Oct. 9, 2009 THEIR HEARTS STILL BEAT On August 21st and September 25th Show the Truth Washington's Friday vigil in front of Olympia’s Planned Parenthood was blessed by two saves. Both couples and their unborn babies are alive and well. Thank you for your support  in our life saving efforts.                                                                                                      God bless you,                                                                                                     Tom Hruska

 

May, 2009  A JUST LIFE	THE CATHOLIC NORTHWEST PROGRESS
	MAY 14, 2009

  Young adults take stand against abortion

Graphic photos help group show the realities of abortion

OLYMPIA BY JEAN PARIETTI A group of pro-life teens and young adults were yelled at and subjected to obscene gestures while peacefully protesting at abortion clinics and college campuses around the state last month. But the 22 young people, on a five-day tour with Olympia-based Show the Truth Washington, also received honks and waves of encouragement, had non-confrontational interactions with the public and even helped save an unborn child (see Saving a life is the ‘best birthday present’). “It’s definitely been challenging,” said Matthew Straub, a 17-year-old from Portland, Ore., making his first trip with the group, which included six adults. “Just being this close to Planned arenthood is scary, to know they’re actually killing people here,” he said while standing outside the clinic in Olympia. “That this is actually allowed is incredible.” But, Straub said, “it’s so rewarding to be able to stand up for the silent voices, for these children that can’t stand up for themselves.”

Showing the realities Posters with enlarged photos of aborted babies are one way Show the Truth Washington tries to open people’s eyes to the realities of abortion. “I don’t think anyone likes to show the signs, but they show what abortion is,” said 14-year-old Elliott Townsend from St. Mary Parish in Centralia. Group members also display gentler signs, with messages such as “Life” or Adoption is an option.” They hand out soft replicas of a fully formed 12-week-old fetus and distribute information about immediately available alternatives and resources for pregnant women. “We consider ourselves educators,” said Ed Sauley, who helped create the nonprofit organization in 2003 and is a member of St. George Byzantine Catholic Church in Olympia. April’s tour included stops in Olympia, Yakima, Spokane, Cheney, Ellensburg and Centralia. In each community, Show the Truth networks with local pro-life groups, arranging protests at two or three locations. “We do this out of love for the babies and their parents,” said Sauley, who has been involved in pro-life work since the early 1970s. Many take offense It’s not surprising that many people, both pro-abortion and pro-life, find the group’s graphic signs objectionable. “They’re offensive in the extreme and that’s really the point of it,” said Andrew Walsh, a 17-year-old from Holy Rosary Church in Portland, Ore. “If abortion is that offensive, why do we allow it? We’re here to speak the truth and that’s what we do,” said Walsh, who has been protesting outside abortion clinics for two years. On the tour’s final day, Walsh was holding a graphic sign near the Olympia Planned Parenthood clinic when a man stopped his minivan in traffic, got out and accosted the teen. The man cursed, calling the sign “pornography” before punching and kicking it, then flinging the placard into the street and driving off. Walsh kept his cool, as participants agree when they join the tour. “We have to be as reserved as possible and we have to be respectful, even if the other side isn’t,” explained Alejandra Guido, 16, a member of St. Mark Catholic Church in Shoreline who was holding a less objectionable sign several feet away. A challenge to the spirit Because the participants stand some distance apart with their signs, the demonstrations give them a lot of time to think. “Sometimes I pray for the people who are flipping us off,” Walsh said. “Sometimes I pray for the babies being aborted.” It can be tough to withstand five days of the negative reactions that the graphic signs elicit, said Katie Edson, a 17-year-old from Holy Rosary in Portland. “It is not so much physically draining as much as it is emotionally and spiritually draining,” she said. But the young people find rewards in the positive feedback they also get – and in the possibility of changing even one mind. “Abortion is the leading cause of death in America,” Walsh said. “If we can have an impact on that, even a small step is a good thing.”

Saving a life is the ‘best birthday present’ Five days before her 16th birthday, Alejandra Guido of Shoreline helped save an unborn child. It happened outside a Yakima abortion clinic, where the teenager was participating in a peaceful protest by Show the Truth Washington. The Olympia group had gathered in late April with a Yakima pro-life group that does sidewalk counseling. When a Hispanic woman hesitated before going inside the clinic for an abortion, a sidewalk counselor began talking with her, and then asked for help from anyone there who could speak Spanish. “My heart started beating really fast,” said Guido, who is bilingual. The teen stepped up to translate for the counselor, adding her own words to help convince the mother of three not to kill her 11-week-old fetus. “I just told her what I felt, that this is a life in her,” Guido said. When Guido mentioned adoption as a possibility, the woman asked why she would want to give up her own child. “Why would you abort it then?” Guido asked. Eventually, the woman agreed to accompany the counselor to a local medical facility for an ultrasound. When the mother saw her very active baby, abortion was out of the question, Guido said. “I’ve never done sidewalk counseling before, but it was amazing. I saved the baby,” Guido said. “To have that opportunity to have God use you as an instrument – it was the best birthday present I could ever have.

SHOW THE TRUTH WASHINGTON Show the Truth Washington focuses its efforts on saving the “pre-born child,” using photographs and information based on the scientific realities of abortion, rather than a religious perspective. The group protests and distributes information throughout the year at abortion clinics and college campuses, in addition to its regular Friday demonstration at Olympia’s Planned Parenthood clinic. The group organizes two five-day tours each year, focusing on Western Washington in the fall and Eastern Washington in the spring. Participants in all protests must agree to abide by a set of guidelines, including remaining calm and responding to critics in a reasonable way. For more information, visit www.showthetruth.org

To see the original format and in color, please go to: http://www.seattlearch.org/FormationAndEducation/Progress/Pro-Lifers05-14-09.htm