a man had no part in creating that life.

 

[Cool-Beans]

care to elaborate?

I believe that "wow" is the abbreviation for "Wow...just wow."

 

[poohandwendy]

I believe that "wow" is the abbreviation for "Wow...just wow."

LOL, I can't figure out if the poster meant "Wow, I agree with what you are saying" or "Wow, I can't believe you said that (I disagree)"

 

[SeeVee]

This is what I don't get - Bush says he's pro-life, yet he vetos a bill for health care for children so he can feel "relevent". If you want to end abortion, you need to make it easier for women to have babies.

"Relevence." That is what it is all about. Thanks for making that one clear. Now that I know that, I can die a happy man.

 

[Fitswimmer]

Wow.

When I was smoking, those commercials with the diseased lungs and stuff just grossed me out and made me annoyed. They didn't motivate me to quit. I view these tactics the same way I view those gross out anti-smoking commercials. Sensationalism and emotionalism.

Changing someone's mind requires appealing to the intellect.

Of course, YMMV. But if you have some evidence these signs have changed anyone's opinion from Pro Choice to Pro Life, I'm sure we'd all like to see it. It's a question that's been asked more than once on this thread.

 

[SeeVee]

I can't stand it but what bothers me even more than the signs themselves is that it's always a man holding it up. Yes, I know a man can be pro-life but he will never know the pain and heartache a woman goes through making that choice.

?

Perhaps he knows the heartache of a woman aborting his child? Just because a woman wants to destroy a fetus, that does not automatically mean the man who help create that life agrees with it.

 

[Liberty Belle]

I wonder how that technique is working out for them. Not very well it would seem. I'm pro-choice but you don't see me out their picketing. I could think of equally gruesome signs to hold up to make my point. I don't think children who probably don't hold a political or religious view on the issue should have to see those things. Not only that but it's disrespectful to women who have lost children prenatally.

Exactly. I've lost two babies. Neither I, nor dh, nor my son who knows about the losses needs to see that, not to mention other innocent children.

It infuriates me.

 

[poohandwendy]

But if you have some evidence these signs have changed anyone's opinion from Pro Choice to Pro Life, I'm sure we'd all like to see it. It's a question that's been asked more than once on this thread.

It's a very good question, IMO.

As a person who is pro life, those pictures do not make me think "How sad, that is what happens to an aborted baby, that is why I do not agree with abortion", they remind me of a person I wouldn't want to be. One who tries to bully women into not aborting. I think most people who are pro choice see those posters as nothing but inflammatory and offensive.

I would rather be the one who helps a pregnant woman, in whatever way she needs. Or helps a woman NOT become pregnant before intended.

 

[ShuisFan584]

Perhaps he knows the heartache of a woman aborting his child? Just because a woman wants to destroy a fetus, that does not automatically mean the man who help create that life agrees with it.

I'm not a male but I totally agree with that. I think it's unfair if the man really wants to keep the child. My friend's mother was 16 and her father was 19 when the mother got pregnant. The mother didn't want the baby, but her father really wanted her and said that he would take care of her. I'm so glad she ended up having the baby, or else my friend wouldn't be around today. She does not know her mother at all since she left after she was born, but her father has been taking care of her for all 20 years of her life.

 

[MushyMushy]

The Pro Life people that I know and who are part of our Church do ALL those things recommended in the posts above. They work with the mothers, they help babysit, they help with groceries, they help pay for well baby and prenatal visits and all kinds of little things that don't make the papers. They're too busy helping out the mothers to be standing in front of places with signs. Unfortunately, to people outside our church, these hard working people don't exist. When the average person thinks of Pro Life people, they think of these angry people with those hideous signs, not of the faithful women and men who actually do help the mothers and the babies.

You're right and it's sad. Usually it's those whackos on the fringe causing all the fuss, no matter what the cause, who get all the attention and do damage to the cause. Why can't they see that?