A Split In The Anti-Abortion Movement

I wrote about this a while back, about a potential breaking off of the more extreme crazy-fringe of the anti-abortion groups from the politically-savvy ones. I was less than optimistic that it was really going to happen but there’s more evidence that the “crazed” and the “savvies” are starting to rupture.

Following the weeklong siege of Birmingham (and Tuscaloosa) Alabama which I’ve been writing about at my second blog Real Women’s Voices, there’s an interesting article in the Birmingham News about a rift between Focus on the Family founder James Dobson and Operation Rescue/Operation Save America leader Flip Benham.

Sharp differences appear between evangelicals in fight against abortion

[Anti-choice] Activists took out a full-page advertisement in The Birmingham News on Monday, [July 16] criticizing Focus on the Family founder James Dobson and other evangelicals for not taking a more strident stance against abortion.

Flip Benham, director of Operation Save America, signed the statement that called Dobson a "moral relativist" for praising the U.S. Supreme Court's recent ruling upholding a ban on partial-birth abortion.

Benham and others say the ruling actually reinforces the right to an abortion, and that churches should be more adamant in opposing all abortion.

On Sunday morning, protesters showed up in front of four of Birmingham's largest evangelical churches - Briarwood Presbyterian, Lakeside Baptist, Metropolitan Church of God and Liberty Church. Their giant graphic posters of aborted fetuses were not well-received, said Rebecca Tibbs, who attends Metro Church of God.

"We just came away thinking, `We're on your side, but this is not the way we choose to do it,'" said Tibbs. "I would never join up with them. People with small children were very disappointed. The pictures were not necessary. People were shocked and appalled."

I was digging around Technorati and I found quite a few blog comments from what you might think of as pro-life people who absolutely hated the crazed protestors who make the movement/city/the south look bad. Even nice church-going Christians who want to be against abortion don’t want to see their horrible, horrible pictures, no matter how much they personally disagree with abortion.