What is Public Square Outreach?

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       Shifting the distribution of our fellow citizens toward the pro-life perspective is central to the ongoing battle. In order to move our community in the red direction, we must find and follow through on ways to engage the mushy middle. Preaching and teaching to the pro-life choir may be comfortable and enjoyable. However, this will not yield an adequate harvest of partial and full conversions to the pro-life side. I am not proposing a weakening of other branches. The Pro-Life in the Public Square organization will work to build a stronger public square outreach branch.

 

PLPS Created out of Pro-Life Waco

       Pro-Life in the Public Square is an outgrowth of Pro-Life Waco, which began soon after Planned Parenthood Waco began baby killing in 1994. The PLW trajectory toward public square outreach began with the one-day sex education conference for Waco youths named “Nobody’s Fool”. The annual event was the proud creation of Planned Parenthood Waco. Leading up to the event, our outreach included yard signs, billboards, newspaper editorials, and radio ads.  On the Nobody's Fool event day, dozens of pro-lifers gathered outside the Waco Convention Center site. Our work included persuading parents with children to turn away from Nobody's Fool. From its peak of 700 children attending, Nobody’s Fool declined to fewer than 100 attendees. Planned Parenthood aborted the program in 2013.

       The biggest episode in the Nobody’s Fool battle was our 2004 boycott of Girl Scout cookie sales, which was our response to Girl Scout promotion of Planned Parenthood Waco events. The boycott created “a tornado” in Central Texas and triggered national attention. I was interviewed on the Today Show, Hannity and Colms,  the 700 Club, and others. In response to soaring pressure, the local Girl Scout council held an emergency board meeting on February 24. They voted to sever all ties with Planned Parenthood Waco.

       The history and continued engagement of Pro-Life Waco provides one model for what Pro-Life in the Public Square will promote in cities across America. We deliver five public square outreach events each month.  This includes Life Chain Sunday, overpass outreach, and one event at Planned Parenthood Waco each month.

       Pro-Life Waco’s highest priority since March of 2023 has been challenging CVS and Walgreens pharmacies. One such event is at a double-barrel location with Walgreens on one side of the street and CVS on the other. Our most recent event is at a CVS pharmacy adjacent to Interstate 35 and Baylor University. For each week of November, we switch to Waco’s Target store, which has a CVS pharmacy.

       The schedule of PLW’s events offers life defenders opportunities to participate at different times of the day, different days of the week, and at different locations.

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Three Sub-Branches

      The public square outreach branch of the pro-life tree has three sub-branches:

         1. Displaying fixed signs.

         2. Foot soldiers taking positions at streets and overpasses to engage with signs, literature, and conversations.

         3. Setting up displays for fairs, festivals, and tabling events.

       Sub-branch #1 includes yard signs, bus benches, and billboards. Some billboards may move, such as a billboard truck or banners pulled by airplanes. Yard signs and small billboards can be an easy and accessible first step into public square outreach. Pro-Life in the Public Square's "Yard Signs for Life" campaign offers you yard signs for $4 each. A church or church organization can take the lead in a campaign for yard signs and billboards. Small cities with a highway coinciding with “Main Street” have tremendous untapped opportunities. Cities along Texas Highway 287 between Fort Worth and Amarillo are an example.  Billboards have a long history in the pro-life movement. Pro-Life Across America is the leading national supplier of large billboards.

       Sub-branch #2 is taking strategic positions at streets, buildings, and overpasses to hold signs, distribute literature, and engage in conversation. Pro-Life Waco delivers at least five events on the streets of Waco each month. Several other cities across America have groups that delivered significant public square outreach. We need a lot more of them!]

       Nationally, several pro-life organizations deliver public square outreach more broadly than a single city.

            -- Pro-Life Action League facilitates annual events. Their website provides "how-to" guidance for creating effective events. The annual events of Pro-Life Action League include: National Pro-Life Bridges Day, and Way of the Cross for Victims of Abortion.

            -- Another dynamic public square outreach organization is Created Equal. Much of what they do is outside their home base of Columbus, Ohio. Created Equal prioritizes training pro-life college students to interact with their peers on multiple college campuses. Created Equal protested the 2024 National Democratic Party Convention.

             -- Much of the work of Student for Life of America is engaging the broad cross-section of students and is, therefore, public square outreach.

       Sub-branch #3 is displays at fairs and festivals. The focus is on literature distribution and personal conversation. The classic example is county or state fairs. Pro-Life Waco had a 10’x20’ booth at the 9-day Heart of Texas Fair for two decades. Unfortunately, fair management decided to limit booth space to for-profit businesses. The soft-to-the-touch Baby models are a big hit at fairs and festivals, creating enduring impressions on children.  

 

Public Square Outreach and Protest

       Is public square outreach the same as protesting? No, it is not. A protest is a public square outreach. However, not all public square outreach events are protests. Pharmacy outreach at CVS or Walgreens has major elements of protest. In contrast, Life Chain, overpass outreach, and a county fair pro-life booth are not protests. Depending on the message, billboards and yard signs may or may not be protests. As your organization gets involved in public square outreach, you have an array of action options. Whether or not you include protests is up to you.

 

Geography of Public Square Outreach

       The key adjective for the meaning of public square outreach is BROAD. The prime consideration is engagement across a wide range of public sentiment--including strongly pro-life, strongly pro-abortion, and the currently-neglected mushy middle. Another dimension of BROAD is geography. What cities are included? What locations in those cities are included? Today's pro-life outreach is concentrated in big cities and focuses on abortion centers in big cities.

       The current configuration of the pro-life movement at the local level focuses on sidewalk counseling, pregnancy support, and prayer vigils. The prime location for these valuable ministries is big cities and at abortion center locations within those bigger cities with abortion centers. Cities without abortion centers also have pro-life resources and opportunities to touch hearts, minds, souls, and votes. 

       Let’s expand the geographical footprint of the pro-life movement. Consider the various opportunities available to cities of all sizes, including yard signs, billboards, Life Chains, overpass outreach, fairs, festivals, and more.

       The pro-life movement will be stronger when we are active in every city and throughout every city. Small cities may have the ability to influence people far beyond their city limits. Think of billboards at the edge of town with a highway running through the town. For example, the small city of Childress, Texas, on Highway 287, can reach out to thousands of out-of-town travelers each week with inexpensive billboards. There are hundreds of cities like Childress across the United States.  

       Consider a football analogy. Compare the broad pro-life movement to an NFL team preparing for the season ahead and aspiring to play in the Super Bowl. The team must have an effective offense from any position on the field. Offense from within the team's 10-yard line is important. Red-zone office is important. Pro-life today is predominantly a red-zone offense.

 

Importance of Monthly Outreach

       A local pro-life group will benefit from a slate of monthly outreach events in addition to yearly ad hoc events. Extended gaps between annual events do not provide the continuity to sustain and grow your group. Annual events, such as Life Chain, a county fair booth, attending a fundraising gala, and a public rally, are valuable arrows for a group's quiver. However, it is important to shoot arrows more frequently to maintain motivation and momentum.

       Another reason for monthly activities is to build your communication links to swing into action for one-time ad-hoc events.  In the summer of 2022, a pro-abortion group advocated a Waco City ordinance that would shut down Waco police enforcement of Texas abortion laws. After learning about their move, we acted quickly to mobilize a strong showing at the next city council meeting.  Over 300 pro-lifers showed up.  Overflow rooms were required, and 45 life defenders spoke for up to three minutes. The City Council received our message. The ordinance received no further consideration. Without the foundation of monthly outreach, we could not have responded so quickly and strongly.

 

Upstream, Downstream, and Abraham Lincoln

       Occasionally, we encounter the phrases “upstream initiative” and “downstream initiative”. Consider a river that floods a city due to heavy rains. A downstream initiative would be deploying sandbags at the banks of the river to protect the city from flooding. An upstream initiative would be building a dam miles up the river to absorb water at the time of heavy rain. Downstream solutions are often transitory. Upstream initiatives may permanently solve the problem.

       Let's consider downstream and upstream initiatives for an election with important pro-life implications. A downstream initiative for shifting the vote would be a voter turnout campaign involving calls and text messages to pro-lifers to encourage them to vote. This does not shift the distribution of voters on the public sentiment grid. Rather, this improves election results within a fixed spectrum of public sentiment. In a close ballot, a get-out-the-vote campaign may deliver a victory.

       Public square outreach is not directly political. However, public square outreach can shift the public opinion sentiment grid by changing hearts, minds, and souls. And, this changes votes. The pro-life movement needs more focus on grid-changing through public square outreach to improve political outcomes. Ponder these words from Abraham Lincoln in the Lincoln-Douglas debates: