Thanks to protesters, children saw horrifying images

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette ^ | April 27, 2002 | CAROL BENDER- letter to editor

[syriacus]

I was driving with my 3-year-old daughter Monday morning down West Liberty Avenue, when we had no choice but to gaze out the car windows at a variety of 5-foot placards depicting extremely graphic photos of aborted fetuses. My daughter asked me, "Mommy, why are those people holding signs of scary monsters?" In shock myself as to what I was seeing, I did not know what to say.

[Swordmaker]

The people showing those pictures in public are just as wrong and just as mentally ill as those doing the abortions. (In my opinion)

Moral equivalence... Amazing. You actually feel that showing a picture is the moral equivalent of killing a human being for convenience.

That kind of thinking scares me.

[supercat]

" * This one stack of receipts documents the babies slaughtered at Family Planning Association, 8888 Fletcher Parkway, La Mesa, California, in one day." I dont think even the pro choice people realize the magnitude of this.

Something like that might be a good anti-abortion sign. The picture is does not trigger the immediate revulsion that a blood-spattered fetus does, and yet the message is far more effectively chilling.

BTW, most people's perception of many things is logarithmic. There's a sense that a million is a bigger number than a thousand, but in many cases there's not a sense that it's actually a thousand times as big.

Someone's reaction to a million deaths would be somewhat larger than to a thousand, but to show the receipts for one clinic, on one day, when people are then going to realize how many clinics there are, and how many days.

BTW, it might be interesting to know how many facilities there are that perform 1-99 abortions/year, how many perform 100-999, how many do 1,000-9,999, etc. Such information might help put thinks into a multiplicative perspective (e.g. saying [I don't know if this is accurate] that the 100th-largest facility performed averaged 100 abortions/day might get people thinking about how many occurred in the 99 that ranked ahead of it.

[deadhead]

Abortion may be murder, it may not be.

Abortion is murder.

[Dan from Michigan]

The fact that these "protestors" have subjected these kids to these images is unacceptable and totally amoral.

IT's the real world. It's not amoral. It's the truth.

[Jennifer in Florida]

The fact that these "protestors" have subjected these kids to these images is unacceptable and totally amoral.

I have to agree with you, it is the job of the parents to educate their children, not the job of a protestor, and it is much better to explain this to children when they are emotionally ready for it rather than bombard them with scary images. We cannot hide this fact from our children, but we should be careful how the truth is presented.

[Dan from Michigan]

BTW - As Denis Leary says - "Life sucks, get a f'n helmet, alright?"

[Delta 21]

Its all done with Federal Tax dollar support so there should be records and documentation.

[dheretic]

Voting for a democrat or a republic is voting for a war mongering, blood lusting politician that will wield state force as maturally as an 8 year old boy with an AK-47, yet I don't see you calling for the outlawing of either party. If it logically follows that abortion is murder, then the above logically follows as well since history has vindicated the above more than it has that abortion is murder.

[Goldsters]

I agree. Would we be OK with a poster of graphic sex, even between married couples?

[dheretic]

Hey I got a smashing good idea! Since turnabout is fair play in politics, why don't the "anti-war" protestors show people running around screaming and dying of radiation burns, hair falling out and pictures of Hiroshima and Nagasaki burned to the ground. And while they're at it, why not add some of those nice pictures of humanoid images flashed onto walls by the initial blast for some more icing on the ghoulish cake? Afterall, we can't discriminated since if the anti-abortion crowd is now legally allowed to rape little kids' minds, we have to let every wacko group on the left ranging from the "anti-war" crowd to PETA have their chance!

[Goldsters]

Dan, a lot of things in life are The Truth, but wise parents give their children time to mature before being faced with them.

[F16Fighter]

"The fact that these 'protesters' have subjected these kids to these images is unacceptable and totally immoral."

It's free speech and it's the truth -- file your complaint with an abortion lobby or tell it to the rain.

[TopQuark]

What if the child asks what that building is for? I am pretty sure that you can answer that question yourself.

If the child aslks, then you will choose, based on the level of the development and psychological composition of your child that you intimately know --- when and how to explain the issue to him or her.

Children drive by prisons and prostitutes in the street --- especially in Europe, where that occupation is legal. Parents find the time, place, and words to explain this, as everything else unpleasant in life, to their children. Who gives you the right to shock a child --- my child --- with reality.

It is my role to prepare him gradually for life. You have no right to take this role from me, by shock tactics or otherwise.

[wcbtinman]

It seems to me that when the real anti-abortion crusade started, the pro-lifers were polite and tried to use logic and reason with those who were pro-abortion. They were villified and demonized for their troubles. Unlike many issues, pro-life people think of this as the ultimate crime, and one upon which there can be no compromise.

The battle has simply been ratcheted up, and more graphic terminology and illustration being used to get the point across. If what you see today doesn't work, the battle will ratchet up again.

Personally, I'm amazed that any abortion participant feels safe anywhere. If one truly believes that abortion is murder, then any use of force, including lethal force is justified to stop that murder. If some childs life was being directly threatened, most of us would use force as needed to stop that. I'm really amazed at the restraint of the pro-lifers, but I wouldn't expect that to continue.

[pax_et_bonum]

ping

[dheretic]

I would exercise my free speech right by walking into the principle's office and tell them that there are a bunch of political wackos out there harassing little children, violating established community decency standards and if there are any even vaguely sexual images I will do what I can to get everyone of them arrested and prosecuted for taking indecent liberties with a minor.

[F16Fighter]

"[W]e should be careful how the truth is presented."

And maybe Barney, or Bert and Ernie can even explain the "facts of life" to your kids.

[aruanan]

BUMPER STICKER:

My fetus was chosen unviable tissue mass of the month at the Me-First Womyn's "Health" Center.

[Swordmaker]

Friggin moral relativists on a level far worse than any post modernists. At least they have the integrity to not pretend to believe in a God-given standard of ethics! These "protestors" are deliberately targetting children ...

Again, amazing.

You accuse the protestors of being moral relativists because they believe that killing unborn babies is wrong and show pictures of the results of that crime!

You implicitly display your amorality when you condamn them for what you are practicing: you also think that abortion is equivalent to showing pictures of its result. You then accuse the protestors of being hypocrits by implying that they do not believe what they believe by praising those who refuse to take a moral stand or to live by an ethical standard.

Those who are offended by these pictures should be a million times more offended by the violent act that preceeded them! Their cry: "Ooh, how horrible! Don't make me see that! How rude of you!" is only a short step to: "Ooh, how horrible! Don't make me hear about that! How rude of you!"

Sometimes you have to hit the mule with a 2x4 to get its attention.

[general_re]

Personally, I'm amazed that any abortion participant feels safe anywhere. If one truly believes that abortion is murder, then any use of force, including lethal force is justified to stop that murder. If some childs life was being directly threatened, most of us would use force as needed to stop that. I'm really amazed at the restraint of the pro-lifers, but I wouldn't expect that to continue.

If someone were to ask me what was the quickest way to kill the pro-life movement, I would be hard-pressed to come up with anything better than this. Nothing will destroy the pro-life movement faster than if it turns to violence.