A Shirt a Day…

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A shirt a day…

The vision of the folks behind www.Abort73.com

by Jon Dykstra

(Feb. 2006 Reformed Perspective)

“Hey, what’s with the shirt? What’s Abort73.com?”

“I could tell you, but better yet, why don’t you go online and check it out?”

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On school campuses across the US, Canada, and even in England, students are showing up to class with shirts emblazoned with a distinctive “Abort73.com” logo. Each day they’re showing up wearing a different shirt, in a different style or different color, but all emblazoned with “Abort73.com” across the chest and back. Imagine, for a moment, what it would be like to sit behind someone who, day after day, was outfitted this way. Would you start getting a bit curious about this website? Would you want to know more? The name gives a bit of a hint as to what the site might be about, but it isn’t altogether clear – wouldn’t that get you even more curious?

Speaking up without saying a word

That’s the brilliance behind Abort73.com. Through repeated exposures, people who otherwise would never check out a pro-life website go to this one. Their curiosity compels them. Day after day, week after week, month after month, shirt after shirt, the same short web address – eventually curiosity has to get the best of them.

And that’s why so many are visiting the Abort73.com website – they had over 700,000 page views in just the last half of 2005.

These shirts are also an aid, and really an answer to prayer, to the many Christians who want to speak out against abortion but don’t feel equipped to do so. Perhaps you’re the type to get tongue-tied, or maybe you always think of just the right thing to say twenty minutes after the opportunity has passed you by. Maybe you’re worried that if you speak up no one will pay attention. Or perhaps you’re more worried at the prospect that everyone might listen. Whatever the case might be, these shirts allow you to speak up without saying a word.

A two-step approach

Now traditionally pro-life t-shirts have been designed to make a statement all on their own – with slogans like “Abortion in Murder” or “Choose life – Your mother did” – but these Abort73 shirts don’t even try to educate. As they put it:

“The evidence in the case against abortion is too vast to be adequately communicated on a single t-shirt or bumper sticker. You can communicate an opinion, but you can’t communicate much in the way of fact. The Internet, however, offers a remarkably effective way to dynamically distribute massive amounts of information. All the facts, all the evidence, all of the research and source material can be easily compiled and distributed across the globe, offering visitors an exhaustive abortion education. When they leave the Abort73 website, they will not just be leaving with our opinion, they will be leaving with all the facts that brought us to that opinion. That makes a big difference. The trick, of course, is to get people to the website who wouldn’t normally be giving any thought to abortion. To that end, we offer a wide range of Abort73 Gear…. We recognize that our approach is a two-step process (see the shirt, go to the website), but since the alternative is unlikely to change minds in any significant way, this is our best option. And it is an option that can be very effective.

Why not check it out?

The site itself is an innovative, video-driven answer to any question you could ever ask about abortion. It features both concise, logic-driven articles and emotion provoking graphic pictures of aborted children. It is cutting edge and simply amazing. And now that your curiosity is piqued why don’t you go to www.Abort73.com and check it out? And while you’re there, why not order a shirt…or thirty?