Compassion works. Bullhorns don’t.

As an officer of Titans for Life at the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh (one of our wonderful Affiliate Groups across the country), Sally Windler knows ERI apologetics forward, backward, and inside out. Recently, on the way out of a pro-choice panel discussion on her college campus, Sally stumbled upon an all-too-common scene: two men with cameras strapped to their bodies, holding a giant image of a bloody, dismembered baby doll. A camera on a tripod nearby recorded the small crowd that had formed around the pair as they screamed Bible verses at the appalled students.

Unfortunately, this scene is all too familiar to the pro-life advocates we train. In fact, one of the most common questions we receive from sidewalk counselors is how to handle “abolitionist” activists who act like this (or worse). It is often the case that no matter what the more gracious pro-lifer says;, the abolitionist will often get argumentative or just refuse to talk to the advocate at all, making progress nearly impossible.

Yet, after only one conversation with Sally, these two abortion abolitionists abandoned their bullhorns and walked away!

So, how did she do it?

Estimated reading time: 8 minutes

A Response to the Car Crash Analogy

Suppose that while you’re driving home from work, you get into a car accident, and the other person is severely injured. He’ll die unless you give him a kidney. It would be morally admirable of you to donate your kidney to him, but many people find it doubtful that you should be legally required to donate your kidney. They would say that the government shouldn’t force you to provide this sort of bodily assistance, even though it’s necessary to save the other driver’s life.

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Estimated reading time: 11 minutes

Abortion and Medical Necessity: Press Talking Points

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Talking about abortion with pro-choice people can already feel scary. Multiply that by a million, and that’s how it feels for most of us to talk to pro-choice press! We have so much empathy for pro-life people who’ve been caught flat-footed in interviews, especially in this post-Roe era when tensions are high and questions about legislation are complicated. We’ve been there too! One particular way many pro-life people have been causing unforced errors resulting in bad publicity is by using definitions of “abortion” that don’t line up with the mainstream understanding. Once you understand the nuance of abortion definitions and medical procedures to save a woman’s life, here’s how we recommend responding to questions on abortion and life of the mother in shortened, press interview-like situations. These answers are authored by Emily and written in her voice.

Estimated reading time: 5 minutes

Abortion and Medical Necessity: Improving the Pro-Life Approach

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Estimated reading time: 9 minutes

Pro-life people really don’t like abortion. Shocking, right? But I don’t just mean that pro-life people believe abortion is morally wrong, which we do; pro-lifers have a strong emotional reaction—a moral aversion—to abortion which is often right and healthy.