[Updated 9/6] – Photo added.

As President of the Respect Life Club Nick Henninger pulled into JC on what seemed to be a normal Friday morning of school on Sept 2, graphic images of bloody aborted fetuses splayed out on poster boards made Henninger do a double take.

He and his mother had just finished discussing tactics that are best for educating others about alternatives to abortion when a prime example of what not to do appeared right in their faces.

Deeply upset that these protesters were using shock tactics, Henninger could only hope that others driving by would not associate this event with JC or with the Respect Life Club.

“That was a big worry of mine that I had…The Respect Life Club is in no way connected to these protesters.  We reject that kind of protesting,” Henninger said.

The protesters, Walter Hunt and Kurt Linnemann, are part of an anti-abortion group called The Center for Bio-Ethical Reform.  Their motto, as stated on their website, is “Graphically Exposing the Injustice of Abortion.”  They had a variety of signs which pictured aborted fetuses and slogans such as “Abortion Hurts Women.”  While Principal Madelyn Ball asked the protesters to leave, they were legally within their rights to remain on the sidewalk outside of the school’s property.

“Children are being aborted every day, which is murder.  [Catholic values] might be taught [at JC], but Catholic children are becoming pregnant and these babies are being aborted,” Hunt said when asked why they were protesting in front of JC.

“[Linnemann] told me that because of what he was doing today everybody would be talking about anti-abortion at the dinner table tonight,” Ball said.  Linnemann also told Ball that he was Catholic, and asked what she thought Jesus would do in this situation.  “I said that I didn’t think that he would approach it in this way,” Ball said, “Research shows that shock value is not an appropriate means of educating people.”

Ball made an announcement the morning of the incident to the student body that the police had been notified and that she disapproved of the methods the protesters used.

“I want everyone to know that we’re pro-life.  I would shout that from the mountaintops, but I do not want them thinking that we would resort to such tactics to get that message across.  It was upsetting young children in the cars.  It was too much,” Ball said.

Social Studies teacher Jake Hollin was among the teachers who went out to talk to the protesters.  “I support the pro-life movement, but I don’t support the graphic demonstrations.  Love is patient, love is kind, and love is not rude,” Hollin said.

Ball sent out an email to explain the situation to parents.  “We had many phone calls this morning from parents who were very angry.  They have to know that we didn’t invite these people here,” Ball said.

Michelle Flayhart, mother of sophomore Nick Flayhart, was one of the parents Ball was trying to reach.  “I didn’t know if they [protesters] were with the school,” Flayhart said.

“I would say that the most upsetting part of this morning was that once the traffic had died down, a girl in the front seat of a car that was not turning in here gave me a thumbs-up.  She thinks that John Carroll is doing this,” Ball said.

“It’s very honorable of them to protest, but they’re going about it in the wrong way,” sophomore Matt Wagner said.

Senior Alex Burdeshaw echoed Wagner’s sentiments.  “Arguments should be presented through facts and logic, not through gruesome, provocative images,” Burdeshaw said.

Religion teacher Rachel Harkins took the time to talk about the protesters in all of her religion classes.  “Sometimes the truth can be ugly.  I believe that we all deserve to know the truth of abortion, but I choose to share that truth in a more positive and educational way in my class,” Harkins said.

Ball has contacted a lawyer at the Archdiocese and JC’s attorneys.  There is currently no legal action being taken.

“It is sad to think that people would lose consciousness of the goodwill of the majority of the pro-life movement when they see protests of this sort, but many people do.  While we have much sympathy for these demonstrators because they are pro-life, we know that time and time again the methods of scare tactics and shock therapy have been proven to be both ineffective and derisive.  The youth of the movement have shown that love, compassion, and respect for those on the opposite side of the fence is the most effective way to reduce and ultimately end the practice of abortion in this country,” Henninger said.