HLI Pro-Life Training PowerPoint #6

3. Fundamental Principles
of Pro-Life Activism
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Basic Training Program, which is on The
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Using this Presentation

4. The Facts of Life
Church Documents
General Resources
Opposition Research
PowerPoint Presentations
Pro-Life Basic Training Program

5. “I may be opposed to abortion for religious
reasons, but if I seek to pass a law banning
the practice I cannot simply point to the
teachings of my church or evoke God’s will.
I have to explain why abortion violates some
principle that is
accessible to
people of all
faiths, including
those with no
faith at all.”
― “Dear Leader.”

6. Why Every Pro-Lifer Must Learn
How to Debate about Abortion
• To conduct face-to-face debate against a
knowledgeable pro-abortionist in front of
an audience: 2%.
• To talk with and gently educate and
persuade relatives, friends, co-workers,
and other people you know: 98%.
• Studying the topic will greatly add to your
value and flexibility as an activist and will
also increase your self-confidence in all
areas.

7. Your Two Most Important
Tasks as a Pro-Lifer
Praying Recruiting

8. (1) Learn the basic principles of debating.
(2) Learn the topic.
(3) Practice debating with friends.
(4) Debate with pro-abortionists and start
recruiting.
(5) Record your experiences and keep
learning.
Learning to Debate:
The Five-Step Process
(1) Learn the basic principles of debating.
(2) Learn the topic.
(3) Practice debating with friends.
(4) Debate with pro-abortionists and start
recruiting.
(5) Record your experiences and keep
learning.

9. Fait
h
Feeling
s/
Emotio
ns
What Do People Use
to Make Decisions?

10. “Faith and reason are like two wings on
which the human spirit rises to the
contemplation of truth … There is thus
no reason for competition of any kind
between reason and faith … Both the
light of reason and the light of faith
come from God, hence there can be no
contradiction between them … the same
God who reveals the mysteries
and bestows the gift of faith
has also placed in the human
spirit the light of reason.”

11. • “There is no such thing as post-abortion
syndrome.”
• “Ten percent of all people are “gay.”
• “The Chinese “forced abortion program” is a myth
cooked up by anti-choice fanatics.”
• “Pornography is completely harmless.”
• “The 10-week fetus is just a clot of blood.”
• “Homosexuality is normal and healthy.”
• “There is no such thing as an `ex-gay.’”
• “Thousands of women died annually of
illegal abortions before Roe v. Wade.”
Denying Documented Facts

13. “You take the blue pill
― the story ends. You
wake up in your bed
and believe whatever
you want to believe.
“You take the red
pill — you stay in
wonderland and I show
you how deep the
rabbit hole goes.”
You are Morpheus!

15. Diversion
Name-Calling
Ad Hominem Attacks
Name-Calling
Contradiction

16. The question is one of universal and
unchangeable truths vs. personal and
changeable truths.
This triangle would be reversed for people
who make decisions based on feelings,
emotions and personal experience.
This is valid from their point of view, since
their highest good is self.
Notice that the four scientific debating tactics
seek unchangeable truths; the four non-
scientific debating tactics seek to obscure
the truth or mold it “to fit.”

17. These tactics are used by experienced “pro-
choice” debaters because they have learned
how not to lose debates, just to make the
whole thing a big muddle.
They are also used by all other “pro-choice”
people ― who might be your friends, family
members, co-workers, or even people you
go to church with, since they are instinctively
used by people who are attempting to defend
the indefensible.
These tactics are used not only by “pro-
choice” people, but by people defending “gay
rights,” euthanasia, and all of the other
elements of the Culture of Death.

18. “When the facts are
against you, talk about
ethics. When the
ethics are against you,
talk about the facts.
When both the facts
and the ethics are
against you, talk about
something else.”

19. “The issue is not abortion! The issue is whether
women can make up their own minds instead of
some right-wing pastor, some right-wing
politician telling them what to do.”
― Howard Dean.
Examples of Pro-Abortion Diversion
“This is not about abortion. This is about pro-
choice versus anti-choice and government
intervention in a woman's personal decisions
about her life.”
― Kathleen Turner.

20. "What about abused children?"
"What about overpopulation?"
"What about capital punishment?"
"What about the environment?"
"What about nuclear war?"
"What about `gay' rights?"
"What about animal rights?"
“What About?” Syndrome

21. A Common Type of Pro-Abortion
Diversion: “Mystagoguery”
Obscurum per obscurius is the deliberate use
of arcane, unfamiliar or difficult ideas or
concepts to try to make a simple principle
look much more complicated than it really is.
Remember that the Culture of Death
thrives in the “gray areas.”

22. Examples of “Mystagoguery”
“Abortion is never a single issue. It is a complex
tapestry of all the things we believe about race,
class, gender, and justice. It is also about
sexuality, relationships, and love.”
— Frances Kissling, former President of
'Catholics' for [a Free] Choice (CFFC).

23. “There is no scientific consensus that a human life
begins at conception, at a given stage of fetal
development, or at birth. The questions of 'when a
human life begins' cannot be answered by
reference to scientific principles like those with
which we predict planetary movement. The
answer to that question will depend on each
individual's social, religious, philosophical, ethical
and moral beliefs and values.”
—Webster vs. Reproductive Health Services brief,
1989.
Examples of “Mystagoguery”

25. “We must hold our hands out in friendship
even when our faces are slapped. We
have to listen and seek to understand
even when our ears are assailed with
venomous words. … Epithets lack specific
semantic connections, existing only to
arouse emotions by circumventing
intellectual comprehension.”
― “Catholics” for [a Free] Choice.
Their Propaganda

26. “Absolutist”
“Angry”
“Anti woman”‑
“Arrogant”
“Blind”
“Bullies”
“Callous”
“Coercive”
“Confused”
“Cruel”
“Dangerous”
“Dogmatic”
“Dumb”
“Fanatical”
“Harsh”
“Embarrassing”
“Hard hearted”‑
“Hypocritical”
“Illogical”
“Imperialistic”
“Irresponsible”
“Liars”
“Loony”
"Luddites”
“Manipulative”
“Mean”
“Misogynist”
“Nasty”
“Obsessive”
“Ruthless”
“Narrow-minded”
“Pathological”
“Pig headed”‑
“Sanctimonious”
“Seed of Satan”
“Self righteous”‑
“Slippery”
“Totalitarian”
“Tyrannical”
“Unethical”
“Unhinged”
“Unjust”
“Virulent”
“Vituperative”
“Betrayers of Christ”

28. Ad Hominem Attacks:
Stereotypical Labeling
“Well, you just think that way because you are a
Catholic (fundamentalist).”
“You anti-choicers are all anti-sexual fetus-
fetishists.”
“... these people who want to forcibly take away
a woman's right to abortion are nothing but
vicious, rabid dogs!” [Revolutionary Communist
Party].
“You hate women!! Why do you hate women?”

29. Ad Hominem Attacks:
Guilt by Association
“You anti-choicers are all violent fanatics. You
people bomb clinics and harass women
constantly. There were more than a thousand
acts of violence at clinics last year.”
“Hitler and his Nazis were “pro-life” too.”
“The Catholic Church was guilty of mass murder
during the Inquisition, killed millions of witches
during the Middle Ages, stood silently by during
Hitler's Holocaust, and is now guilty of killing
women by condemning condoms and denying
them safe abortion.”

30. Guilt by Association
Founder of a large
religious order dedicated
to the poorest of the poor
Paragon of selflessness
Voluntarily lived in
extreme poverty
Nobel Prize winner
Soon-to-be Saint
“Evil” because she was
pro-life

31. “Virtue by
Association”
Failed seminarian
Notorious moral flip-
flopper
Embezzler
Corporate blackmailer
and extortionist
Race-baiting media whore
Serial adulterer
Professional liar
Sexual harasser
Lives in opulence
A “saint” because he is a
pro-abortion liberal

32. Ad Hominem Attacks:
Attributing Hostile Motivations
“The forces that seek reversal of Roe v. Wade are
the obvious product of religious zealotry and
hatred of women. They seek to deny women our
personhood, sexuality, and power over
procreation; to divert the all-too-slow march of
women of all colors toward self-determination
and equality; and to reestablish state power to
dictate who is an eligible reproducer and sexual
partner” [Ms. Magazine].

33. “Anyone that believes that the hatred behind
this [marriage] amendment is any different than
the hatred that was the cause of our son's
murder is fooling themselves and doesn't
understand what is happening every day in our
society.”
― Judy and Dennis Shepard.
Ad Hominem Attacks:
Attributing Hostile Motivations

34. Ad Hominem Attacks:
Allegations of Inconsistency
“You are inconsistent because you favor the
death penalty.”
“You are inconsistent because you support
U.S. wars and imperialism in foreign
countries.”
“You are inconsistent because you value
the life of the fetus above the life of the
woman. Anti-choice legislators always vote
against prenatal care for poor women.”

35. The Objective of Psychological Projection
According to Sigmund Freud, projection is
a psychological defense mechanism whereby
one “projects” one's own undesirable thoughts,
motivations, desires, and feelings onto someone
else.
“Patients with paranoid personalities, for
example, use projection as a primary defense
because it allows them to disavow unpleasant
feelings and attribute them to others.”
― Long-Term Psychodynamic Psychotherapy
[2010].

36. A Classic Example of Pro-Abortion
Psychological Projection
“Pro-Life” Concern for
Women and ChildrenSingle Most
Important
Issue of
All Time
I’m Sure It’s
Part of God’s
Plan or
Something
-9 months 9 months 18 monthsBirth
Meh

37. “Pro-Choice” Concern for
Women and ChildrenCan We Talk
Her Into Having
An Abortion?
We Got Her
Money, Push Her
Out the Door
-9 months ForeverAbortion
A Classic Example of Pro-Abortion
Psychological Projection

38. Examples of Pro-Abortion Projection
Pro aborts are appallingly unknowledgeable‑
about fetal development, complications due
to abortion, alternatives to abortion, history,
and ethics and morality. They also fight to
censor pro life education efforts, try to block‑
informed consent laws, and adamantly
refuse to debate pro lifers.‑
THEREFORE, pro lifers are “ignorant” and‑
“anti intellectual.”‑

39. Gender feminists despise men so irrationally
that they even excise male oriented words‑
from their language; woman becomes
“womyn” or “wimmin;” history becomes
“herstory;” mankind becomes “personkind;”
even manholes become “personholes.”
THEREFORE, pro-lifers hate women.
Examples of Pro-Abortion Projection

41. Scientific Debate Tactic #1:
Extrapolation
Your opponent will inevitably focus his argument
on the “hard cases.” When you “extrapolate,”
you are merely extending his argument to
include the actual current situation.
Extrapolation will trap your opponent into
“drawing the line.” The idea here is to counter
your opponent's “hard cases” with the “softest
cases” you can think of, in order to prove that
your opponent supports all abortions for any
reason, however trivial.

42. An Example of Extrapolation
Pro Abortionist:‑ “What about rape and
incest?”
Pro-Lifer: “Okay, rape and incest. But are you
willing to say that you would allow abortion
just for rape and incest? How about if the
woman is too young? Too old? Has too
many kids? Or just doesn't want another out-
of-wedlock child? Do you approve of sex-
selection abortions? Aren't you really just for
abortion on demand, for any and all reasons,
no matter how frivolous?”

43. “I can't afford a baby now” (21%)
“I don't want the responsibility” (21%)
“A baby would change my life” (16%)
“I have problems with my relationship” (12%)
“I'm not mature enough” (11%)
“I have enough children” (8%)
“I want to keep my pregnancy secret” (1%)
“My boyfriend/husband forced me” (1%)
“The baby is deformed” (3%)
“I was raped” (1%)
“Pregnancy threatens my life/health” (1%)

44. Frequency of the “Hard Cases”
among 1.29 Million Reported Abortions
Mother's life or physical health
Mother’s mental health
Rape and incest
Fetal birth defects (eugenics)
Total "Hard Cases"
Therapeutic (“lifestyle”)
1.03%
1.27%
0.13%
0.59%
3.01%
96.99%

45. Scientific Debate Tactic #2:
Clarification
Sometimes a pro abortionist will make a‑
statement that cannot be answered directly
because it is so broad in scope. Your job is
to get him to clarify his statement so that you
can effectively reply to it.
The responses you can use in virtually
every case of clarification are “What do you
mean by that?,” “How do you know that?,” and
“Where's your proof?”

46. An Example of Clarification
Pro Abortionist:‑ “It’s her body, so she
should be able to do what she wants with
it!”
Pro Lifer:‑ “Why do you say that the unborn
child is part of the mother’s body?”

47. We pro-lifers do agree
that a woman does
indeed have the right
to control her own
body. However,
nobody has the right to
destroy another
person's body. The
only question that
remains is whether or
not she will kill another
person.

48. Why the Preborn Child
Is Not Part of
the Mother’s Body

49. All mothers are obviously female.
About half of their children are
male. How can a human being be
both male and female?
The mother and baby frequently
have different blood types.
The baby can be a different race
from the mother.
The mother's immune system
recognizes the preborn child as
"non self." Therefore, it is not‑
part of her body.

50. The baby can die without the
mother dying. The mother can
die without the baby dying.
The baby initiates a process that
culminates in its leaving the
mother's body. No other part of
the body does this.
The number one reason: The DNA
of the mother and the baby are
completely different!

51. Scientific Debate Tactic #3:
Parallelism
This is the most common tactic experienced pro life‑
debaters use to expose the illogical nature of
pro abortion arguments. It is a kind of “verbal karate”‑
that will turn your opponent's arguments against him.
A weak moral argument is almost always based on
situational ethics, and an anti lifer will often stress‑
“special cases” that don’t apply anywhere else.
Parallelism consists of applying your opponent's
reasoning to a similar situation in a different context,
and demonstrating how illogical his statement really is.

52. An Example of Parallelism
Pro Abortionist (`Catholics’ for [a Free]‑
Choice): “If you carefully examine your
conscience and then decide that an abortion
is the most moral act you can do at this time,
you're not committing a sin. Therefore,
you're not excommunicated. Nor need you
tell it in confession since, in your case,
abortion is not a sin.”

53. An Example of Parallelism
Pro Lifer:‑ “So you would, of course, agree with
the following statement:
“If you carefully examine your conscience and
then decide that burning down an abortion clinic
at three in the morning is the most moral act you
can do at this time, you're not committing a sin.
Therefore, you're not excommunicated. Nor need
you tell it in confession since, in your case,
burning down an abortion clinic is not a sin.”

54. Scientific Debate Tactic #4:
Refutation
Refutation is the simplest and best way to make
points during a debate. It consists of simply
exposing the anti lifer's arguments as lies in the‑
most direct and aggressive manner possible,
using accurate and convincing documentation.
Every pro lifer will have several chances to‑
refute his opponent during a debate of any
length, and he should seize such opportunities
and make the most of them.

55. An Example of Refutation
Pro Abortionist:‑ “We will never go back to
the days when thousands of women were
killed by back alley quacks!”‑
Pro Lifer:‑ “The statement that thousands of
women died every year before Roe v. Wade
is an outright lie. Let me read you a quote by
Dr. Bernard Nathanson, who once operated
the largest abortion clinic in the world ...”

56. “How many deaths were we talking about
when abortion was illegal? In NARAL, it
was always `5,000 to 10,000 deaths a
year.' I confess that I knew the
figures were totally false, and I suppose
the others did too if they stopped to
think of it. But it was a useful figure,
widely accepted, so why
go out of our way to
correct it with honest
statistics? The over-
riding concern was to
get the [abortion] laws
eliminated ...”

57. Their Lying Never Ends
Russia
India
Brazil
Nigeria
Mexico
Africa
Italy
Germany
United States
Portugal
World
Women Dying from Unsafe
Abortions Each Year
Claimed Actual
600,000
600,000
400,000
220,000
140,000
74,000
20,000
15,000
10,000
2,000
1,000,000
1,800
1,800
241
300
159
150
55
100
40
12
2,640

59. A “slogan” is a brief
attention catching phrase that‑
represents a pre- packaged
idea. A slogan allows the
hearer and the user to avoid
the reality of an issue by giving
them a method by which they
avoid analyzing it or thinking
about it.
What is a Slogan?

60. The more slogans a person
uses, the less he is
thinking, and the weaker
his position on a life or
family issue.
What is a Slogan?

61. TypicalTypical
Pro Abortion‑Pro Abortion‑
SlogansSlogans

62. The Great Importance of
Learning the Slogans
(1) If you learn to reply to the
forty most popular pro-
abortion slogans, you can
beat any pro-abortionist in
any debate, and can answer
almost any question that
your friends, family or fellow
churchgoers ask you.

63. The Great Importance of
Learning the Slogans
(2) In order to be truly
effective as a recruiter,
you must be prepared to
answer people when they
voice these forty slogans.

64. How to Use the Debate Drill Sheet
24 – “Prayerfully pro-choice.”
19 – “Woman’s body, woman’s choice!”
2 – “Abortion is my Constitutional right!”

65. Rules for Debate Preparation
Know your mission.
Know your topic.
Know yourself.
Know your opponent's background.
Know your opponent's tactics.
Know your audience.
Know the debating environment.
Be an eternal student.

66. Rules for Effective Debate
(1) Begin and conclude crisply.
(2) Assume control immediately.
(3) Stay on the subject.
(4) Anticipate.
(5) Repeat important points.
(6) Listen effectively.
(7) Use visual aids.
(8) Don’t argue.

67. “Don’t make me angry.
You wouldn’t like me when
I’m angry … because I
back up my rage with facts
and documented sources.”
― The Credible Hulk.

68. St. Michael the archangel,St. Michael the archangel,
defend us in battle;defend us in battle;
Be our protection against theBe our protection against the
wickedness and snares of the Devil.wickedness and snares of the Devil.
May God rebuke him, we humbly pray,May God rebuke him, we humbly pray,
and do thou, O prince of the Heavenlyand do thou, O prince of the Heavenly
host, by the power of Godhost, by the power of God
Cast into Hell Satan and all the evilCast into Hell Satan and all the evil
spirits that prowl about the worldspirits that prowl about the world
seeking the ruin of souls.seeking the ruin of souls.
Amen.Amen.

69. Brian Clowes
Human Life International
4 Family Life Lane
Front Royal, Virginia USA
Telephone: (540) 636-1106
E-mail address: bclowes@hli.org
Web site: http://www.hli.org