My DC adventure continues. Yesterday I went to the Supreme Court, and since I'm a law student I was really excited, kind of like a kid at Christmas. I sat down to rest a minute when I got there and ended up right next to a girl with a huge ball of tape with the word "life" written all over it. I knew the situation as soon as I saw it, but I decided to inquire. So, I asked her what she was doing. Her organization, Bound4Life, goes to the Supreme Court 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and puts red tape over their mouths with the word "life" written on it and silently prays for god to end abortion.
It seems she meant legalized abortion. I checked out their webpage (http://bound4life.com/):
"Bound4LIFE is a grassroots prayer mobilization movement targeting the ending of abortion, the increase of adoptions and the reformation of government and society through spiritual awakening. Our mission is to mobilize a groundswell of prayer through:
- “Silent Sieges” in front of courthouses and abortion clinics across the nation.
- Millions of Christians wearing “Life Bands” and making the Bound4LIFE covenant–PRAY, VOTE & OBEY ."
This is a group that has teenagers placing tape over their mouths in an effort to end abortion, supposedly thus promoting life. As I walked away I wondered what the term "pro-life" means? Do they protest the war? Are they against the death penalty? Do they eat meat? Do they think people who support a woman's right to choose to have an abortion are pro-death? Do they think that if abortion is illegal that abortions will cease to happen? What do they think about the life of the mother or her health? Do they know anything about the history of abortion?
What mostly concerned me was the inacurate co-opting of the term "life" and that teenagers that can't even vote are being sent to protest everyday in the place of adults.
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Sheesh, "Pray, Vote and Obey" sounds a little creepy.
(Also, er, "Bound"? Why?)
I am a law student in DC. I see this group every time I pass the Supreme Court. I think they're wrong, wrong, wrong, but I guess I don't much of a problem with their style of protest, as long as the participants are all over the age of 16 or thereabouts. However, there are often entire families with young children protesting, and I find it reprehensible. I once saw a woman putting red tape over the mouth of her two kids, aged around 8 and 10, and then turning them to face the steps of the Supreme Court. Ick. Those kids are certainly not old enough to form coherent political ideas or really to know what they're protesting. Leave them home! I wouldn't bring an 8 year old to an abortion rights protest either -- kids should be able to choose to be activists when they're old enough to do so. They shouldn't be forced by their parents.
Have you seen "Jesus Camp"? That will seriously give you the creeps about Bound4Life. IMHO, they're one of the tamer anti-choice groups, but after watching Jesus Camp I was thoroughly freaked out.
They come to our clinic occasionally..nothing too exciting, they just stand there. We don't really get any kids either.
"Pray, Vote, and Obey"??? Orwellian anyone?
Jesus Camp freaked me out too dancerjess. I hate it when uninformed children and teens are used by the anti-choice side.
I don't understand parents that let their children not only look at huge poster sized pictures of miscarried/aborted fetuses, but even let the children carry the signs at protests, all the while opposing comprehensive sex education, even for eighteen year olds in high school. I guess for them it is about parental control more than anything else.
For a pro life group that name comes off as waaay too kinky...
Glad I'm not the only one who thought that, chronoperates...