Damn abortion protesters

[Jeep's Phoenix]

There's a group of them setting up in the brickyard at my university right now. They're the ones who show up with a bunch of poster-sized pictures of bloody fetuses, accompanied by signs reading "Warning: Genocide Photos" and "Pregnancy Crisis Counseling." I'm assuming there are pictures of aborted fetuses on their truck too, as the back panels are covered in sheets of plastic.

To top it off, they've set up in front of one of the biggest lunchtime gathering spots on campus on student body election day. That's right, these asshats had to set up shop in front of the sub sandwich/pizza/chicken nuggets/tacos/smoothies restaurant. What in the fuck is with these people - do they honestly think they are going to change anyone's mind to their way of thinking by showing a bunch of nasty pictures accompanied by misleading slogans? Do these fuckwads have nothing better to do with their lives --- say, like working or going to school?

I understand that lots of people are against abortion, and I respect that; however, I have no respect for people who shove their opinions in others' faces in this manner. I have to give up one of my favorite lunch spots so these self-absorbed asswipes can display what could be described as a hard copy of rotten dot com? Fuck you, protesters, for ruining a nice day.

[Rune]

So are you against demonstrations and protests in general or only the anti-abortion kind? Democracy suck donkey balls huh?

[Jeep's Phoenix]

Originally Posted by Rune

So are you against demonstrations and protests in general or only the anti-abortion kind? Democracy suck donkey balls huh?

I don't think you understand the kind of protest that's going on here.

They've got poster-sized pictures of blood-covered dead babies on display in one of the busiest areas of campus.

I don't have a problem with protesters in general. I do have a problem with this "in your face" stuff though. There are better ways to get your point across.

[E-Sabbath]

I suggest a dadist counteroffensive. Ask if you can lick the posters. Get friends. Become excited over the fundie porn. In highly inappropriate ways. Moan. Film it. Direct them, with the camera.

[eleanorigby]

You don't consider shrill, hysterical, inaccurate hyperbole to be the best way to get your point across?

You are out of step with the times, my friend!

I like E-sabbaths' idea--if only for the evil genius of it.


Sorry about lunch. See, I am such a stubborn SOB, I would eat there and encourage friends to eat there. I would not confront these morons verbally--I would just stare and stare and stare at them--as if they were freaks at a sideshow (wich, come to think of it....they are!). Occasionally, I would point at something and make a quiet remark to my friends....sotto voice etc.

Bound to drive them wild!

[Lord Ashtar]

Originally Posted by Jeep's Phoenix

There are better ways to get your point across.

Such as?

[Jeep's Phoenix]

Originally Posted by eleanorigby

Sorry about lunch. See, I am such a stubborn SOB, I would eat there and encourage friends to eat there.

Actually, I'm starting to get rather curious about the truck. Why was it covered up if they were setting up the pictures at the same time?

Lord Ashtar, I think they could start by presenting facts rather than immediately bringing up genocide. And if they insist on the pictures, they could at least go with the "hell house" approach, or some other form of enclosed display.

[VarlosZ]

I find that kind of protest distasteful, but I also understand why they do it. They believe that abortion in the U.S. is a form of mass-murder against defenseless victims, on par with the holocaust. If you believed that there was a chronic, state-sanctioned mass-murder going on about which most people were apathetic, wouldn't you be inclined to confront them with its horror in the most shocking way possible?

[Lord Ashtar]

Originally Posted by Jeep's Phoenix

Lord Ashtar, I think they could start by presenting facts rather than immediately bringing up genocide. And if they insist on the pictures, they could at least go with the "hell house" approach, or some other form of enclosed display.

That makes for a very boring protest.

[Uncommon Sense]

Originally Posted by Lord Ashtar

That makes for a very boring protest.

True,
OP,-
Would you rather they just throw pies in your face? Or, whichever desert you prefer....
That method seems to be catching on lately.

[Rune]

Originally Posted by Jeep's Phoenix

I don't think you understand the kind of protest that's going on here.

They've got poster-sized pictures of blood-covered dead babies on display in one of the busiest areas of campus.

I don't have a problem with protesters in general. I do have a problem with this "in your face" stuff though. There are better ways to get your point across.

What is the right way to protest genocide? Put yourself in their shoes. Considering that they believe there is talk of a bona fida genocide – of children even, I would say theirs is a very restrained protest. Imagine yourself in 1944 or 1994 – if you had full knowledge how would you protest the holocaust of Rwandan genocide? With less restraint than mere posters I hope.

[Jeep's Phoenix]

Originally Posted by Rune

What is the right way to protest genocide?

Oh, dear. Considering that there is real genocide taking place in the world, it makes me very uncomfortable to equate abortion to genocide.

Uncommon Sense, I think they use salad dressing now.

[Guinastasia]

Those kinds of tactics make me want to run right out and have an abortion, just to piss them off! And I'm not even pregnant!

[Priam]

So far as I can remember, Holocaust exhibits are not normally set up next to the food court at the mall. They want to make their point? Fine. I'm sure there are other high-traffic zones on the campus where they could wave their signs without making someone lose their cookies.

[Contrapuntal]

Genocide defined.

The abortion protesters should find another word.

[E-Sabbath]

If you don't feel comfortable with the orgasmic notions, film and photograph them, (the film doesn't have to be viewed later.) People will _do_ things when you photograph them. "No... a bit to the left. Okay, now look like you're talking to him." Get friends to pop up behind the others and make faces. Save and print the photographs, make signs, and counterprotest with their pictures.

Hell, talk to a Prof, see if you can get art credit or something for it. This is an opportunity. Make 'em look foolish. Laughter can do what words can't.

[Uncommon Sense]

Originally Posted by Guinastasia

Those kinds of tactics make me want to run right out and have an abortion, just to piss them off! And I'm not even pregnant!

Ooooh, oooh, quick!, - someone outside my office is protesting suicide via breath-holding.

[PinkMarabou]

Okay, doing this around people trying to eat is just plain rude. But I really LOVE E-Sabbath's suggestion. Make sure you really get into character and moan really loud!

You could try a counter protest. Show pictures of dead women, abused and neglected children, drug-addicted premature babies. Or go around and gather all their information: name, address, phone numbers. When they ask, tell them you're sending in their names to adopt all the children in your area and that you are also sending in their names to have their wages garnished to pay for all the needy children. That'll shut them up . . . or really piss them off. Not that it could really happen, but you'll make your point. You gotta fight ignorance one way or another.

[Eve]

I walked by the PETA protesters near the Grand Central Food Court, looked at their photos of cows and veal being tortured, and said (loudly enough for them to hear), "Right, a hambuger—that's what I wanted!"

[Malacandra]

Originally Posted by PinkMarabou

You could try a counter protest. Show pictures of dead women, abused and neglected children, drug-addicted premature babies. Or go around and gather all their information: name, address, phone numbers. When they ask, tell them you're sending in their names to adopt all the children in your area and that you are also sending in their names to have their wages garnished to pay for all the needy children. That'll shut them up . . . or really piss them off. Not that it could really happen, but you'll make your point. You gotta fight ignorance one way or another.

One way to fight it would be to Google "false dilemma fallacy".

[PinkMarabou]

Originally Posted by Eve

I walked by the PETA protesters near the Grand Central Food Court, looked at their photos of cows and veal being tortured, and said (loudly enough for them to hear), "Right, a hambuger—that's what I wanted!"

he he he! You have me giggling in my cube!

[Podkayne]

I think a nice counterprotest would be to set up with huge pictures of open heart surgery, excised tumors, etc. and big signs saying, "Down with icky medical procedures!" "If it's gross-looking, it's grossly immoral!"

It's not that I don't understand their outrage about abortion, but I really wish they could see their way clear to make their point without blatantly lowbrow appeals to emotion.

Same goes for animal rights protestors with gross-out pictures of lab animals and meat-packing plants, FWIW.

[Scoundrel Swanswater]

I suggest getting a few buckets of pig-blood from your local butcher.
What a bunch of fucking tools!!!
I don't care about what point you are trying to make, but I would get really pissed of when confronted with pictures of dead fetuses.

[Maus Magill]

I like E-sabbath's idea, too.

NC State?

Is the Brickyard Preacher still there? I remember listening to him one warm spring day (Mmm... Tucker beach), and finally walking up to him and screaming back, Articulation! Articulation! I can't understand a word you're saying!" For the first time in recorded history, The Brickyard Preacher was silent.

[PinkMarabou]

Originally Posted by Malacandra

One way to fight it would be to Google "false dilemma fallacy".

Get a fucking grip. If they use overblown examples to make their point, so can you.

[Jeep's Phoenix]

Originally Posted by Maus Magill

I like E-sabbath's idea, too.

NC State?

Is the Brickyard Preacher still there? I remember listening to him one warm spring day (Mmm... Tucker beach), and finally walking up to him and screaming back, Articulation! Articulation! I can't understand a word you're saying!" For the first time in recorded history, The Brickyard Preacher was silent.

Oh yeah - I think his name is Gary Birdsong. He alternates between the Brickyard and the little brick courtyard to the right of the bookstore (just in front of the Free Expression Tunnel).

A few semesters back, a bunch of guys pulled up in front of the bookstore in a yellow ~1955 Chevy Bel Air right as the Brickyard Preacher was gaining his peak audience. One guy got out, the rest stayed inside. The guy walked up to the Brickyard Preacher and exclaimed "Man! I feel like PARTYING!!!" As the guys in the Bel Air cranked up their stereo, Party Guy removed his shirt and pants and proceded to perform a sort of hip-thrusting dance in front of the Brickyard Preacher. The Technician ran a picture of it the next day.

We did have a new brickyard preacher for awhile; he spent his time yelling about the evils of homosexuality (in much less polite terms). He was physically attacked by a male student one day, and hasn't been back since.

[Jeep's Phoenix]

I ended up eating lunch over there after all. The truck was gone, and there were a few campus police officers walking around. The posters were surrounded by a rectangular perimeter of metal crowd control rails, so you couldn't walk up to the posters. The posters alternated; one panel would show an infant who was a victim of war or genocide, and the next panel would show a picture of an aborted baby. I guess they were just protesting dead babies.

There was a slight decrease in the number of people eating lunch outside; only a few of them were eating with their backs to the exhibit. The people at the candidate booths didn't seem to be bothered by the display; I got some candy from a few of them. One candidate whose platform is "Renew" had a salesman from a local Ford dealer showing of a hybrid Escape.

I'm still wondering why that truck had plastic on the sides.

[Boggette]

I drove to the mall one day here in PA, with my two young daughters in the car, and these people were picketing along street in front of the mall! They had those same posters and they were on every corner for the whole "row" of stores (this is an area with multiple malls/strip malls/stores)

This was a MALL. Not a clinic. Not a place having ANYTHING to do with their protest. There wasn't even a doctor's office within a mile of where they were (and maybe more, I don't know) There are all types of people passing who just want to go shopping.

Did my girls really need to see those pictures? Picket someplace else, assholes!

[DaddyTimesTwo]

Originally Posted by Podkayne

I think a nice counterprotest would be to set up with huge pictures of open heart surgery, excised tumors, etc. and big signs saying, "Down with icky medical procedures!" "If it's gross-looking, it's grossly immoral!"

It's not that I don't understand their outrage about abortion, but I really wish they could see their way clear to make their point without blatantly lowbrow appeals to emotion.

Same goes for animal rights protestors with gross-out pictures of lab animals and meat-packing plants, FWIW.

I like this. And not just because I was thinking of something similar. If someone were to be turned off by the graphic, bloody pictures of abortions I do wonder what they would think of any surgical procedure. Cause, you know they all can involve cutting flesh, sawing bones and bleeding etc. Icky stuff exactly.

[istara]

Originally Posted by Jeep's Phoenix

in front of the sub sandwich/pizza/chicken nuggets/tacos/smoothies restaurant

I can't think of a more pro-Life-extending activity than to put people off eating those things

[Lord Ashtar]

Originally Posted by Boggette

I drove to the mall one day here in PA, with my two young daughters in the car, and these people were picketing along street in front of the mall! They had those same posters and they were on every corner for the whole "row" of stores (this is an area with multiple malls/strip malls/stores)

This was a MALL. Not a clinic. Not a place having ANYTHING to do with their protest. There wasn't even a doctor's office within a mile of where they were (and maybe more, I don't know) There are all types of people passing who just want to go shopping.

Did my girls really need to see those pictures? Picket someplace else, assholes!

I have an idea. Let's set up a "Free Speech Zone" for the anti-abortion crowd. We'll put them a mile away from all the hot spots, such as malls and food courts, so that nobody has to see those gross and ikky pictures. I mean, who do these people think they are? Americans with 1st amendment rights? The nerve!

[Maus Magill]

Originally Posted by istara

I can't think of a more pro-Life-extending activity than to put people off eating those things

You should have seen what they served at the Atrium before they opened up the resturants. {{Shudder}} I used to eat there. I'm surprised I mae it out of college alive.

The good part was (NC State being a Land Grant School) fresh Ice Cream.

[Muad'Dib]

Originally Posted by Jeep's Phoenix

I understand that lots of people are against abortion, and I respect that; however, I have no respect for people who shove their opinions in others' faces in this manner. I have to give up one of my favorite lunch spots so these self-absorbed asswipes can display what could be described as a hard copy of rotten dot com? Fuck you, protesters, for ruining a nice day.

Would you have been against people shoving their opinions about during the anti-slavery movements? I view those pictures as no different then if someone were to show pictures of slaves beaten or lynched to death. Because many people, and myself, feel just as, if not more so, strongly about abortion. To me it is the killing of utter innocents and we must go to almost any lengths to stop this abhorrent practice.

Many people don't really feel to strongly about abortion because it is something you never have to see. It is kept behind the white sanatized walls of a doctors office. Posters like that force people to face the ugly truth about abortion, that it is the killing of unborn children.

[E-Sabbath]

Well, only, one notes, if the protesters in the matter showed pictures of drowned white people and then harangued about the evils of slavery. Technically, there _were_ white slaves, as I recall, and some of them may have died from drowning.

That's about the same relationship the 'dead baby' pictures have with actual abortions.

[Boggette]

"I have an idea. Let's set up a "Free Speech Zone" for the anti-abortion crowd. We'll put them a mile away from all the hot spots, such as malls and food courts, so that nobody has to see those gross and ikky pictures. I mean, who do these people think they are? Americans with 1st amendment rights? The nerve!"

------------

I have no problem with people protesting. I have no problem with people speaking their minds and exercising their first amendment rights.

I would, however, suggest that they might want to do their protests where the perpetrators of what ever they are protesting exist.

[PinkMarabou]

How about showing pictures of starving children and people who die from lack of health insurance? How about the 20,000 poeple who die every single day from extreme poverty? How about showing the number of people who have slipped into poverty? The number one reason women get abortions is because THEY CAN'T AFFORD TO HAVE THE CHILD.

You know, the "love the fetus, hate the child" syndrome our culture perpetuates. Why don't we put a stop to that? Get rid of the root problem first. You should be mad at the LAWMAKERS for having people in poverty to begin with.

[gigi]

Originally Posted by Boggette

I would, however, suggest that they might want to do their protests where the perpetrators of what ever they are protesting exist.

Maybe they are targeting folks at the college who might be considering abortion??

PinkMarabou, are you sure that's the number one reason?

Protesting abortion is a tricky one because people tend to have already made up their mind and are on one end or the other. So protests may fall on deaf ears or be preaching to the choir. But if you believe this is legalized murder, it seems reasonable you might feel compelled to speak out.

[Binarydrone]

Here is a wonderful gesture of contempt that I have developed. It is even better if you can get others to do it. As you walk past, toss a quarter at their feet.

[PinkMarabou]

Originally Posted by gigi

PinkMarabou, are you sure that's the number one reason?

From the National Right to Life association.

Originally Posted by gigi

Protesting abortion is a tricky one because people tend to have already made up their mind and are on one end or the other. So protests may fall on deaf ears or be preaching to the choir. But if you believe this is legalized murder, it seems reasonable you might feel compelled to speak out.

I agree their message is falling on deaf ears. Yes, I do think making abortions illegal is commiting murder on women. Hence, why my opinions are very clear on this subject. But preaching it to say a church where mostly pro-lifers will be would, IMO, be rude. Much like on college campuses and near food courts. There isn't much sway on this, there is a very small gray area.

[Otto]

Originally Posted by Boggette

I drove to the mall one day here in PA, with my two young daughters in the car, and these people were picketing along street in front of the mall! They had those same posters and they were on every corner for the whole "row" of stores (this is an area with multiple malls/strip malls/stores)

This was a MALL. Not a clinic. Not a place having ANYTHING to do with their protest. There wasn't even a doctor's office within a mile of where they were (and maybe more, I don't know) There are all types of people passing who just want to go shopping.

Did my girls really need to see those pictures? Picket someplace else, assholes!

With all due respect, I'd rather your daughters see those pics because the protesters are a mile away from the clinic than having the protesters screaming "don't kill your baby" at women trying to avail themselves of the clinic's services (abortion services or otherwise).

[eleanorigby]

Originally Posted by Muad'Dib

To me it is the killing of utter innocents and we must go to almost any lengths to stop this abhorrent practice.

Many people don't really feel to strongly about abortion because it is something you never have to see. It is kept behind the white sanatized walls of a doctors office. Posters like that force people to face the ugly truth about abortion, that it is the killing of unborn children.

Go. to. hell.

Really.

Have YOU ever had to make that choice? I doubt it-you wouldn't be so judgemental if you had. Walk an effing mile, honey, and then you get to comment/criticize.

Which would you have preferred? To leave my 3 kids w/o a mother or for me to have a medically neccessary abortion? I chose to stay alive and keep parenting my other kids--oh, and I think my husband, mother/father/remaining sister and brother, my friends and colleagues are somewhat glad I am still around. But maybe I'm just conceited.

Fuck you and people like you in spades.

I waiting for this poster to come back and say--"oh, I didn't mean you or folks like you ......"

[Fear Itself]

Make your own posters with gruesome pictures of Emily Lyons, the abortion clinic nurse who was mangled by "right to life" bomber Eric Robert Rudolph. I have not linked directly to the pictures because some of them are too horrendous, so you will have to click on the hospital pictures yourself.

If they are going to judge all pro-choice supporters based on the results of partial-birth abortions, then I have no problem equating all of them with Eric Robert Rudolph.

[Jeep's Phoenix]

Originally Posted by Fear Itself

Make your own posters with gruesome pictures of Emily Lyons, the abortion clinic nurse who was mangled by "right to life" bomber Eric Robert Rudolph.

I do wonder what effect that would have, considering that this is the state (though not the area) where a community harbored that man because he was, in their words, "doing God's work."

Muad'Dib, start a new thread if you want an abortion debate. I don't care which side you take on this; my point is that those people should have put a little more thought into how to convey their message.

[VarlosZ]

It seems to me that most people are misdirecting their ire at the methods used by these abortion protestors. Don't you think that displaying nasty pictures in public is a logical, restrained consequence of the belief that abortion (literally) equals murder? Would your protests against state-sanctioned mass-murder be any daintier? Unless you honestly believe that all you'd do in the face of a holocaust would be to sing inoffensive chants and hand out some leaflets, why would you attack the methods in question? Given what they believe, anything that falls short of physical coercion is commendable, in my opinion.

What you should take issue with is not the consequences of the "abortion=murder" logic, but instead the logic itself. At least with that tac, there's the possibility of some reconciliation or, at least, understanding.

[Blalron]

Originally Posted by Binarydrone

Here is a wonderful gesture of contempt that I have developed. It is even better if you can get others to do it. As you walk past, toss a quarter at their feet.

They aren't getting a penny from me! A quarter is probably 1/200th of the cost to make one of those oversized photos. I want no part of that.

[Muad'Dib]

Originally Posted by eleanorigby

Go. to. hell.

Really.

Have YOU ever had to make that choice? I doubt it-you wouldn't be so judgemental if you had. Walk an effing mile, honey, and then you get to comment/criticize.

Which would you have preferred? To leave my 3 kids w/o a mother or for me to have a medically neccessary abortion? I chose to stay alive and keep parenting my other kids--oh, and I think my husband, mother/father/remaining sister and brother, my friends and colleagues are somewhat glad I am still around. But maybe I'm just conceited.

Fuck you and people like you in spades.

I waiting for this poster to come back and say--"oh, I didn't mean you or folks like you ......"

1. I actually support abortion when the mothers’ life is in danger (there are few people who do not) or in the case of extreme birth defects (the kind in which the child will never achieve consciousness).

2.Yes I have. My sister got pregnant at 16 and was going to have an abortion so that she could hide it from my parents. Luckily I talked her out of it and I now have a happy, healthy 5 year-old nephew that I love very much.

3. Even if I had not had to make that decision, so what? That is a cheap argument and you know it. I don't have to have been a slaveholder or a slave to know and argue it was wrong. *looks in GD* I do not live on the border, so does that mean I can’t have a well formed opinion about the Minutemen? I am not an artist, so does that mean I can’t give an opinion on what art is? I did not live under communism, so does that mean that I can’t render an opinion on the aspects of Soviet Russia? Like my grandfather said “You don’t have to be a chicken to tell a rotten egg”.

4. Comparisons to abortion clinic bombers are also cheap and wrong. Just because there were (and it has been several years since the last bombing) some nut-jobs in the Pro-Life movement does not mean that it is wrong. Did John Brown make the anti-slavery movement wrong? Should people protesting slavery been faced with pictures of the men he killed as some sort of ‘fairness’ counter to their posters against slavery?

[Moby Grapist]

Originally Posted by Muad'Dib

1. I actually support abortion when the mothers’ life is in danger (there are few people who do not) or in the case of extreme birth defects (the kind in which the child will never achieve consciousness).

2.Yes I have. My sister got pregnant at 16 and was going to have an abortion so that she could hide it from my parents. Luckily I talked her out of it and I now have a happy, healthy 5 year-old nephew that I love very much.

3. Even if I had not had to make that decision, so what? That is a cheap argument and you know it. I don't have to have been a slaveholder or a slave to know and argue it was wrong. *looks in GD* I do not live on the border, so does that mean I can’t have a well formed opinion about the Minutemen? I am not an artist, so does that mean I can’t give an opinion on what art is? I did not live under communism, so does that mean that I can’t render an opinion on the aspects of Soviet Russia? Like my grandfather said “You don’t have to be a chicken to tell a rotten egg”.

4. Comparisons to abortion clinic bombers are also cheap and wrong. Just because there were (and it has been several years since the last bombing) some nut-jobs in the Pro-Life movement does not mean that it is wrong. Did John Brown make the anti-slavery movement wrong? Should people protesting slavery been faced with pictures of the men he killed as some sort of ‘fairness’ counter to their posters against slavery?

This post has been Graped by the Grapist!

[kung fu lola]

Originally Posted by Muad'Dib

2.Yes I have. My sister got pregnant at 16 and was going to have an abortion so that she could hide it from my parents. Luckily I talked her out of it and I now have a happy, healthy 5 year-old nephew that I love very much.

But how does she feel about it? What kind of education does she have? Career prospects? Debts? Retirement fund? I hope you're helping to pay for his upbringing, since you take so much credit for his existence.

I like those people who organize fundraisers where people can pledge money to pro-choice causes, and the money accumulates for every minute or hour the protestors are out there. It benefits the community as a whole, and the protestors get the uncomfortable knowledge that there is money going to NARAL (or whatever) as a direct result of their own actions.

[Mr. Moto]

Originally Posted by kung fu lola

But how does she feel about it? What kind of education does she have? Career prospects? Debts? Retirement fund? I hope you're helping to pay for his upbringing, since you take so much credit for his existence.

I like those people who organize fundraisers where people can pledge money to pro-choice causes, and the money accumulates for every minute or hour the protestors are out there. It benefits the community as a whole, and the protestors get the uncomfortable knowledge that there is money going to NARAL (or whatever) as a direct result of their own actions.

Why don't you give the money to Muad'Dib's sister? After all, you should be taking credit for the child's existence as well, by your reasoning?

Or is the only choice you favor the one than ends in a dead child?

[kung fu lola]

Please take your strawman home. It is scaring my crows. *yawn*