NOW THAT WE'VE GOT YOUR ATTENTION
Startling GAP display
draws UM students to dialog
Giant,graphic posters comparing aborted babies to victims
of the Jewish Holocaust and other instances of genocide came
to University of Maryland College Park September29-30.
The Genocide Awareness Project display contrasted grim pictures
of slaughtered Cambodian or Rwandan children with photos of
bloody, aborted babies, with headlines such as "Genocide:
Everyone gets a choice but the victim."
The GAP display, sponsored by the California-based Center
for Bioethical Reform, generated many discussions and debates
between volunteers manning the display and passing students.
CBR staff and volunteers, aided by members of the UM chapter
of Students for Life, engaged in dialog, handed out literature,
and answered questions.
"I've been to ten of these; this is a great place!"
said CBR Northeast Regional Director Bill Calvin.
"Everyone walks down Campus Drive, and they see the
signs. The students are very open, and a lot of them are pro-life."
We've had a lot of favorable comment from students, thanking
us for being here," said Fletcher Annstrong, CBR's Southeast
regional director, from Knoxville, Tennessee, who was in charge
of the event.
"I expected a lot more opposition," admitted Jane
Bullington of the Southeast Regional office.
"Last week at the University of Delaware, the pro-aborts
planted popsicle sticks in the ground that said 'I'm pro-choice'!"
Opposition on the first day at UM was minimal, said Armstrong:
"One student made a pass around the display,yelling. A
female student stood holding a poster she had made, and a guy
handed out fliers. But they got so little reinforcement,they
just left."
More characteristic at UM were earnest, generally courteous
dialogs between students and the pro-lifers, who were often student-age
themselves.
New Jersey volunteer Robert Stewart, of the Life Education
and Resource Network, took on a tall African-American collegian
who confronted him with the "hard case" of rape: Why
should the woman be forced to carry a constant reminder of her
rape she demanded.
They argued for several minutes, the student asserting that
the "fetus" was not a human being but a part of the
mother,Robert countering that the unborn child was simply one
stage in human life, like the newborn, toddler and young adult.
On the opposite side of the circular display, volunteer Melissa
Morrison, 19, also of New Jersey, described the grim details
of her abortion in February of 2002 to a curious male
student who had asked another volunteer how abortions were done.
Melissa explained later that several months after her abortion,
she "found God" and repented to Him for her sin. "I
want to minister to youth and let them know that abortion is
not right,"she added emphatically. Student for Life member
Jennifer Mistretta used a loose leaf binder packed with pro-life
information to backup her enthusiastic discussions with other
students.
Jennifer,a senior pre-nursing and gerontology major, said
that her mother had gotten pregnant at 16 and was pressured
to have an abortion,but refused to sign the papers at the clinic
and walked out.
"I'm very thankful to be here!" she exclaimed.
At a table next to the display, UM Students for Life President
Neil Griggs and Alan O'Connor, both sophomores, were doing a
brisk business signing up new members.
The GAP display was scheduled for George Mason University
later in the week and Penn State the following week.
Mr. Armstrong noted that Defend Life Director Jack Ames helped
CBR lineup funding and volunteers for UM, the University of
Delaware and George Mason. "Defend Life has helped us a lot,"he
said.
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