Equipped for Life Podcast

NOTE: For some technical reason this episode didn't publish on podcast feeds before, so we're posting it now. Scroll down to catch the second part of this series in episode 67. Thanks!

Jonathon Van Maren joins the podcast to discuss what is going on with a hostile anti-abortion group called Abolish Human Abortion (AHA). This is the first of a two-part series. In this episode, Jonathon discusses AHA's origin, their slander of the pro-life movement, how they are not Wilberforce-style abolitionists, and how they're attempting to rewrite their history now.

Related Links:

Josh Brahm: AHA Attacks Justice For All for "Not Treating Abortion Like Sin"

Jonathon Van Maren: How "Abolish Human Abortion" Gets History Wrong - Part 1

Jonathon Van Maren: How "Abolish Human Abortion" Gets History Wrong Again - Part 2

YouTube: Debate: Pro-Life Incrementalism vs Abolitionist Immediatism (Gregg Cunningham vs. T. Russell Hunter)

We referenced Dr. Michael New's research on the effects of pro-life legislation. While much of his work is behind various paywalls, he helpfully sent a link to a 2018 policy analysis he wrote for the Charlotte Lozier Institute, where he summarized the academic research on the impact of pro-life laws: https://bit.ly/3o4Ek6m

Chapters: 00:00 Introduction 01:01 Josh on the pro-life unity happening in this episode 02:43 Why we're talking about AHA 08:37 AHA's origin 27:21 The difference between critiquing in good faith and bad faith 31:42 Problems with AHA-supported legislation 33:10 Pro-life victories and AHA's slander 38:09 Why are abortion rates down? 39:44 Straw-manning or unintelligent? 40:59 "And then what?" 42:29 They're not Wilberforce-style abolitionists

Jonathon Van Maren is the Communications Director for the Canadian Centre for Bio-Ethical Reform. His writings have been translated into more than six languages, and published in the National Post, National Review, First Things, The European Conservative, The Federalist, The American Conservative, The Stream, the Jewish Independent, the Hamilton Spectator, Reformed Perspective Magazine, among others. His insights have been featured on CTV, Global News, and the CBC, as well as over twenty radio stations. He regularly speaks on a variety of social issues at universities, high schools, churches, and other functions in Canada, the United States, and Europe.

Josh and Emily share interesting stories from their last two semesters of campus outreach, and some of the trends they're noticing among pro-choice college students.

This is part two of the series, and includes the story of protesters apologizing to us, why we might change the way we promote Emily's speeches, the creative ways the pro-choice students at St. Olaf are now countering our outreaches there, an innovative pro-life response to a Jainist, and an improved response to people who bite the squirrel bullet! Then they discuss trends and recommendations for future pro-life outreaches.

Josh and Emily share interesting stories from their last two semesters of campus outreach, and some of the trends they're noticing among pro-choice college students.

This is part two of the series, and includes the story of protesters apologizing to us, why we might change the way we promote Emily's speeches, the creative ways the pro-choice students at St. Olaf are now countering our outreaches there, an innovative pro-life response to a Jainist, and an improved response to people who bite the squirrel bullet! Then they discuss trends and recommendations for future pro-life outreaches.

Related Links:

Abortion Dialogue on Campus: Outreach Stories and Trends - Part 1: https://youtu.be/_u6nAL0FTjk

How One Student Group Radically Changed Their Campus Culture: https://youtu.be/lAsOzyg7M2c

The Equal Rights Argument: https://youtu.be/louYc-9cvE0

How Josh Should Have Dealt with a Hostile Audience in Canada: http://bit.ly/2CSiGMd

Firebombings and Vandalism: Planned Parenthood Must Condemn Jane's Revenge: https://bit.ly/39qxANC

How Should Conservatives Respond to the Disturbing Trend of Campus Censorship? http://bit.ly/2JOr1Gr

Six Ways I've Seen Pro-Choice People Try to Censor Pro-Lifers: http://bit.ly/2vhr8ib

Abortion and Medical Necessity: Improving the Pro-Life Approach: https://bit.ly/3eepkCj

ERI LIVE - What Should I Say in a Post-Roe America? https://youtu.be/0eGpYM1I-5Y

Defining the Word "Abortion" Will Change Your Dialogues (with Dank Pro-Life Memes): https://youtu.be/A8TVroArQLw

A Simple Change That Instantly Communicates a Nuanced Approach to the Abortion Debate: http://bit.ly/2ufnjgM

Why I Changed My Pro-life Elevator Pitch: https://bit.ly/3NERrrE

Abortion Images: A Case for Disagreement without Division: http://bit.ly/2uJWRcI

Godwin's Law Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Godwin%27s_law

Equal Rights Institute Website: https://EqualRightsInstitute.com

Equal Rights Institute Blog: https://Blog.EqualRightsInstitute.com

Equipped for Life Course: https://EquippedCourse.com

Sidewalk Counseling Masterclass: http://SidewalkCounselingMasterclass.com

Co-Hosts: Josh Brahm & Emily Albrecht Audio/Video Editors: Joshua Head & Josh Brahm Publisher: Jen Westmoreland

Josh and Emily share interesting stories from their last two semesters of campus outreach, and some of the trends they're noticing with respect to abortion dialogue among pro-choice college students.

This is part one of a two-part series, and includes the story of a young woman who chewed Josh out in Wisconsin, how Emily varies her "elevator pitch" based on who she's talking to, the way Josh thinks about swearing at outreach, and more!

Related Links:

How One Student Group Radically Changed Their Campus Culture

Equal Rights Institute Website

Equal Rights Institute Blog

Equipped for Life Course

Sidewalk Counseling Masterclass

Co-Hosts: Josh Brahm & Emily Albrecht

Audio/Video Editor: Joshua Head & Josh Brahm

Publisher: Jen Westmoreland

It's the question we're asked more often than any other, and we want to answer it carefully. The question is, "What should I do about the pro-life activist near me who is being difficult? Should I approach them differently than I do my dialogues with pro-choice people?"

Josh and Emily invited ERI Lead Editor Andrew Kaake and Secular Pro-Life's Executive Director Monica Snyder on the show for a two-part discussion on the way they think about responding to online comments, eight common types of difficult pro-life people, and how you can respond to them.

Click here to listen to part 1: https://blog.equalrightsinstitute.com/responding-to-8-types-of-difficult-pro-lifers-with-monica-snyder-andrew-kaake-part-1/

Note: Sorry for the occasional distortion with Josh and Emily's mics. They've had a good six-year run, but we're replacing them before the next time we record (the mics, not Josh and Emily). We also had technical issues with Monica and Andrew's video streams due to technical issues. All of their audio is here, but the video is missing.

Related Links:

Secular Pro-Life https://secularprolife.org

AHA: The Anti-Abortionists Who Fight Other Pro-Lifers (with Jonathon Van Maren - Part 1)

AHA Fails to Understand Pro-Life History (with Jonathon Van Maren - Part 2)

Abolitionists Are Going to Get People Killed, and the SBC Just Helped Them

Fellow Pro-Lifers: Please Stop Sharing This Straw Man Meme

ERI Bodily Rights Materials Landing Page https://equalrightsinstitute.com/bodilyrights

Speech: Monica Snyder on Deconstructing Three Pro-Choice Myths http://secularprolife.org/myths/

Speech: Monica Snyder speaks at the Dobbs #EmpowerWomenPromoteLife rally https://youtu.be/vPOCw6BaHTQ

SPL post asking why people became pro-life

Should Pro-Lifers be Snarky? (with Dank Pro-Life Memes)

Equal Rights Institute Website: https://EqualRightsInstitute.com

Equal Rights Institute Blog: https://Blog.EqualRightsInstitute.com

Equipped for Life Course: https://EquippedCourse.com

Sidewalk Counseling Masterclass: http://SidewalkCounselingMasterclass.com

Chapters:

• 00:00: Introduction
• 01:24: Type 5: The Ones Who Are Hurting the Movement
• 11:17: Type 6: The Ones Who Don't Understand the Argument...
• 25:53: Type 7: ...Or the People Making the Argument...
• 33:36: Type 8: ...Or the People Getting the Abortions
• 47:27: How can pro-life advocates encourage members in these categories to think or act differently?
• 1:09:19: Are we being hypocritical for pointing out difficult types of pro-lifers?

Co-Hosts: Josh Brahm & Emily Albrecht

Guests: Monica Snyder & Andrew Kaake

Audio/Video Editor: Chapter One Films & Josh Brahm

Publisher: Josh Brahm

Everyone has been talking about the tragic case of a 10-year-old who was raped, became pregnant, and driven across state lines to get an abortion. Even President Biden referenced her story in public. Multiple ERI followers have asked us how pro-life people can answer questions about this story without sounding like a moral monster.

Josh and Emily invited licensed mental health counselor Robin Atkins to discuss the story with us. Our conversation included the rules regarding public discussion of patient information, particularly in CHINS cases, and the damage done if the rules are violated as well as how pro-life people should talk about this story.

Robin is a licensed mental health counselor, specializing in reproductive issues. She also has a philosophy degree. She spent four years doing home-based therapy with the Department of Children's Services. She's a pro-life advocate with an atypical perspective on some of the issues surrounding abortion.

Related Links:

The source that Robin read from about laws governing confidentiality in CHINS cases: Child Welfare Information Gateway. (2022). Disclosure of confidential child abuse and neglect records. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families, Children's Bureau.

Reprotection: https://www.reprotection.org/

ERI Podcast with Reprotection

She Found His Grace Abortion Recovery (Serena Dyksen) https://www.shefoundhisgrace.org

Book: She Found His Grace: A True Story Of Hope, Love, And Forgiveness After Abortion: https://amzn.to/3v7TRHv

Responding to 8 Types of Difficult Pro-Lifers (with Monica Snyder & Andrew Kaake - Part 1)

Here are the medical studies we referenced regarding young pregnancies:

Too much too young? Teenage pregnancy is not a public health problem: https://academic.oup.com/ije/article/31/3/552/629768

What's so bad about teenage pregnancy? https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/12457546/

Why I Changed My Pro-life Elevator Pitch: https://bit.ly/3NERrrE

"Abortion is Healthcare": A Misogynistic Non-Argument: http://bit.ly/2oYPP5k

ERI resources on responding to the question of rape: https://blog.equalrightsinstitute.com/rape/

Previous episodes with Robin Atkins:

A Different Perspective: Adoption vs. Foster Care vs. Abortion: https://youtu.be/yChl-sReTP0

Mental Health and Informed Consent in Abortion: https://youtu.be/E4Pn_wf5kSU

A Mental Health Counselor on Psychology in Debate: https://youtu.be/sZDIVOKJ6hE

Bonus Discussion about Whether Sidewalk Counselors Should EVER Bring Up Adoption: https://youtu.be/HaUJMcEgpcQ

Chapters

00:00 Introducing Robin and this story

06:23 CHINS cases and why the fact checkers got this story so wrong

35:14 Can abortion treat the trauma of rape?

53:31 Examining an apparent contradiction in what Robin said about how Ohio treats these crimes

57:36 Is it actually more physically dangerous when a young person is pregnant?

1:19:02 How should abortion laws treat a situation where a doctor claims that their patient has a life-threatening pregnancy?

1:27:26 How should pro-life people talk about cases like this?

Disclosure: The book above is an Amazon affiliate link. This means that, at zero cost to you, ERI will earn an affiliate commission if you click through the link and finalize a purchase.

The days after Roe v. Wade's overturning have been riddled with confusion, panic, anger, protests, and misinformation. There has never been a more important time for pro-life advocates to provide clarity, explain what overturning Roe v. Wade really means, and describe how we want to see our society move forward. Josh, Emily, and Andrew went live on YouTube and Facebook to help you think clearly and respond effectively to the most contentious issue of the moment.

After summarizing what the Dobbs decision did, the staff pull the curtain back on what their experience was like on the day that Dobbs came out, and their emotional reactions to the situation since.

Then they discuss the question of whether pro-lifers should be even trying to get into dialogues right now, given the heated emotions right now.

Finally they respond to these commpm pro-choice arguments right now:

- Back-alley abortions

- Pro-lifers don't care about babies after they're born

- Handmaid's Tale

- "This is a step back 50 years for women's rights"

- "People will still get abortions anyway!"

- "You're going to force women to die from tubal pregnancies. Are doctors really not allowed to do live-saving procedures?"

- The maternal mortality rate in Mississippi

- "Justice Thomas' concurrence proves that they're coming after same-sex marriage and birth control next!"

- "You can't force people to donate organs. Women have less bodily autonomy than corpses now."

- "You want to throw women into jail."

- "Women will be prosecuted for miscarriages."

Finally the staff discuss the three steps for the pro-life movement now before taking questions from the audience.

It's the question we're asked more often than any other, and we want to answer it carefully. The question is, "What should I do about the pro-life activist near me who is being difficult? Should I approach them differently than I do my dialogues with pro-choice people?"

Josh and Emily invited ERI Lead Editor Andrew Kaake and Secular Pro-Life's Executive Director Monica Snyder on the show for a two-part discussion on the way they think about responding to online comments, eight common types of difficult pro-life people, and how you can respond to them.

Note: Sorry for the occasional distortion with Josh and Emily's mics. They've had a good six-year run, but we're replacing them before the next time we record (the mics, not Josh and Emily).

We also had technical issues with Monica's video stream due to technical issues. All of her audio is there, but the video is missing sometimes.

Related Links:

Secular Pro-Life: https://secularprolife.org

Monica Snyder for Secular Pro-Life: "Nine months of inconvenience." https://bit.ly/3MvqDs4

First episode of our two-part podcast with Jonathon Van Maren on AHA: https://youtu.be/0SvNYXQqvuM

00:00 Introducing the guests and topic

02:49 Opening comments

09:28 ERI/SPL's policies on responding to comments

18:58 8 Types of Difficult Pro-Life People...

19:39 Type 1: The Ones With Only One (Unpersuasive) Argument...

26:08 Type 2: The Ones Who Need to Stop Saying This, Now!

38:20 Type 3: The Ones Who Are Very Out of Touch with Reality

47:20 Type 4: The Ones Who Really Frustrate Monica

Co-Hosts: Josh Brahm & Emily Albrecht

Guests: Monica Snyder & Andrew Kaake

Audio/Video Editor: Chapter One Films & Josh Brahm

Publisher: Jen Westmoreland

In this podcast, two authors discuss recent research regarding fetal pain: John Bockmann, co-author of "Reconsidering Fetal Pain" (2020) and Dr. Bridget Thill, MD, MS, author of "Fetal Pain in the First Trimester" (2021).

Bridget and John graciously typed out a full transcript of this episode that includes a ton of links to sources of the factual statements they made in this episode.

Here's a link to the five slides Bridget Thill discussed, including working links to the sources in the footnotes: https://traffic.libsyn.com/secure/equippedforlife/Thill_Fetal_Pain_PowerPoint_slides_PDF_3.pdf (Opens PDF)

Chapters: 00:00 Introduction 01:47 Background on fetal pain and "Reconsidering Fetal Pain" 10:47 Keys to this unlikely, productive collaboration 13:39 Fetal pain: Advances in understanding 16:30 Current science and treatment of fetal pain 19:47 Cortex needed for pain? 22:40 Are fetal responses to pain just reflexes? 27:10 How did we get fetal pain so wrong? 29:52 A lack of compassion or a lack of understanding? 33:30 Recognition of fetal pain 38:19 Correlation with behavior, not overreliance on hypotheses 41:02 Pain assessments are calibrated to patient response, not brain imaging 42:10 Correlation with clinical behavior 42:56 Specialized pain assessment tools for different stages of development 45:23 Fetal Pain 101 45:45 Slide 1: An Evolving Understanding of Pain 46:33 Slide 2: Development of Fetal Pain Pathways 47:36 Slide 3: Responses to Pain in Fetus & Extremely Preterm Infant 49:00 Slide 4: The Fetal Pain Paradox 49:37 Slide 5: Levels of Consciousness 50:50 Future fetal pain research 52:37 How to receive updates regarding fetal pain 53:22 Pro-choice response to "Reconsidering Fetal Pain" 55:34 How to talk–and not talk–about fetal pain 59:36 Summary on fetal pain

This is a continuation of Josh's conversation with Gary Freeman on crossing the racial divide in pro-life work. In this episode they discuss the high abortion rate in the African-American community and why that is, and how we should think about the debate over Planned Parenthood being an allegedly racist organization.

Learn more about Major League Dad here: https://www.MajorLeagueDad.org

Related Links:

Alan Guttmacher Institute article that Josh referenced: "Abortion and Women of Color: The Bigger Picture"

Audio recording of Josh's "Planned Parenthood Unveiled" presentation from before ERI, including his explanation of why Planned Parenthood is not a racist organization: https://bit.ly/3s2kjRb (Direct MP3 link)

Audio recording of a Q&A session from another recording of the "Planned Parenthood Unveiled" presentation with more discussion on the racism question: https://bit.ly/3vTS9Jb (Direct MP3 link)

Live Action's investigation on Planned Parenthood systematically covering up sexual abuse: https://bit.ly/38DBu4U

ERI's coverage of the Center for Medical Progress videos: https://bit.ly/3OISPKf

Live Action's investigation into "racially-motivated donations": https://bit.ly/3MIvyq3

Angela Franks' book "Margaret Sanger's Eugenic Legacy: The Control of Female Fertility": https://amzn.to/3FeSR8t (affiliate link)

Josh Chatraw's book "Telling a Better Story: How to Talk About God in a Skeptical Age": https://amzn.to/3snHjun (affiliate link)

Chapters:

00:00 The way pro-life people tend to talk about this statistical disparity

5:07 What is going on with the African-American abortion rate?

8:42 Is the Alan Guttmacher Institute right that the higher unintended pregnancy rate among African-Americans is part of the puzzle?

11:41 Is Walter Hoye right when he says that abortion is less stigmatized in the African-American community?

16:06 Why Gary doesn't use the word "privilege" in the way it often is used

17:03 Josh summarizes some of the reasons pro-lifers tend to call Planned Parenthood a "racist organization" and his take

22:58 Gary's response

26:40 Acknowledging examples of real racism in the abortion industry

27:45 How pro-life people could better help these people not choose abortion

29:37 Considering Live Action's racism investigation

34:15 Considering Margaret Sanger

45:19 Should pro-lifers talk about Margaret Sanger in order to get African-Americans to distrust Planned Parenthood?

48:41 Why pro-lifers should be careful how they talk about Planned Parenthood with pro-choice people

Host: Josh Brahm Guest: Gary Freeman Audio/Video Editor: Andrew Kaake & Josh Brahm Publisher: Jen Westmoreland

Disclosure: The books above are Amazon affiliate links. This means that, at zero cost to you, ERI will earn an affiliate commission if you click through the links and finalize a purchase.

This is a continuation of Josh's conversation with Gary Freeman on crossing the racial divide in pro-life work. In this episode they contrast Gary's position with those who say that you can't be pro-life unless you agree with them on other social issues, why people in black churches are distrustful of Gary as soon as he calls himself "pro-life", and how the church could have possibly made Black Lives Matter irrelevant.

If you haven't listened to the first part of this conversation, do that first for this section to make sense in context.

Learn more about Major League Dad here: https://www.MajorLeagueDad.org

Chapters:

0:00: Contrasting what Gary's saying with the pro-choice people who say that you can't be pro-life unless you agree with them on the death penalty, animal cruelty, etc.

10:27: "Are you saying I have to become a Democrat in order to have pro-life views?"

16:00: Why people in black churches are distrustful of Gary as soon as he calls himself "pro-life".

20:53: How the old way of responding to "you're only pro-life if you do X" doesn't work anymore.

25:15: What should white conservatives take from Black Lives Matter and what should they not?

30:39: How the church could have possibly made Black Lives Matter irrelevant.

35:35: What could both the white church and black church have done better after George Floyd was killed?