January 14, 2004

Dear Dr. Armstrong,

The University of Maryland has been the home of numerous protests. However, the issue of abortion had been kept neatly tucked away until the Genocide Awareness Project (GAP) arrived on September 29, 2003.

Most college students learn about abortion through powerful pro-abortion filters such as their schools and the media. To many of them, abortion is a necessary procedure that removes "products of conception." Most college students, even many who are pro-life, do not understand that every abortion brutally kills a human child. Discussions with those who do not understand abortion are doomed from the start, for if this procedure simply removes a clump of cells, anyone who opposes it is being "insensitive" or "illogical." This is how so many view the abortion debate, and they will continue in this confusion unless we are willing to show them the truth. GAP was on our campus for two days, and in those two days GAP reached thousands of people with the truth about abortion in a way that we never could with words. Never.

The GAP signs had a profound impact. Many people who saw them simply stared in shock. Some argued at first but then stopped talking and began to think, and some left the area frustrated and angry. But no matter what their reaction, everyone who walked away from that site had those pictures burned into their memories. The next time they hear the word "abortion," the photographs will return to their heads, and it will be difficult, if not impossible, for them to convince themselves that the unborn are just a clump of cells.

Before GAP came to our school, we were concerned about how the display might affect viewers, particularly post-abortive women. We realized that viewing these photos would be extremely painful for some women who had had abortions, or for men whose children had been aborted. However, we also realized that many more children could be killed if we did not invite GAP to come. Many parents have decided against abortion as a result of viewing photos like these; to deprive them of the opportunity to be educated about abortion in such a powerful way was not something we were prepared to do.

Our group cannot express enough gratitude to CBR for making this happen on our own campus, where the debate about abortion has been lively ever since, where our own members are even more passionate about this issue than before, and where the facts about abortion have finally begun to force their way through the filters that prevent so many from knowing the truth.

Finally, I want to thank you so much for pushing us to make sure we got GAP to come to our school. I don't want to think about where our group, or our whole campus, would be without it.

Friends for LIFE,
Sierra Correa
President, Maryland Students for Life