We Took Abortion Pictures to Times Square

*This is an AI generated transcript, and may contain errors*

Mark Harrington (00:00):

Coming to you live from Times Square in New York City with a road trip this summer with our intern staff and a ministry out the Pacific Northwest. Stick around for the program. You’re listening to the Mark Harrington show. All right, everybody. Hello. We are in Times Square in New York City with our staff and interns here on the Summer Road trip. In the heart of it all, the marketplace of Ideas, times Square, New York. And I wanted to take a minute here and interview some of our staff and interns. What’s your name and where you’re from?

CE Intern (00:44):

My name is generally, and I am from Salina, Ohio.

Mark Harrington (00:47):

Alright, and your name and where are you from?

CE Intern (00:49):

I’m Ella and I’m from Columbus, Ohio.

Mark Harrington (00:51):

Alright, and you?

CE Intern (00:52):

I’m Livy. I’m also from Columbus, Ohio.

Mark Harrington (00:54):

Okay. And so how many, have you ever been to New York City before? Been City? I have

CE Intern (00:57):

Not, no. No, I’ve never

Mark Harrington (00:58):

Been. What about you? No, I haven’t. All right, so you’ve never visited as a tourist and you’ve never done outreach either, right? Yeah. So this is both, you get to tour, you get to see what it’s like, and you actually get to do outreach. A lot of people would say, why would you come here? First of all, they’d say you’re nuts because you’re putting yourself in danger. You’re putting yourself at risk. You could get hurt. Who knows? Because people have a view of New York as a tough, violent place. It’s probably true. It is. It’s a rough place. But do you think it’s worth coming here with our signs?

CE Intern (01:32):

I think so. There are so many people around. Even if they don’t stop to talk to us, they’re still seeing the pictures. They’re still seeing how horrific it is and these people need to see it just as much as the people back in Columbus do. So

Mark Harrington (01:44):

That’s right. And by the way, New York is a abortion destination. Abortion up to birth, whatever. So New York City, I think it’s like, I don’t know the numbers of African-American babies that are killed, but the majority of babies conceived in this city are murdered by abortion. We, and we were going to be going to the Margaret Singer, original Margaret Singer Planned Parenthood tomorrow morning. So you’ve never been to Times Square before, Libby, what is your impression so far? What did you think coming in and what do you think now?

CE Intern (02:16):

I thought it was going to be busy, but I didn’t realize how busy it was going to be. But I think it’s very exciting that there are so many people to see our signs and probably a lot that have never seen this kind of stuff before,

Mark Harrington (02:27):

And a lot of tourists. So you get people from all over the country, if not the world. And some New Yorkers are here as well. Obviously we have screens everywhere. LED screens. This is like, I feel like, boy, I wish I could take one of these overs and put our abortion victim photography on. Of course we can’t unfortunately. But you get screens everywhere. You would think that people would ignore us. Now to some degree they do because they’re here on vacation or whatever, but they are still stopping and talking to us. Right,

CE Intern (02:57):

Yeah, a couple

Mark Harrington (02:58):

People. And tell me what kind of conversations you had, if any.

CE Intern (03:02):

I’ve had a lot of positive conversations so far. So one guy was saying how he had never seen the images and he thought they were fake, but I explained to him that they were completely real and he was just horrified by it,

Mark Harrington (03:14):

Thought they were fake in the midst of all this imagery here. What about you? I mean, I know a lot of people see ’em, they walk by, some don’t stop, but even if they don’t, they see the photos. Right?

CE Intern (03:25):

Yeah. I’ve also had a lot of positive conversations. One lady said that she was adopted and she thinks adoption was a great thing and she loves her adopted family, so that was really

Mark Harrington (03:34):

Cool. So some pro-life people here, Hey. Yeah, well that tells you something. People have certain conceptions of times Square. You have to come here to see it now at night. It’s crazy. Of course we wouldn’t be here at night. That’s a dumpling to do. People are drunk. Okay, so Times Square today, tomorrow we’ll be going to Columbus Square, which is just north of here, near Central Park, near the Trump Tower, which we got some good news today that the judge in Florida dismiss the documents case. So we’ll be up there and then we’re going to go and do some touring of the city. We’re going to do Operation Overpass and Friends, if you dunno what that is. We’ve put up banners over the overpass. We’re going to do that on FBR Boulevard probably tomorrow, the next day. And we’re going to go down to Wall Street as well. We have our Tiny Heartbeat Ministry people here too. Our partners from Washington and Oregon have made the visit or made the travel all the way here to New York to be part of this today. So that’s obviously a good thing that we have people here we’re working with. To me this is like just, it’s an experience not just for fun, although we do enjoy ourselves here. But you are going into the belly of the beast, aren’t you?

CE Intern (04:58):

Yeah, that’s exactly what my dad said.

Mark Harrington (05:01):

This is where it’s all happening. Unfortunately, it’s a wicked place. Obviously there’s lots of going on here. It’s a very worldly place, but to me, that’s the place we need to be, right?

CE Intern (05:11):

Yeah. I mean, in a place where there’s so much depravity and evil, we’re kind of commanded to go and shine the light here and show people the truth. So I think it’s a great place to be,

Mark Harrington (05:20):

Right? It’s like this morning when I shared about the Apostle Paul going into Athens and talking about all the wicked idols that were there, and he was in the marketplace, it says, and where people were passing by and that’s why we go out here. A lot of people wouldn’t come out here, they would just stay at home behind their keyboards or whatever. We have to be out in the public square, and that’s the only place where we can show these images because unfortunately we won’t be able to get any of this stuff on these screens here. So we’ve got to do it one by one in the public square. And that’s why we’re here. We’re going to go to Margaret Sanger’s original, the Planned Parenthood in Lower Manhattan tomorrow. You’ve never been there either, have you? Okay. It’s a very solemn, sober place because that’s where it all started, unfortunately, where all the abortion started.

(06:12):

So I’m here with some of our interns, some of our staff, some of our What would you qualify yourself as? Again? I’m temporary staff. Temporary staff. All right. So we got 23 people, I think it is on the trip. And we’ll be here through Thursday, going to different places in the city of New York. So thanks for tuning in. Friends again, I’m here in Times Square in New York City. Be prayer for us this week as we are out pressing the message of life and the gospel to passers by in the heart of it all. That is the big Apple, New York City. Okay, friends, I am with Josiah, who is one of our interns this summer. What do you think about being in Times Square today?

CE Intern (06:55):

It’s really dirty. There are lot

Mark Harrington (06:58):

Of, well, new York’s dirty.

CE Intern (07:00):

Yeah, I agree.

Mark Harrington (07:02):

Beyond that, what do you think about being here? Holding the signs and showing the truth about a board?

CE Intern (07:06):

Yeah, it’s a really neat experience. I think it’s really important. We’re getting a lot of people to see these signs and I think it’s really a unique experience to be in New York City and to be around all these people with these signs.

Mark Harrington (07:21):

Well, there’s very few places in America where you could be around this many people.

CE Intern (07:25):

Yeah, I agree.

Mark Harrington (07:26):

And are people stopping? That’s the thing. People often wonder, why would you go to Times Square? The place is crazy and you might get hurt. People are nuts. It is kind of crazy. People are nuts, but to be honest, people do stop by. In fact, they ignore us, unfortunately and too much because of all the screens around here. But people do stop.

CE Intern (07:47):

Yeah, I agree. I’ve had a lot of conversations with people and many people have just taken the literature. Maybe they didn’t stop, but at least they got the literature and they have the information they can read later.

Mark Harrington (07:57):

They also can see the signs, right?

CE Intern (07:59):

Yeah, for sure. And even the people who try to ignore us, they will also see the signs. So it’s really important to do this.

Mark Harrington (08:06):

I mean, short of, I guess commandeering one of these screens, this is the best we can do in Times Square, as you can see. Friends, if you would focus on one of these signs here, this is what we’re displaying here in Times Square today, hundreds, if not thousands of people are seeing these today. Okay, friends, here we are on the other side of the street in Times Square with our good friends from Tiny Heartbeat Ministries. You can see them lining up here, handing out literature to Pastor Spy, showing the images. These folks are from the Pacific Northwest. They made the trip all the way here to New York City to be part of our outreach. I’m going to see if I can interview one of them in a minute here. It’s going to go up to you. Alright, I’m going to put you on the spot here. So what’s your name and where you’re from? I’m Michael and I’m from Seattle. Washington area. Okay. Is this your first time in New York?

Tiny Heartbeat Member (08:58):

This is my first time in New York.

Mark Harrington (08:59):

What do you think of Times Square?

Tiny Heartbeat Member (09:02):

It’s really busy.

Mark Harrington (09:06):

Good place to be doing what we’re doing.

Tiny Heartbeat Member (09:08):

It’s a great place. Lots of people here.

Mark Harrington (09:11):

Good dude,

Tiny Heartbeat Member (09:12):

Have lots of conversations with

Mark Harrington (09:13):

People. So people are stopping?

Tiny Heartbeat Member (09:16):

Yes, a few of them are. Some of ’em don’t.

Mark Harrington (09:20):

How many people have you spoken to about and have you had anybody change their mind or at least listen to you?

Tiny Heartbeat Member (09:26):

I’ve probably had maybe four conversations, good conversations. I had one person change his mind and then I had other just good conversations to invoke thought.

Mark Harrington (09:37):

Even though you’re surrounded by all these screens, these LED screens that you’d think people would be distracted by, they’re still paying attention to the signs, aren’t they?

Tiny Heartbeat Member (09:45):

Well, a lot of the time if you go try and talk to somebody and you point at the signs, then they’re more susceptible to look at ’em.

Mark Harrington (09:59):

Appreciate that. And what about you? What do you think about being in Times Square today? First of all, what’s your name?

Tiny Heartbeat Member (10:07):

I’m Holly. Where I’m from, Northern Idaho.

Mark Harrington (10:12):

How many times have people stopped by and talked?

Tiny Heartbeat Member (10:15):

Yeah, I’ve had a couple of good conversations. I had a good conversation.

Mark Harrington (10:21):

Did you think that people would pay attention or you just think people would probably ignore us?

Tiny Heartbeat Member (10:26):

I was expecting more people to seem apathetic, but they’re still looking at the signs. They recognize something horrible when they see it.

Mark Harrington (10:34):

Right. A lot of ’em are tourists, obviously. They’re here not for this yet. They still stop.

Tiny Heartbeat Member (10:40):

Yep.

Mark Harrington (10:41):

Share with me one testimony where you spoke with someone whether you changed their mind or not share one encounter with someone.

Tiny Heartbeat Member (10:50):

Yeah. I spoke to a man who is Muslim, so sometimes they believe that abortion is okay until quickening. He was not one of them. He said that killing babies is always wrong. So I got to talk to him a little bit more about Islam and share the gospel with him.

Mark Harrington (11:07):

Okay. So he was Islamic, right? He was a Muslim. And you got to share the gospel with him?

Tiny Heartbeat Member (11:14):

Yep.

Mark Harrington (11:15):

What did he say?

Tiny Heartbeat Member (11:19):

He insisted that the prophet says that that is not what Jesus said. So had had to send him away, which was unfortunate.

Mark Harrington (11:30):

Well, at least you gave him something to think about. Put the pebble in the shoe as you say. Alright, well appreciate you coming all this way, all the way to New York from the Pacific Northwest. All right, so here we got a conversation going on with someone dropping by, so it’s all good. See, got the pictures here, people passing by. I don’t want to intrude on this conversation, but this gentleman is talking about whether if there’s someone that was raped and conceived and raped, I’m with Molly Brohard, who is one of our interns this year. Molly, you say you got somebody changing their mind. Tell us about that.

CE Intern (12:12):

Her name was Andrea. She told me that her cousin had an abortion when the baby had a disability. She talked about Down syndrome and how maybe the doctor’s opinion that would make abortion. Okay. So I talked about it with her and I told her that just because somebody doesn’t have the same abilities as us, that doesn’t change their value. They still should have that right to life and they’re still just as valuable.

Mark Harrington (12:39):

What do you think about doing outreach here at Times Square? There’s a lot of people around. Some stop, but most don’t, but they still do look at the photos. Yes.

CE Intern (12:48):

Yeah, they definitely do. Look at photos. I’ve had many people walk past and they’ve done double takes and their eyes have just lingered at our signs, and I think it’s really impactful for them, even if we’re not able to have a conversation with them,

Mark Harrington (13:01):

Which is pretty crazy because they got screens all around here yet they’ll look at these pictures and they’ll stand out and look at ’em. I appreciate it. Thanks. Thanks for joining us here in Times Square today in New York City. We got a long week planned, so be in prayer for us. Also, we’ll be going to the Democrat National Convention later this summer as well as if there are any more debates, you can bet on it. We’ll be there friends. You can support the work of Created Equal by going to created equal.org/donate. And to find out more about the program, go to mark harrington.org. That’s mark harrington.org. We’re on every popular podcasting platform. Share the program. Also leave a five star review. We’ll see you next time. God bless you. God bless America, and remember America to bless God.

Molly (13:52):

You’ve been listening to Mark Harrington, your radio activist. For more information on how to make a difference for the cause of life, liberty and justice, go to created equal.org.org. To follow mark, go to Mark Harrington show.com. Be sure to tune in next time for your marching orders in the Culture War.