The Original Sacred Assemblies for the Unborn (SAU), 1989-1991 (Part 2)

The Strategy

In these assemblies, we had several points of strategy. First was a visible presence augmented by banners and signs. Second was a peaceful and conversational presence where we sought to engage abortion-rights protestors, police, passersby, “escorts,” guards and others in honest dialogue. Third was worship, including song and prayer in various capacities. And fourth was the eventual development of The Jeremiah 19 Liturgy (see below). It all involved a specific embrace of spiritual warfare, where we were seeking to break the demonic forces present, and to see the Spirit of God touch the hearts and minds of all those involved with Preterm in any capacity, especially the women coming for abortions.

In the first element of our strategy, we had two large banners, each about six feet in width, and three-and-a-half feet in height. One banner was at the front of Preterm, on the sidewalk on Beacon Street, and the other on the side street near the rear entrance and parking lot.

The banners had white block letters against a green background (like a highway sign), and easily visible from quite a distance:

YOU HAVE THE POWER TO CHOOSE LIFE

We also had some signs (three by two feet in size) that said the same, with the same colors. Then we had ten (now twelve – #3 and #12 have since been added, with several also slightly edited, 18″ x24″) sets of yellow signs with black letters, that posed rhetorical questions, also designed to be clearly visible against any surrounding. These read:

AREN’T YOU GLAD YOU WEREN’T ABORTED?
WHY DO YOU FEEL NO CHOICE BUT ABORTION?
IS IT YOUR CHOICE, OR HIS CHOICE, FOR YOU TO ABORT?
HOW DOES HUMAN ABORTION ADD TO YOUR OWN DIGNITY?
MIGHT YOU REGRET THIS ABORTION SOMEDAY?
CAN ANYTHING GOOD BE SAID ABOUT HUMAN ABORTION?
DOES GOOD CHOICE NURTURE OR DESTROY HUMAN LIFE?
WHY DOES THE HUMAN FETUS FIGHT TO STAY ALIVE?
WHY DOES “FEMINISM” ABORT UNBORN GIRLS?
WHICH COMES FIRST? YOUR LIFE OR THE POWER OF CHOICE?
CAN YOU IMAGINE JESUS PERFORMING AN ABORTION? WHY NOT?
IS THE ABORTION INDUSTRY RACIST?

In the language of the banner, the first six words equal the centerpiece of feminist sympathies: “You have the power to choose ….” And pagan feminist thinking believes the concept of the power to choose is their formulation of an identity in stark opposition to a biblical worldview.

The words “you have the power” strengthens this language of acknowledgment, and in adding “power,” feminist yearnings find resonance. This is further symphonized with the addition of choice – “You have the power to choose ….” These six words are as central to all feminist theories as any summation can make. We know that the abortion choice is largely the result of male chauvinisms, and many feminists and abortion-rights activists are in painful reaction to having been so violated.

When the final four-letter word is added to the phrase, “You have the power to choose life,” the de facto feminist ethic of misinformed choice is revealed. The power of informed choice requires accurate definition of terms, it requires an acknowledgment of reality. When “life” is put in, the object of “pro-choice” is no longer amorphous. It takes on flesh, it becomes real in its consequences. The power to choose? The power to choose what? Are all choices equal (e.g., dualism), or are some good and some evil?

The questions were all designed to be intelligent and thought-provoking, and not accusatory. Over two years worth of Saturdays, we saw as many as 200 women turn away from their abortion appointments. Hundreds of honest discussions occurred with abortion rights activists and others who were there, and many anecdotes elsewhere.

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