Sitting in a lawn chair in the University of Washington’s Red Square, old man smiles as he beckons students to where he sits with his enlarged image of a human fetus. He makes friendly conversation as he hands the student a rubber replica of a 12-week-old fetus and a business card that says, “Some people think that my life began a birth; but my life’s journey began long before I was born.” A fuzzy, white toy poodle wearing a sweatshirt branded with the word ‘life’ runs up to the man, and he casually scoops it into his lap
Tom Hruska is the director of Show the Truth Washington State, which is based in Olympia. Hruska is on what he calls his “fall tour” of Washington, traveling from Tumwater to Bellingham, and everywhere in between, promoting his organization’s pro-life message.
“We’re here to support the mothers and the unborn,” Hruska said. “We’re here to show people the truth. There’s other options other than abortion; they are not told that they can get help from the public institutions and from the private institutions.”
Show the Truth Washington State is an organization that helps pregnant women if they choose to keep their babies or put them up for adoption. The organization operates a shelter for pregnant teens, and provides financial assistance to those who choose not to have abortions. Hruska says Show the Truth Washington State also provides legal services needed for an adoption.
Volunteers with Hruska’s group don’t usually travel. They mostly work close to home. Speak the Truth Washington State’s volunteers spend much of their time protesting at Planned Parenthoods in and around Olympia. The group protests for a couple of hours every Monday morning, and for most of the day every Friday.
Sometimes, Show the Truth Washington State’s volunteers meet resistance when they are protesting. People like Rosalind Phelps, a University of Washington student, are offended by how the volunteers present their views.
“It’s hard to see when people are taking their personal beliefs and then pushing them really hard onto other people,” Phelps said. “I would like it much more if instead of big bloody billboards going up in the square, they just have people wanting to have conversations with other people about their beliefs and their moral values. More open to different ways of thinking about things.”
Hruska joined Show the Truth Washington State in 2001, shortly after the group formed. He saw members protesting outside of his local Planned Parenthood, and volunteered to help.
I’ve been with them over that period of time, over 10 years now,” Hruska said. “And they’ve been active in the pro-live movement for probably 30 years.”
Hruska says that Show the Truth Washington State is a peaceful organization, and that volunteers are practicing their right to free speech. He says that because of the group’s tranquil nature, there is no risk of arrest during protests. No volunteers have been arrested since Hruska joined the group.
Many Show the Truth Washington State’s members are adults like Hruska. But teens are encouraged to participate, too. According to Hruska, young people are the key to the organization’s success because they can provide an example of what it means to come from a loving home. The high schoolers and middle schoolers attend protests with Show the Truth Washington’s protests just like the older members.
“They’re available to go because they’re home schooled,” Hruska said. “They’re very active and very knowledgeable about what’s happening in the world about abortion and the breakup of families.”
One of the young people with protesting at the University of Washington was Sarah Oulette, a high school senior. While the organization is non-denominational, Oulette joined because of her religious convictions. She’s a Catholic, and disagrees with abortion because she thinks that humans are created in the image of God.
She was introduced to the group by a friend from church, and joined when she was 15. She said that she enjoys going to college campuses because she feels strongly about the organization’s message.
“I don’t agree with abortion because I think that life is very beautiful, and everybody’s beautiful, and they deserve to live,” Oulette said.
An Interest in the World Around Me 