ADELAIDE, South Australia (LifeSiteNews) — A new pro-life campaign bringing awareness to the barbarous practice of abortion is kicking off in Australia.
Red & White Ribbon, a Christian human rights organization working to protect mothers and babies, is encouraging pro-lifers to “wear their support” for the unborn and “end violence against unborn babies” by purchasing a ribbon pin, wristband, or bumper sticker.
The advocacy group also provides postpartum support to women (especially migrants who are often not covered by government healthcare programs) and their babies through its sister organization Pregnancy Help South Australia.
“The whole idea of the ribbon is to create awareness and make people realize that abortion is going on,” Trevor Grace, a Christian high school teacher and the organization’s co-founder, told LifeSiteNews. “We're trying to create conversation with it by bringing the issue to the forefront and making young people aware of what's going on.”
The campaign is in part a response to what Grace calls the “hypocrisy” of the country’s multimillion-dollar, taxpayer-funded White Ribbon domestic violence campaign. Grace said few people are aware that the organization supports and endorses full-term abortion.
While White Ribbon (which is being worn by public figures, media personalities, politicians, and social justice advocates) claims to be “the world’s largest movement of men and boys working to end men’s violence against women and girls,” Grace said, “The irony there is that 50 percent of the children killed in the womb are female.”
The Red & White Ribbon was born after Grace's school made the decision to order White Ribbon pins to hand out to student and staff on campus. Concerned about the hypocrisy of the program and knowing little could be done after the order had already been purchased, Grace met with the principal and hatched a daring plan to modify the white ribbons. They added red dots using a red marker to symbolize the blood shed in abortion while also raising awareness of violence against females. Soon students and staff were wearing the pins and starting conversations with friends, family, and colleagues.
“It starts a conversation that is otherwise not there,” Grace said, adding, “I've seen it work in action on a personal level and we've tried many, many things.”
“I've known kids with [the Red & White] wristbands go home and have a conversation with their parents,” he said noting that it invites interesting responses, including the flawed notion that abortion is OK in cases of rape or genetic and physical abnormalities.
Grace has 20 years of political activism experience raising awareness about the harmful effects of abortion on both women and children. Together with wife Robyn, they have helped persuade 70-80 women to keep their babies in the last seven years even if it meant going inside an abortion clinic to make their appeal.
He noted the alarming rise in the use of abortion as a contraceptive among young people after making wrong choices.
“The killing of babies is being sidelined and quieted,” he said, adding that the word “abortion” is a clinical term that doesn't do justice to the real horror that goes on.
Grace explained that the ribbon's red is a symbol of the child’s blood killed by abortion that cries out for justice while the white represents the child’s purity.
“The blood of these babies is on the hands of our nation and God's grace won't be extended [to us] as this keeps happening,” he said.
“We can talk about terrorism and how horrendous it is. In this case, there are no bombs going off, but there's murders going on with little babies being killed. This is a continual affront to God that this is being perpetuated behind closed doors. The abortion industry is trying to make what is really happening a secret. It is an indictment upon us if we allow this horrific secret to be perpetuated.”
Grace has set his sights on the international scene, saying he intends to launch the ribbon in the U.S. in the near future. He is also working on expanding his campaign product lineup to include t-shirts, baseball caps, and mugs.
Red & White products ship internationally from Australia. The website is RedAndWhiteRibbon.org. All proceeds from the ribbons and associated products will go into pro-life advocacy work, pregnancy help support, and funding the expansion of the campaign to include billboards with the words “fatherhood begins in the womb” and other similar outdoor advertising.
“We want to encourage churches and Christian schools to purchase boxes of the ribbons, distribute them and educate their young people about abortion,” Grace said.
“We'd like everybody to wear them: mums and dads, business people and particularly politicians — the groundswell makes them listen,” he said.
Caleb Stephen is a widely-published Christian freelance journalist, columnist and social commentator based in Australia. He is also the founder and editor-in-chief of TruthJournalism.com. Caleb, the oldest in a family of nine, has been an active pro-life advocate for a number of years participating in rallies, political campaigns, multimedia promotion and public events. He is a staff writer with one of Australia’s leading Christian advocacy organisations. Caleb is thankful for the opportunity to be one of LifeSiteNews’ Australian correspondents. Visit his website CalebStephen.com and follow him on Twitter @CalebSOfficial.