Hostility or Silence... Is there a third option?
ASK QUESTIONS
with an open heart
Instead of making statements and lecturing people who disagree with us, we ask genuine questions with the intention of getting to know what people think and why.
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➡We focus on questions that gather information and ask for reasons.
Ambassadors show their concern for all humans in and out of the womb by balancing truth and love.
Love and Truth: JFA’s Three Essential Skills
LISTEN
to understand
Rather than listening just so we can come up with our next response, we listen to join people in their world. We listen because we really want to know what people think.
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FIND COMMON GROUND
when possible
When people think of abortion, they tend to think people have one-dimensional opinions about it - They’re either pro-life or pro-choice.
When we take the time to listen and ask questions, we find that we agree on many particular facts, moral assessments, and even legal assessments. Starting our conversations with common ground, and returning to common ground regularly, helps us discuss our disagreements more productively.
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➡ Our Director of Training, Steve Wagner, wrote Common Ground WIthout Compromise: 25 Questions to Create Dialogue on Abortion in 2008 as a letter to pro-life & pro-choice people to help them use common ground as the fuel for good conversation. Get the book free.
Some of JFA’s dialogue tools contain graphic photographs of the results of abortion. You may wonder how it could be loving to show photos like these in public, because they may stir up painful memories in many people who have had experiences with abortion. Considering that half of the women who have abortions say that they have already had one or more abortions (see page 8 of Characteristics of U.S. Abortion Patients, 2008), it’s likely that these women would have another abortion if they don’t see the photos or if no one convinces them to make a better choice.
What would it mean to love these people? What would it mean to love the unborn child who may be in danger? We have found that one way to balance love for both the child and his parents is to share the truth about abortion with photos, but in the context of dialogue. As caring ambassadors, we walk alongside those who are hurting from abortion. We have found that within this context, the truth about abortion can be helpful to healing.
Love and Truth: Do Pictures Help?
Justice For All trains thousands to make abortion unthinkable for millions, one person at a time.
Justice For All promotes respect for people with differing views and condemns all abortion-related violence.
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➡Read “My Experience with Justice For All” by Lori Navrodtzke. A pregnancy resource center worker and Silent No More Regional Coordinator, Lori shares how working with Justice For All helped her continue to heal from her abortion experience. She said, “I have learned that I do not need to put ministering to those who have been involved with abortion on the opposite side of the fence from presenting the truth about abortion.”
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➡“The Use of Graphic Visuals in Pro-Life Work” by David Lee.
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➡See the Justice For All Exhibit (Warning: Extremely Graphic)
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➡See photos of Justice For All Mentors and Volunteers in dialogue at the Exhibit.
Are graphic pictures helpful for changing hearts and saving lives?
David Lee, JFA Mentor & Executive Director, gives a surprising answer to this question.
Can you move abortion from a debate to a dialogue?
During an outreach in 2010, intern Tony George asks a student when she thinks human life begins.
