Printed in the Herald-Times, October 5, 2001
To the Editor:
News reports have indicated that the Center for Bio-Ethical Reform is planning to bring the Genocide Awareness Project to Bloomington and Indianapolis. GAP is a travelling educational display on the horrors of abortion, and will serve to open the eyes and hearts that have been closed to the reality of what happens to unborn children in this country.
Many will consider the images displayed by GAP offensive and disturbing. But are those images really any more graphic than other images in the media? GAP is only offensive to the extent that the destruction of human life is offensive. If abortion did not end a human life, would these pictures be so disturbing? GAP simply brings the truth to light, and many people do not want to recognize that truth. GAP will serve to foster a much-needed dialogue about the sanctity of human life, as it has done all over America.
CBR is committed to nonviolence. Anyone who participates in GAP must sign an agreement to be nonviolent also. While CBR tries to provoke thought, they do not want to provoke violence. It is not CBR's fault if some people have been violent against GAP.
Some people have claimed that Dunn Meadow is the "traditional" place for political protests, like GAP. These people are mistaken, because dozens of protests have taken place all over campus, outside of Dunn Meadow. I am glad Indiana University and CBR have worked out a compromise that will allow CBR to exercise its free speech rights.
Scott Tibbs.
