Are Abortion Protests Effective?

[Nathon Detroit]

I asked TOL's own Truthtreker and Denver Bible Church member Jo Scott to shed some light on what goes on in the pro-life movement (at street level) and she sent me the following email today.

The following email is EXTREMELY POWERFUL!

Please read it and let me know what you think. Jo and folks like her are the real heroes in my eyes.

Abortion protests have always left a bad taste in the mouth of the Christian Church. At first glance the protests are loud, they include horrific depictions of aborted babies, and they are completely unsophisticated. A sidewalk counselor is a person who deliberately sticks her nose into someone else’s business without invitation. Couple that first impression with constant bias media coverage and the abominable teaching in today’s churches that Christians are not to judge and you have the perfect “Christian” excuse for not getting involved in the fight to protect the unborn. “Those protesters are judgmental, unloving, scripturally ignorant people who are making all Christians look bad”. While Christians piously point their fingers at the picketers and sidewalk counselors the reality is that everyday innocent children are scheduled to be viciously pulled from the mother’s wombs and sold for parts. They are dying hideous deaths at the hands of abortionists who are laughing all the way to the bank. Pro-life protesters cannot let that happen without at least begging for the lives of the unborn children and confronting their mothers with the truth about what they are doing. We’ve been told that we should run crisis pregnancy centers and minister to women that way. CPCs are a fine way to minister to a woman who hasn’t already made up her mind to kill her child. The ministry in the street is to reach the woman who has it set in her heart to kill her child and has scheduled an appointment to do so. We are determined to save /that/ child. We have 10 to 30 seconds to make an impression on her that is so strong that she will at least have to think about what she is doing; thus the graphic pictures, loud talking and in our case, standing on ladders to insure eye contact with the mom. A while back I had a very emotional conversation with a young woman who was convinced that an abortion was the only solution for her problems. After about an hour she agreed that she would not kill her child and she allowed me to take her to the local crisis pregnancy center for an ultra sound. There was a flood of tears on the way to the cpc as she came to terms with the reality of her life and what she needed to do for success and happiness in the future. She had finally realized that the easy way out was not easy in the long run and it was definitely not a way out. While waiting for the young mom I was confronted by the director of the cpc. I will never forget what she said to me, “I don ’t agree with what you do. We have to put these women (that you take here) back together emotionally after you are through with them.” I was stunned at her lack of understanding for the situation. I answered, “It’s a lot easier to put the mother back together than it is the baby”. The truth is that we save about 100 children a year standing on the street outside of Planned Parenthood in Denver. Also, with the help of many people and organizations we can provide the moms with what they need to be successful, including housing and education. We believe that true happiness will only come with a saving knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ, so not all the time, but sometimes, we are able to lead the moms to Christ. And we are not the only ones. There are gentle saints standing on the streets in front of abortion clinics in every state in the country. They risk their livelihoods, their reputations, their positions in their churches and their communities all without batting an eye because they understand that we are to rescue those who are unjustly led to the slaughter. Prov.31:8&9 That’s love. We have watched in horror over the past three decades as unwitting Christians and politicians have compromised the personhood of the unborn by implementing laws that chose how, when and who will be sacrificed for some group to feel good about themselves and the “progress” they’re making in the fight against abortion. Will abortion protesters or sidewalk counselors ever end abortion? Absolutely not! They will stop some abortions, but only a healthy, living and loving church can end abortion. A healthy church feeds on the Word and is equipped to reach the world for Christ. It does not look to politicians, lawyers, or psychologists for guidance and direction. A living and loving church reaches out to the world around them with truth. It is able tear down the strongholds of evil and confront the sins of the day without compromise, without apology and without exception. We pray that one day the church will assume it's responsibilities and love God enough to stand for Him. That will be the day that abortion will end. Are sidewalk counselors and abortion protesters effective? If compared to what is happening on other anti abortion fronts the protesters are making a difference daily in the lives of families in every state in the union. If a child isn't rescued, a young woman is convicted of her sin and that is always a good thing. I think that you will have to admit that however unsophisticated, however grotesque, or however loud, there are thousands of children alive today that would have been killed if not for the abortion protesters and sidewalk counselors. Every day that there is an abortion protester or sidewalk counselor outside of an abortion mill it reminds the world that God has not forgotten the unborn. My husband Ken and I have been on the sidewalks outside of an abortion mill most days for years and we have been privileged to see some of the children that we rescued grow up to be fine upstanding young men and women. It is our opinion that if we had only saved one life in all these years every minute on the street would have been well spent. God Bless, Ken and Jo Scott

Thank you Jo Scott and God bless you and your husband and all of the other people who have joined you and help with your cause! :up:

 

[Mystery]

I answered, “It’s a lot easier to put the mother back together than it is the baby”.

This literally made me weep.

God bless you

 

[Nathon Detroit]

I answered, “It’s a lot easier to put the mother back together than it is the baby”.

This literally made me weep.

God bless you

That line BLEW me away as well and no doubt it made an impact on the person she said it to.

Wow! Powerful stuff!!!

 

[Maximeee]

That line was indeed the most powerful line..

I love Ken & Jo. They are so amazing!!! God bless them!!!

 

[DXPose]

God bless you Ken & Jo for your dedicated and selfless efforts in saving the unborn. :thumb:

You two truly have been an inspiration to our family. I'm looking forward to getting back down to the clinic with my kids to protest soon.

 

[asilentskeptic]

They can definitely be effective! They reach out to people that are not certain about their decision to kill their child. They reach out to people that will probably regret what they did later in life (and many women do). Abortion protests won't touch certain people, but it reaches others (which is good). Some pregnant women think long and hard before going and won't be swayed while others are just desperate and lost and have been convinced abortion is the way to go by a counseler (my ex-girlfriends mom was told to abort her by plannedparenthood).

You can't reach everyone, and the methods aren't always pretty, but I think some people make the wrong decision when they decide to abort.

 

[elohiym]

God bless Ken and Jo and all the protesters and counselors. Thanks for posting that, Knight. I hope it inspires more people to get involved to stop the murder of the unborn.

 

[rehcjam]

Excellent post.

 

[zapp]

I have often said, in response to musings over the question: "will persecution reach the Church in America"......
"All you have to do is hold a Bible, and/or Cross, and maybe a sign that says "God loves the nameless, the small, the weak, the innocent among us", outside any abortion clinic in America, and You'll find out shortly what persecution is about.
You'll be yelled at, cursed, threatened, provoked, harassed, maligned..... you know the drill.

That all said, at risk of incurring the wrath of many good-hearted folks, I want to submit a stream-of-conscience that has bothered me for years. To me, its the proverbial "goat's head" that no one cares to look at, think about, or acknowledge.

In a nutshell, modern outspoken christians of many denominational stripes hold the following:
- All life in the womb is human life from conception
- To aggressively kill the life in the womb is to kill a unique person made by God
- All such babies who are killed are innocent, and are found in Heaven [or .... substitute the eventual dwelling of your choice... heaven/earth/with-Jesus... whatever]. So, the baby is saved/redeemed, but the mother and Father are guilty.... along with others.

In the Western world, about 10% of the populaces are "saved"... that is, really observant followers of the Christ. and that percentage is on the decline, generally speaking. Thus, not only the visible generation living, but the one in the womb or not-yet-conceived..... 90% of them are very likely to incur eternal condemnation for the rejection of Jesus... God's only redemptive Lamb and King.

So, unless something drastic happens, the MAJORITY of persons of child-bearing age will follow the line of the Heathen and reject Christ. It follows, then, that a MAJORITY of babies conceived are doomed to grow up in homes where Jesus is rejected, and the Prince of this World is followed [unwittingly], and thus end up thrown into everlasting perdition.... no hope of recovery. Right?

But, if those babies not yet born are aborted, 100% of them will enter into God's loving presence, right??? All those slaughtered through the abortuary will gain instant access to our Father in Heaven, and we will see them there in good time.... whatever time that is.
Is that not our doctrine?

So....

If we truly CARE about the innocent.... do we want to see them cursed to grow up in homes where they are taught to curse God & die? [John Calvin.... please save us.....]

Oh.... almost forgot.... according to studies done a few years back, [and you'll find this easy to believe if you're well-read on christianity in the West].... the rate of abortion among those claiming to be "Christian" is about the same as that of those claiming not.....

????



:wave2:

???

 

[jeremiah]

I was once placed in the unique position of knowing a "certain" sidewalk counselor who talked a young, backslidden Christian woman out of her abortion. The young lady was the daughter of a "faithful" volunteer at my city's CPC.

The next week the director of the CPC thanked me profusely from the bottom of her heart for us, and all sidewalk counselors for being at death's door with one final "plea" for repentance. The entire staff knew and loved the mother and her daughter. I don't think it is a stretch to say that they are "eternally grateful", to that person, who was there for this daughter, and friend of many.

She had her baby girl seven months later.

The person who said, "we have to put them back together after you are done with them", might have a totally different perspective if Jo was bringing her own daughter back to her.

Why.................... because it was Jo Scott, who helped saved the life of the baby girl, to the delight of my hometown CPC. They no longer look at us as "adversaries" but as those with a much more difficult "job" than their own.

Our CPC also saves about a hundred babies a year However almost everyone they counsel is coming to them with doubts and questions, and seeking answers and solutions. They have "time" to work with, these young ladies, and fulfill needs, and make plans.


On the street you have less than a minute with someone who has "steeled" their mind to their decision, or is being coerced, and threatened against their will, in some cases.

For any Christian who has a daughter, believe me, you want a Ken and a Jo Scott, and their ilk, guarding both the front and the back gate, at your city's killing place.

Praise the Lord!

 

[Stripe]

:up:

 

[Truthtrecker]

Zapp,
I think that less than ten percent of the western world is saved. You are right, most of the children that are rescued from abortion will die without salvation, thanks to the narcissistic, selfish and hard hearted church. Evidence of the Christian hard heart is at the abortion mills. We see Christian young women with their families going into the mills every week. Their excuses range from the pathetic to the outrageous. But they all have a few thing in common, a lack of knowledge of the Living God, a hard or foolish heart and selfishness.

You seem to be suggesting that Christians should turn their backs on the victims of abortion because they are guaranteed a place in heaven. Just for arguments sake think about those that would have been saved? They are robbed of the opportunity to glorify Christ on earth, never to receive the crowns they could have earned, given the chance.

Maybe you haven't thought about the long range effect of abortion on society. Child killing has far reaching complications that effect not just the mother and child, but all of us. Abortion hardens the hearts of the women who have them and the men and women who support their validity. Every time an abortionists kills a child he increases God's wrath against him for all eternity. As society's corporate heart hardens it is increasingly harder to reach the individual for Christ. As a result people are more likely to reject Christ and die without Him. The apostle Paul said that the law is a tutor to lead us to Christ. If the Church allows the law to be forgotten where will direction come from? Planned Parenthood? Is the church not responsible to reach even murders and their accomplices for Christ? A society that can turn a blind eye when children are being killed by the millions is a society on the eve of destruction. God says that it is better to tie a millstone around your neck and be thrown into the deepest sea rather than hurt one of His little ones. When people lose compassion for the most innocent among them there is not much other than self that matters to them anymore. Therefore, the family disintegrates and instead of a Godly man leading his family in the ways of the Lord, we have the ungodly state trying to legislate secular salvation with it's ungodly, unlawful, ridiculous laws. Laws that can only lead to death.

I know that I've given you a quick answer to a complex problem, just let me say this. I have watched the hearts of young mothers change over the 28 years that I've stood outside of abortion mills. Twenty eight years ago I would never have imagined the kind of lack of respect that the young women of today have for themselves. They are used by men and they call it freedom. Because the law is written on the table of their hearts they are unable to reconcile their emotions with their convictions. They are tormented with guilt and feelings of worthlessness, yet they won't express those feelings to anyone for fear of being "different". Instead they proudly proclaim their sin and harden their hearts to the truth. They do not have the foundation of Christ to stand on so there lives become a vicious circle of seeking the fulfillment of the flesh and then trying to reconcile their emotions. These are the women who will raise the next generation.
Scary!

 

[GodsfreeWill]

Zapp, even newborns would go to heaven if killed. This is not some magic "fetus" theology you've brought up, but under it's usual name, simply "age of accountability." You said, "do we want to see them cursed to grow up in homes where they are taught to curse God & die?" Apparently you do not want this. If this be the case, do you practice and advocate the slaughter of small children living "in homes where they are taught to curse God & die"? If you don't, you are simply a coward. Practice what you preach. Planned Parenthood does.

 

[Servo]

Zapp,
I think that less than ten percent of the western world is saved. You are right, most of the children that are rescued from abortion will die without salvation, thanks to the narcissistic, selfish and hard hearted church. Evidence of the Christian hard heart is at the abortion mills. We see Christian young women with their families going into the mills every week. Their excuses range from the pathetic to the outrageous. But they all have a few thing in common, a lack of knowledge of the Living God, a hard or foolish heart and selfishness.

You seem to be suggesting that Christians should turn their backs on the victims of abortion because they are guaranteed a place in heaven. Just for arguments sake think about those that would have been saved? They are robbed of the opportunity to glorify Christ on earth, never to receive the crowns they could have earned, given the chance.

Maybe you haven't thought about the long range effect of abortion on society. Child killing has far reaching complications that effect not just the mother and child, but all of us. Abortion hardens the hearts of the women who have them and the men and women who support their validity. Every time an abortionists kills a child he increases God's wrath against him for all eternity. As society's corporate heart hardens it is increasingly harder to reach the individual for Christ. As a result people are more likely to reject Christ and die without Him. The apostle Paul said that the law is a tutor to lead us to Christ. If the Church allows the law to be forgotten where will direction come from? Planned Parenthood? Is the church not responsible to reach even murders and their accomplices for Christ? A society that can turn a blind eye when children are being killed by the millions is a society on the eve of destruction. God says that it is better to tie a millstone around your neck and be thrown into the deepest sea rather than hurt one of His little ones. When people lose compassion for the most innocent among them there is not much other than self that matters to them anymore. Therefore, the family disintegrates and instead of a Godly man leading his family in the ways of the Lord, we have the ungodly state trying to legislate secular salvation with it's ungodly, unlawful, ridiculous laws. Laws that can only lead to death.

I know that I've given you a quick answer to a complex problem, just let me say this. I have watched the hearts of young mothers change over the 28 years that I've stood outside of abortion mills. Twenty eight years ago I would never have imagined the kind of lack of respect that the young women of today have for themselves. They are used by men and they call it freedom. Because the law is written on the table of their hearts they are unable to reconcile their emotions with their convictions. They are tormented with guilt and feelings of worthlessness, yet they won't express those feelings to anyone for fear of being "different". Instead they proudly proclaim their sin and harden their hearts to the truth. They do not have the foundation of Christ to stand on so there lives become a vicious circle of seeking the fulfillment of the flesh and then trying to reconcile their emotions. These are the women who will raise the next generation.
Scary!

Excellent post!

:first:

 

[PKevman]

Zapp,
I think that less than ten percent of the western world is saved. You are right, most of the children that are rescued from abortion will die without salvation, thanks to the narcissistic, selfish and hard hearted church. Evidence of the Christian hard heart is at the abortion mills. We see Christian young women with their families going into the mills every week. Their excuses range from the pathetic to the outrageous. But they all have a few thing in common, a lack of knowledge of the Living God, a hard or foolish heart and selfishness.

You seem to be suggesting that Christians should turn their backs on the victims of abortion because they are guaranteed a place in heaven. Just for arguments sake think about those that would have been saved? They are robbed of the opportunity to glorify Christ on earth, never to receive the crowns they could have earned, given the chance.

Maybe you haven't thought about the long range effect of abortion on society. Child killing has far reaching complications that effect not just the mother and child, but all of us. Abortion hardens the hearts of the women who have them and the men and women who support their validity. Every time an abortionists kills a child he increases God's wrath against him for all eternity. As society's corporate heart hardens it is increasingly harder to reach the individual for Christ. As a result people are more likely to reject Christ and die without Him. The apostle Paul said that the law is a tutor to lead us to Christ. If the Church allows the law to be forgotten where will direction come from? Planned Parenthood? Is the church not responsible to reach even murders and their accomplices for Christ? A society that can turn a blind eye when children are being killed by the millions is a society on the eve of destruction. God says that it is better to tie a millstone around your neck and be thrown into the deepest sea rather than hurt one of His little ones. When people lose compassion for the most innocent among them there is not much other than self that matters to them anymore. Therefore, the family disintegrates and instead of a Godly man leading his family in the ways of the Lord, we have the ungodly state trying to legislate secular salvation with it's ungodly, unlawful, ridiculous laws. Laws that can only lead to death.

I know that I've given you a quick answer to a complex problem, just let me say this. I have watched the hearts of young mothers change over the 28 years that I've stood outside of abortion mills. Twenty eight years ago I would never have imagined the kind of lack of respect that the young women of today have for themselves. They are used by men and they call it freedom. Because the law is written on the table of their hearts they are unable to reconcile their emotions with their convictions. They are tormented with guilt and feelings of worthlessness, yet they won't express those feelings to anyone for fear of being "different". Instead they proudly proclaim their sin and harden their hearts to the truth. They do not have the foundation of Christ to stand on so there lives become a vicious circle of seeking the fulfillment of the flesh and then trying to reconcile their emotions. These are the women who will raise the next generation.
Scary!

Great post TruthTrecker! Good to see you posting on TOL. God bless you in your work to defend the rights of those who cannot defend themselves. We'll be praying for you!

 

[PKevman]

There was a lot of great stuff in TT's post. This being another:

Every time an abortionists kills a child he increases God's wrath against him for all eternity.

Indeed! :up:

 

[Ktoyou]

We do what we can do and we should do it. Everyone has a shared responsibility to make the truth known. I am glad there are people out there who will stand and be counted for their beliefs. This world is its people’s responsibility to do good for others; we all have our calling, those who act, do, those who assume others will carry their part of the burden, lack conviction in themselves.

 

[genuineoriginal]

But, if those babies not yet born are aborted, 100% of them will enter into God's loving presence, right??? All those slaughtered through the abortuary will gain instant access to our Father in Heaven, and we will see them there in good time.... whatever time that is.
Is that not our doctrine?

Psalm 127 3Lo, children are an heritage of the LORD: and the fruit of the womb is his reward. 4As arrows are in the hand of a mighty man; so are children of the youth. 5Happy is the man that hath his quiver full of them: they shall not be ashamed, but they shall speak with the enemies in the gate.​

Isaiah 5 20Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!​

 

[Granite]

Some can be, others are intensely counterproductive.

 

[PKevman]

Abortionists are an abomination to the Lord, and should be to anyone who claims to love Him.