Pro-life Truth Truck and protesters pay New Year’s Day visit to Sen. Ben Nelson’s home
(Click all photos to enlarge.) Rescue the Heartland’s Larry Donlan led a 7-member band of demonstrably dedicated pro-lifers who braved knee-deep snow and -9°F windchill, both on foot and in Operation Rescue’s Truth Truck, to protest the Omaha, NE, home of pro-life turncoat Sen. Ben Nelson on New Year’s Day….
Most know by now that Nelson authored an abortion “compromise” in the Senate’s socialized healthcare bill, which is actually impossible. Socialized healthcare will either include direct/indirect public funded abortions or it won’t.
The Nelson-approved plan will, which pro-abort DHHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius corroborated, making Nelson a traitor to the preborn and well deserving a reminder of exactly what it is he is “compromising.”
About the protest Donlan emailed his group “got a thumbs up” from a couple neighbors, with one car stopping to inquire. The group also saw a car pull into Nelson’s garage during their protest, so they know someone was home at least part of the time.
And the Truth Truck got stuck once, according to Donlan, backing up traffic for 10-15 minutes and allowing those waiting in cars “to see the truth about abortion.”
[HT for photos and email: Cheryl Sullenger of Operation Rescue]
Jill Stanek is a nurse turned speaker, columnist and blogger, a national figure in the effort to protect both preborn and postborn innocent human life.
Boy that Truth Truck is large scale, in your face graphic.
The tactical use of this imagery has got to be one the strongest factors turning our country against abortion. The prayers of Christians and BO’s radical pro-death agenda must be the other major contributing factors.
God Bless you all for going out in those frigid temperatures (which were no coincidence) – to protest Nelson selling out the unborn!! For shame — God will NOT be mocked forever!
Amen! RJ
Their’s this cool game I found called cybernations. You’ll should check it out. http://www.cybernations.net/default.asp?Referrer=smallistbaby RJ
Ed – I think given that there’s 250 million plus American’s out there, the odds that a few trucks are going to swing things too much is probably pretty slim – I think having a Democrat in office in general is the push we see in the poll numbers.
The interesting thing in the polls I’ve seen is that more people are saying they are pro-life, but a huge majority still say they wouldn’t reverse RvWade.
I’m new on this board – what is the battle plan of the GOP these days when it comes to abortion? There seems to really be none – it’s more about small restrictions here and there.
Ex-GOP voter:
The “Democrat” in office claimed to be pro-life. If he had campaigned on his “any time, any reason, preferably taxpayer-funded” abortion platform he would NOT have won votes. So that’s a definate push.
I wouldn’t define overturning Roe vs Wade as the end goal of the pro-life movement. I would think the immediate goal of the pro-life movement is to prevent the inclusion of abortion funding in whatever healthcare reform bill passes.
best regards, D
Denise –
I think he was pretty leveled in his campaign – that he’s pro-choice, but that we should do things to reduce abortion. I don’t think the feds have instituted “any time, any reason” abortion thoughts – I think that’s a bit overboard.
I think that’s what a lot of the country is right now – after the polls I’ve seen, and the votes in SD and Colorado, there doesn’t seem to be the political will to pass abortion bans.
In regards to your view on the current battle – I think it’s a hollow, short sighted goal, seeing that abortion has been covered for a long time in the majority of private plans, which are government subsidized – so what’s being fought about now has been a reality for years. Heck, even the GOP just recently took abortion out of their plan.
Interesting though that overturning RvWade isn’t the goal, at least in your mind. I suppose that’s where I’m stuck. I used to vote GOP. More independent/left leaning now. I certainly don’t like abortion but I don’t think the right has the answer, and I have doubts we could ever get to the point of a ban in the country. The main goal I’ve seen playing out, at least with the main anti-abortion groups, is access. I wish it was further upstream – helping people not get pregnant in the first place.
awesome!!!
who wants THAT truck outside their nice big rich home?
brilliant! in my prayers all the way, guys.
I sure wish that truck could visit every member of Congress on their break. It would be good for all of them to realized what abortion looks like.
Hey Ex,
It’s not just a few trucks using the graphic imagery. There was piece written by a pro-death writer a month or two ago lamenting the public’s shift to Pro-Life and how the debate over the Partial Birth Abortion Ban caused them irreparable harm. I wish I had a link to refer you to but she said that the very graphic and brutal diagram of the procedure was broadcast over the network news repeatedly over several weeks. She said there was nothing they could do to stop it and that there was no credible explaination they could offer to justify the horrific procedure.
The Center for Bio-Ethical Reform has been very active on college campuses and the imagery made international news at BO’s Notre Dame Commencement Speech. We finally broke through into the MSM with a full feature article in the New York Times about the use of graphic imagery in Pro-Life protests.
Personally, I’d like to see a Pro-Life television show give it equal time with the spots we see for feeding hungry children in impoverished countries until the evil practice is outlawed.
Hey Denise,
I believe the end game for the Pro-Life movement in America is for abortion to be made illegal first in the United States, and then on to the rest of the world.
Abortion is genocide.
I completely agree with effectiveness of images.
…But, i’m wondering in this case what people think about the fact that even a young child will, without warning, see the images of a Truth Truck (assuming it drives around everywhere like this)? Adults are one thing, but i wouldn’t want my young ones seeing that for the same reason i wouldn’t want them watching Schindler’s List.
In virtually all other venues, there are warnings before images like this are shown (campus displays, pro-life messages, etc).
I don’t know. Someone give me a sound argument. I’ll need persuading to accept this method.
Brian,
We actually had an angry woman stop and ask us the same question (“what do I tell my children?”) during the recent 40 Days for Life campaign. We had no graphic signs like the ones on the Truth Trucks, merely text and pretty baby pictures, along with the “Pray for an end to abortion” signs. We were also taking turns kneeling to pray. Even that caught the childrens’ attention, and they must have asked their mother about it, or she wouldn’t have been furious enough to stop and scream at us.
However, I think the same answer could apply. This was months ago, but we told her something along the lines of “tell your children the truth. There are bad people in the world who kill babies, but nobody knows it. The people with the signs hope that when good people see what is happening, it will stop.” I ended up turning my back on the mess and going back to my Rosary and when I looked up again, they were gone.
I am paraphrasing, but to the best of my recollection, that’s what we told her. I was originally opposed to the Truth Trucks, but have changed my mind because they DO get attention. If people aren’t willing to discuss in the light of day – including to their children – what they think is just fine in privacy, then the only hope is for the next generation to be awakened.
On a related subject: I used to do volunteer work for a zoo on saving endangered species. Items that had been confiscated by Customs (eg – a leopard-skin coat in particular) were on display outside the big cat exhibit. One little boy put two and two together and started asking how anybody could do anything so awful, just as the leopard showed up. This may sound brutal, but that is one little boy that is unlikely to grow up to buy his wife a leopard-skin coat. (They are illegal to import anyway, but vintage ones are still around). Public opinion is against wearing endangered species now, mostly because of exhibits that made people realize where they came from.
And reaching a little – look at how public opinion has changed on smoking. Entire buildings (including a bubble zone around the door) have been declared non-smoking zones in some cities when people became aware of the damage that both smoke and second-hand smoke can do to people just to put money into the coffers of the tobacco industry. No offense intended to smokers, but can you deny that public opinion has changed?
The same tactics can be used against the abortion industry and they are already beginning to work. I assume you’ve taken basic economics: the government is tinkering with the supply curve for abortions, but the rest of us (including those who display the gory images) can change the demand curve. Draw the shifting curves yourself and look at the implications for profit for abortionists.
Sorry this is so long, but even though I think the images on the Truth Trucks are horrible, if they have the same effect on children demanding explanations from their parents, then I think they can be justified.
Brian – I agree with you. I have two young children at the age they would barely even understand abortion if I tried to describe it to them. The images would freak them out though, no doubt. If I ever saw a truck in public, as a good parent, I’d drive elsewhere. I’m just not a shock and awe person personally, and as a parent, I’m amazed at at how easily kids can get rattled/confused.
Ed – I think there were a lot of factors, and you probably touched on some. The long term trends will be interesting to watch.
I wanted to ask on something you made in your next statement though – you say the goal is to make abortion illegal in the US. How do you see that happening? It can’t be an RvW overturn, followed by individual state action, as some states like New York will never turn. Are there other paths you see towards achieving that goal?
I’m very interested in this – I consider myself pro-life but have voted left recently in part (and I will clearly state that abortion is just one part of my vote – maybe it should be higher on my priorities list, but it is just one component) because while the GOP talks a good game on abortion, they don’t seem to do anything, nor have a plan – nor do I think the path that, at least I understand it (overturn r v wade, pass in individual states), is ever, ever going to make much of a dent.
Thoughts?
There have been times when my 4 year old has seen an image of a tiny baby on this blog and knows she is a child. He has said, “Theres a baby.” He also knows something is very, very wrong when he has seen a photo of an aborted baby. He asks and I tell him.
Of course, being a post-abortive mom I want my children to know. It is truth. It is what happened to my daughter.(their sister)It is how she died. I tell them this is what happens to a child when she dies in an abortion.
My four children know about abortion and have seen the photos and believe it to be another evil perpetrated by man. Just as I do. I want them to grow and fight for justice for the unborn just as I do.
My two cents.
Curious. What is the “right” age to show a child? Would the conversation ever come up on its own? Would you say that todays the day and show your child the photos? Or do you wait for a teachable moment? That might never come….
I remember seeing starving children in first grade and baby harp seals being clubbed to death with blood all over the snow in second grade. A filmstrip even! Watching the men club those beautiful creatures. They made a lasting impression on me.
I have also seen signs warning of graphic abortion photos ahead so cars can turn around and go a different way.
During the elections last year my two third graders came home from school asking what abortion was. One, my son, has mild autism and we weren’t ready for this yet.
I asked why they were asking, and who was mentioning it in school. It seems that one child in class had parents who were unsparing in their descriptions of abortion. So in that moment, I prayed for the wisdom of Solomon.
I explained to them that abortion is when mothers think that they have something in their womb that might become a baby, that the doctors at the abortion center lie to the mothers, that the doctors really know it’s a baby, but trick the mothers. I explained that the mothers ask to have the thing they think is going to be a baby removed, because they aren’t ready to become mothers yet.
This placed the blame squarely where it belonged-on doctors who know better, who will not allow the mother to see the image of the baby on the scanner, whose industry lobbies against notification laws, who rail against crisis pregnancy centers that reveal to women the splendor of their babies through imaging technology.
In their impressionability. I didn’t want the children being stamped with an indelible animosity toward post-abortive women, the vast majority of whom are as much the victims of the abortion industry’s verbal engineering as their babies are.
I further explained that as a scientist doctor (how they understand the difference between Ph.D. and M.D. who are both called doctor), and with mommy as a pediatric, neonatal ICU nurse, we are busy teaching people the truth so that one day the bad doctors won’t be able to trick mothers anymore.
We show them 3-D and 4-D imagery all the time. We show them their own 2-D scans which we recorded. We’re busy building a love affair with the fetus, with the God who made this process. I believe that’s the first and most necessary step.
Was I wrong i how I described things to them? I don’t know. I do know that for me, I hit on the main points where truth is concerned. My objective was not so much a description of where we are at in the pro-life movement so much as I was concerned with protecting their fragile sensibilities at so early an age.
Once they are firmly rooted in the truth, in the beauty of human development, and when they are a couple of years older, then we’ll transition them to the fullness of knowledge involved in the abortion industry.
I don’t doubt that other people’s children can handle matters better. It’s a judgment call.
sabella – thank you for your response. I agree with your heart on this matter and mostly all that you said, especially that these images are truth and that they are effective when displayed. I know that these truth trucks get attention, but I can think of lots of other ways to get attention that might be morally questionable too. I’ve just noticed that in every other forum or method, some kind of warning is given: Online videos, photos, etc from prolife sites like Abort73.com, CaseforLife.com, etc. Campus displays always have signs posted off to a distance with the warning. And, especially on college campuses, I think the warning signs actually draw more people in. But, in no other place do I see these images displayed without warning to unsuspecting random audiences. It seems to be a simple common courtesy that you provide a person, so that they have the option to not look, but knowing most will look.
carla – regarding what age is appropriate to show a child. I’d like to come to an understanding of that myself. But, I can say my 3 and 4 year olds are too young, in my opinion. Every child is different. Some children can probably handle these. They might have the right personality or emotional maturity. Others might be, by nature, more sensitive and prone to being emotionally disturbed easier. Typically, I would think a parent knows their child best. But, with a truth truck, there’s no warning giving a parent the option to protect their child, should they want to. There are lots of photos depicting injustice that I wouldn’t want my kids seeing at age 3 and 4. There is an age where they will have matured enough to understand and process the ideas and images of abortion. And, when I see that my kids are there, I will explain it to them – unless a truth truck just happens to show them before me.
Just so you know, I’m 100% fully on board with and I understand completely The Importance of Graphic Images. I’m just questioning the method here.. that’s all…
I appreciate your thoughtful response Brian. I agree that a parent knows(or should know)their child best.
Hey Ex,
I believe Roe v Wade will be overturned but I honestly don’t know how the legislative process will play out at either the state or federal levels.
The key is continuing to pray and cry out to God to change hearts in America. We have to see abortion from God’s perspective. They are his children we are murdering. Abortion is genocide, a horrible injustice.
“?They even sacrificed their sons
And their daughters to ?demons,
And shed innocent blood,
The blood of their sons and daughters,
Whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan;
And ?the land was polluted with blood.” Ps 106:37-38
We need to continue to proclaim the truth and condemn this epic evil in the strongest possible terms.
I’m not as concerned about how it will play out as I am seeing an extremely passionate minority influence the majority to demand that the killing stops.
Ed,
The testimonies of post abortive women and men will be instrumental in overturning Roe V Wade. We are gathering thousands upon thousands and they are being used in furthering prolife legislation.
Someday a case will come up and these declarations will be filed as friend of the court briefs to testify to the court that abortion hurts.
http://www.operationoutcry.org
If anyone else reading this is post abortive and would like your voice to be heard please fill out a declaration online and sign it with your mouse.
Thank you!!
Go get ’em all you post-abortive warrior Moms out there!
May the kindness, compassion, love and mercy of our Lord and Savior fill your hearts.
:D
Thank you, Ed!! I love my warrior moms!
In the fall of 2008, my kindergartner came home from school excitedly telling me that they had an election at school and Barack Obama had won!! I asked him who he voted for and he happily said, Barack Obama!! My husband and I groaned… Naturally they didn’t actually explain the issues to these kids and have them make an “informed” vote. He probably just liked the name! :) However, we sat him down and told him that we didn’t like Obama and were not planning on voting for him. We told him that Obama was “not nice to babies.” That’s how we left it. Our son was and still is very sensitive and I think he would be traumatized if I were to tell him what abortion is all about.
He, and his younger sister, do and will continue to learn about the sanctity of life, even if they don’t know that some people see fit to take those lives. They have attended Marches for Life and Life Chains with me, so they see Mommy’s passion for it. But Mommy will give them details as they are ready for it. I am very glad that the truth trucks are out there, but no I would not want my kids to see them at this point in their lives.
Ed – I think R v Wade will probably get overturned as well – but I see only a handful of states, really, if any, passing abortion bans after that (at least if this happens in the near future – next 20 years of so) – so all we get into is a situation of trafficking folks across state lines.
I don’t know – I know that many on this board link Democrats and Obama to “hating babies” and whatnot – but I don’t see much of a workable plan on the GOP side, or any effort really – which makes them almost worse in my mind. Yes, vote for us, though we won’t do anything about it…
Just more thoughts -have enjoyed this thread. I agree with most above on the images. My girls are 6 and 4 and I would drive out of my way to stay away from one of those trucks.
Ex,
WI(where I am)has a pre-Roe abortion ban still in place. Of course some WI politicians are trying to get rid of it….
I would love to hear the people speak through their voting if abortion would be legal in their state after Roe V Wade is overturned.
The only reason a person would Hate the Truth trucks is because they show that a person was actually murdered.
Many Americans want the Abortion issue swept under the rug. That’s why this Sick,Horrible, Evil is given a nice Clinical name,”Abortion”, and a phony Civil Right, “Choice”. This way it’s easier for the good people of America to live with themselves and think themselves better than other Mass Murderers like Hitler-Stalin-Mao.
Carla – the thing I keep looking at is South Dakota. Leans right, voted right in the last election, and didn’t pass the vote in front of them. So what are the odds New York or California would get within 40% of a ban?
T – I don’t agree with you. How would you feel driving next to a PETA truck with a cow butchering going on? How about a dying AIDS victim? What about a murderer in the middle of an execution? All, including abortion pictures, are real things going on – but in a society with kids in cars – is it best to have any sort of image on display for the world to see?
Ex,
You would have some states where abortion is legal and some states where abortion is illegal. Kind of like now where in one state if you kill a pregnant woman you get charged with two murders and in other states it is only considered one.
I can’t speak for SD although I grew up in ND.(Nope, they are not the same state!!)I have wondered about my homestate for years…..Dorgan was in the legislature when I was in high school!! Bout time Dorgs hung it up.
New York is the abortion capitol of the US. I doubt a ban would happen there either.
I am glad you are here Ex. I like your comments.
Thanks Carla for the response and kind words.
I think you’re right, and for me, that’s why in regards to my Christian voting, I don’t feel like the GOP is the slam dunk correct answer for Christians. Are GOP’s pro-life? Sure, they say that – but if the goal is to overturn a ban that is going to be very hard to overturn, and then spend millions, if not tens of millions on yearly legal fights, seeing states flip back and forth and back and forth – and women going across state lines in abortions. I don’t think that’s what I’d like to sign up for.
I think in regards to reducing abortions, I’m looking at the socio-economic factors and how they tie to abortions, and I feel better about that path. I do wish that the right and left could come to some basic agreements (though I know one of the first responses will be something about no compromises in murder…) and start doing things to help women in general, help women and families not to get in this situation, and make abortion numbers go down.
I think that there are so many ways to fight the good fight when it comes to abortion and there is such a broad spectrum. From simple and effective to total freak show. I can’t stand the in fighting at times because it is going to take MANY approaches and ALL hands on deck!
Prayer is the strongest weapon we have in the fight against the covenant with death.(Which is why I heart 40 Days for Life)
I agree with helping women in need of the truth about that baby growing inside of her. Be there to support her through all months of pregnancy and beyond.
Praying that God raises up some amazing warriors who run for state legislatures!
Carla – I think a lot of it goes back to all of us as well. My family has never had an abortion and never will. I’m raising my girls the same way (pretty young yet – but will raise them that way). I can say the same for my extended family as well.
If all Christians could say the same thing, and personally didn’t get abortions, that right there would hit the rates. It is a bit like the “defense of marriage” argument to me. Clean up your own house first and live what you preach! (okay, stepping off my soapbox)
Preach away! I agree!
When I became Team Leader for my state for Operation Outcry I got completely overwhelmed….my husband helped me break down my role into local, state and national levels.
Local-telling my abortion story in churches, holding abortion recovery bible studies, serving on the board of a pregnancy care center etc.
State-Joining state prolife groups, signing their petitions, calling my reps, traveling for training to become a Rachel’s Vineyard facilitator
National-March for Life, conferences, filming of documentaries on abortion, giving to national prolife groups
International-Becoming a mod on this blog that has people reading all over the world!!
It has helped clarify it all for me. I want to be doing as much as I can in my own little corner of the world. A blooming where I am planted approach. :)
Oh, I forgot to add that first and foremost I am a WIFE and MOTHER and everything that I do outside of that in the prolife movement is covered in prayer!
God bless you, Ex.
Ben Nelson is a traitor and no better then the worst of the baby killers. I pray they will all come to Christ and repent before it’s too late.
Abortion is illegal in the USA. The US Constitution forbids either the federal or state governments from denying the protection of the law to any human. Politicians and officials who are in a position to refuse to support abortion and fail to so act violate their oaths to support the Constitution. If a government official will not support the Constitution (s)he is untrustworthy and unfit to hold office.