(The following was written by three incarcerated rescuers.)
At least 300K people will attend this year's March for Life, and polls consistently report no less than 12% of the American population thinks abortion is "always wrong". That's 40 million people. What could we accomplish if all these people put their convictions into action? We asked ourselves that question and drew up this list of ways anti-abortion people could make a tremendous impact if everyone got serious. Unfortunately, anything worth doing is going to be costly. All our suggestions require the sacrifice of time, and some are illegal and incur the risk of arrest or criminal charges. This is probably why few have been tried. The problem with our movement isn't lack of options but lack of will.
We're trying to stop a holocaust. We should expect casualties. But for the past 50 years the only real casualties have been preborn babies. Most of the rest of us have dismissed any tactic, however promising, that might require us to share their pain. It's time to change that. Here, for 2024, are 24 ways we could make a tremendous impact.
1. Use traditional rescues (peaceful physical blockades) to close every abortion mill for 6
months.
2. Put hundreds of sidewalk counselors outside every abortion mill.
3. Repeatedly send truth teams into every abortion mill.
● "Truth teams" are male/female pro-life couples posing as abortion clients. Their purpose is to dissuade genuine abortion clients by vocally agonizing over their "choice" in the waiting room.
4. Conduct red rose rescues at pharmacies that sell abortion drugs.
● "Red rose rescues" are anti-abortion interventions that, while often resulting in arrest, don't violate the infamous Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act (FACE) and are therefore less legally risky for the rescuer. At the pharmacy window itself, women seeking abortion are counseled to choose life and typically offered red roses.
5. Fill every abortion business' schedule with fake appointments.
6. Establish perpetual public vigils outside the homes of every abortion clinic worker, deathscort and pill distributor.
7. Boycott any business operating in the same building as an abortion mill or pill distributor.
8. Establish a constant anti-abortion educational presence at every public university.
● Most universities have student pro-life groups, but rarely are these groups actively focused on educating the student body about why abortion is wrong. What we need are rotating teams of at least 10 activists, armed with abortion victim images and rational arguments, peacefully demonstrating for life every day on campus.
9. Repeatedly distribute anti-abortion literature to every home in America
10. Establish life chains at the busiest intersections of every city
● "Life chains" are simply activists with anti-abortion signs lining the sidewalks. Multiple thousands would see them every hour!
11. Block roadways, especially near abortion mills
● Just because this tactic has been used for causes you may not agree with doesn't invalidate the tactic. Every American bears some guilt for tolerating child-killing inconveniencing them should not be off the table. A road blockade coordinated by pro-lifers could make allowances for ambulance traffic.
12. Flood the airwaves with anti-abortion ads during election season
● In various states, network television cannot refuse to air campaign ads for any candidate for Federal office, so long as the candidate can pay. Thrice this loophole has been used of people in pro-abortion states: 1976, 2012 and as recently as last month by the Terrisa Bukovinac presidential campaign.
13. Outlaw abortion county by county in pro-abortion states
● Mayor, sheriff, judge, district attorney and commissioner are just a few of the local offices to which we can elect men and women who could make outlawing abortion a top priority. In states where child-killing remains legal (which is every state so long as moms who do so are granted legal immunity), but in counties within those states where pro-lifers are a majority, this can be done immediately. Attempts to abort babies there would result in arrests, prosecution, and a confrontation between local and state government. Unless a state wants to resort to embarrassing authoritarian measures, it will be forced to concede local autonomy.
14. Vote only for candidates to state office who will make outlawing abortion their top priority
● Pro-lifers have always been afraid of doing this as we imagine it will drive away moderate voters. But very few states are so evenly divided that the electoral outcomes are in question anyway. In those which are, very few moderate voters hinge their vote on abortion. Finally, and perhaps most importantly, whatever the short term political consequences of such a strategy, long term it will tilt the balance of influence in our direction. The parties (and society) cannot dismiss millions of people who refuse to compromise.
15. Run repeated referendums to outlaw abortion in pro-death states
● In many states where abortion was recently added to the state constitution by referendum, the measure passed by a slim majority with only a fraction of voters participating. We can do better, and we don't have to wait. At any rate, a referendum campaign can itself be an excellent tool to educate more people on why abortion is evil.
16. Occupy state capital buildings
● Once again, everyone bears some culpability for tolerating child-killing. A government that fails to protect life (and prevents citizens from doing so) should not be allowed to function normally. Peacefully disrupting state legislatures would, short term, annoy to run anti-abortion ads, including abortion victim images, on the TV screens of millions citizens. But long term it would force them to address the problem that makes us so determined.
17. Require Christian/Catholic police to pledge never to arrest or harass anti-abortion rescuers or activists
18. Take over district school boards and ban pro-abortion sex-ed
19. Conduct frequent school walkouts by students at public schools
20. Mandate certain hours of anti-abortion activism as a job requirement for staff at
Christian/Catholic schools
21. Snowflake adoptions
● "Snowflake adoptions" are when couples adopt and implant one of the 1 million frozen embryos currently held at IVF clinics nationwide. Because such adoptions can cost over $11K, this tactic must be proceeded by a vigorous campaign to lower the expense by law.
22. Boycott and/or disrupt the business of shipping companies that ship abortion drugs
23. Wear anti-abortion apparel everyday
24. Aggressive social media posting
● This one is last because it can so easily be an excuse for "slacktivism". But done properly it can have a great effect. It means everyone of us posting and sharing on every platform repeatedly until the platforms are forced to close our accounts.
The authors are John Hinshaw, Jonathan Darnel and Will Goodman anti-abortion prisoners of conscience.
