Pro-life activists have been taking enormous strides in getting to the heart of legislators and pregnant mothers considering abortion policy. Their tactic is blunt and visual with images of mutilated babies. They go around neighborhoods and schools displaying these images in big posters with text from the Bible and quotes that are meant to convict and offend. The article goes into detail of a select few personal stories of anti-abortion protesters and what they do. There is also a multimedia that shows pictures of protesters and gory images of dead fetus chopped up in pieces.
Just last month, a protester named James Pouillon was shot dead in a small town Michigan because of his obscene images and strong anti-abortion belief. This incident did not discourage his comrade protesters to stop, but did the opposite. Mr. Pouillon's protesting comrades became even more bold and dedicated to their "service" because of his death. They even used his death as another protesting aid.
Chet Gallagher, a former Las Vegas police officer, joined the anti-abortion protesting because of his Christian belief. When he was serving as a police officer, he was assigned to arrest anti-abortion protesters, but refused to do so because of his belief. He was resigned from his position due to his bold action for his belief and ended up joining the anti-abortion group. The group praised him for his firm action in his spiritual belief over the human law.
Deborah Anderson was abused and raped as a child from her foster parents. Her biological mother was planning on getting an abortion for her, but could not find a clinic at the time. She sees herself as a blessing and feels the need to impact the community about abortion.
These are three of many anti-abortion protesters' testimony. They are explicitly anti-abortion each from their personal experiences. The question is how effective these protests are in affecting policy decisions. There are multiple instances where pregnant mothers are planning on getting an abortion and get convicted not to when they see these protesters standing up for what they believe in, but can it do the same thing at the Congressional level? ACT-UP had a significant effect up top, but can anti-abortion protesters do the same for abortion?
Abortion is one of those issues that America is known for having a "culture war" over. I think in instances with health care reform, abortion is a high stakes issue, and extremists or those who strongly agree with one side or the other tend to express themselves more. Currently, it seems as though anti-abortion activists feel the need to be heard more because we have a pro-choice president that has a majority in Congress. I think to be effective, anti-abortion protesters will have to appeal to those who are on the fence regarding the issue in a less crude manner. Current tactics being used may turn people off to their side because they are too extreme.
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