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HATE-FILLED AND MEAN-SPIRITED
Political humorist P.J. O'Rourke once promoted a book by taking an ad in the conservative American Spectator magazine. O'Rourke's tear-out order form said "Dear P.J. Your new book seems hate-filled and mean-spirited. Rush me my copy right away." P.J. was satirizing Ms. Churchill's silliness. Important though her opinion might sometimes be, things aren't "hateful" merely because she doesn't like them.
But Ms. Churchill wasn't done. In the Tuesday, January 12 Alligator, she expressed further outrage in a guest column:
…CBR and CFL [Collegians for Life] want to send women back to pre-Roe v. Wade times, when 10,000 women died each year from backroom, illegal abortions, according to the Alan Guttmacher Institute [in fairness, Ms. Churchill had not had the opportunity to read our convincing refutation of this myth since this compelling essay had not yet been published].
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It is wrong that the CFL and CBR are capitalizing on slavery and the Holocaust to suit their anti-choice, anti-women agenda and that OUR MONEY is supporting their hateful work.
It is sick that they are using graphic displays in an attempt to intimidate and shame people into 'questioning the reality of abortion.'
Campus NOW believes all women have the unconditional right to decide when and if we want to have a child.
We, like our feminist sisters before us, commit to continue the fight for unrestricted access to choice and reproductive freedom for all.
Ouch. A lie told with words is no match for the truth told with pictures.
REMARKABLE EXCHANGES
There were far too many memorable exchanges at UF to recount in this limited space but a few are especially worthy of mention.
A rabbi's wife drew some of the largest crowds of the week with her loud but poorly reasoned assertion that because she had "lost relatives in the death camps, these [Holocaust] pictures" were hers and we "have no right to use them." I patiently explained that my own father had risked his life by volunteering to serve in the war which had ended the Holocaust and that every person of conscience, irrespective of ethnicity or religious conviction, had not only the right but the duty to use these pictures wherever genocide rears its ugly head. It is elitism of the most parochial sort to care only about the genocide which victimizes one's own.
A female law professor self-consciously admitted multiple abortions and made known to me her outrage that we had managed to force our way into a place which she apparently regarded to be her exclusive domain. And worse, we had brought with us irrefutable evidence that she had been misleading students (and perhaps herself) about abortion. I am not being patronizing when I say that I felt sincere sorrow for her.
A black faculty member argued that until we could guarantee unborn children a just society, abortion must remain legal. Talk about raising the bar into the stratosphere. To mix my metaphors just a bit, this very confused professor was putting the cart before the horse. A society which wishes to be just, must at a minimum, stop killing its children.
Throughout our visit to UF, I saw many of our most determined detractors wearing pins depicting the Christian cross, encircled in a red band with a diagonal slash through the middle. I wondered how long it would take the thought police to descend on anyone sporting a pin which similarly condemned religions favored by the political left? At many schools, internment in something like "re-education camps" would be required for forced sensitivity training. Public displays of contrition would thereafter be essential to avoid suspension or even expulsion. At least at UF, the administration seemed genuinely committed to freedom of expression. And to our great relief, so did most of the students.
Two female students approached Lois and told her that they had never seen anything like this exhibit. A crowd began to form as they asked hard questions and they eventually engaged others in a lengthy discussion of how problems could be solved without abortion. Imagine that.
A young black man confided to us that he had gotten his girlfriend pregnant at 17 and she aborted against his wishes. He lamented the fact that he had no voice in her decision, despite the enormous impact her decision would have on his life.
A Jewish male student volunteered to us that he had no problem with the comparison we were making between abortion and the Holocaust. More remarkably, Michael Spielman of our staff talked with another Jewish student (Johnny Godowski) who volunteered for us at UF and told Michael that what we were doing was "historic" in its significance. He later E-mailed Michael to say "I just don't see or hear conversations in support of abortion anymore as I used to (am I out of touch? – or have you changed the spiritual climate on this campus?).
Time and again we would just patiently answer hostile questions until our inquisitors would run out of gas and quietly move on.
One angry young man attracted a group of other students by berating us as akin to the Klan and the Nazis. Dr. Bob Seemuth, one of our volunteers gently got him to admit that he was actually guilty of religious bigotry.
PLEASE HELP US HELP THEM
But one student sent us an especially encouraging E-mail:
My name is Matthew Jenkins and I'm an electrical engineering student at the University of Florida.
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When I first heard of GAP, I really didn't think much good could possibly come from it. After all, our school and professors aren't very pro-life. Most of them are closed minded. I thought our student body would react negatively towards them and all sorts of problems might occur. Their reaction was more along the lines of shock. I don't think any of them knew what abortion really was. It's a hidden private murder. It's something that's never talked about on campus, until now. One by one I could see my fellow classmates walk by. They were staring with their mouths wide open in shock. It's quite disgusting, but very real. Some students even came up to the GAP people and asked questions and wanted to know more about what abortion did to the mother, the different types of abortion and especially how GAP could compare it to the Jewish Holocaust. The display attracted much attention and interest as well as stimulating debate. You couldn't miss it or avoid seeing it. The pictures are so large that they could be seen from about 100 yards.
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The discussions were very calm and friendly. Even in the face of total opposition, the GAP people were cool headed [sic] and respectful.
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I was really surprised and thankful that they had a chance to come to UF and make a difference. I think a lot of good will come of this. Because of this hearts will change and soften. Even our parish priest, Fr. Gillespie, thought they did a good job and commended them on their courage. He even provided food for the GAP workers every night they were here. So overall, I think that the work they did last week was a great influence on us. I've never seen anyone do this sort of thing for pro-life. It's very encouraging, especially seeing the non-violent, peaceful side of pro-life in the news. I hope they can come again next year and witness to the new freshmen and transfer students.
With your financial help, we can do just that. Nothing the pro-life movement has ever undertaken is having the life-changing impact of these pictures. This is hard, risky work but we are willing to do it if you are willing to fund it.
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