In her August 18th letter, Danielle Rye says she is offended when she sees our aborted baby pictures along the streets of Kitsap County. She imagines this disruption of her otherwise pleasant commute as a bad thing, but effective social reformers know that individuals need to be bothered about an injustice before enough people will rise up to stop it.
The Anti-Choice Project uses pictures to bother those with a functioning conscience because we realize that injustices which are covered up do not end. When abortion is hidden, abortion is tolerated. When it is seen, everything changes. As abolitionist William Wilberforce once said, “You may choose to look the other way, but you can never again say you did not know.”
Ms. Rye is outraged that her child saw our signs, but these images save lives and lives trump feelings in our book. The law, of course, is on our side: “It would therefore be an unprecedented departure from bedrock First Amendment principles to allow the government to restrict speech based on listener reaction simply because the listeners are children.” (9th Circuit Court of Appeals, Center for Bioethical Reform v. L.A. County Sheriff Dept.)
Ms. Rye ought to realize that we are here because abortion is here. The only question we have for those who can’t bear to look upon “Choice” is—If it’s wrong to SHOW what goes on in an abortion clinic, why isn’t it wrong to DO what goes on in an abortion clinic?