Three Sub-branches of Public Square Outreach
The Public Square Outreach branch of the pro-life tree has three sub-branches:
1. Displaying fixed signs
2. Foot soldiers taking positions at strategic 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 smallbillboards can be an easy and accessible first step into Public Square Outreach. You can purchase a couple dozen yard signs to display in your community. (PLPS offers you yardsigns for $5 each for 20 to 100 signs.) A church or church organization can take the lead in a campaign to yard signs and billboards. Small cities with a highway coinciding with“Main Street” have tremendous untapped opportunities. Cities on Texas Highway 287 between Fort Worth to 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 to hold signs, distribute literature, and engage in conversation. Refer to the previous section for the five sub-branch #2 events delivered each month in Waco. Nationally, Pro-Life Action League facilitates annual Public Square Outreach events. Their website provides how-to guidance for creating effective events. The annual events Pro-Life Action League facilitates include: (1) National Pro-Life Bridges Day, (2) National Day of Remembrance for Aborted Children, and (3) Way of the Cross for Victims of Abortion. Created Equal is another group focused on dynamic Public Square Outreach. Much that they do is outside their home base in Columbus, Ohio. Created Equal protested the 2024 National Democratic Party Convention.
The 3rd sub-branch is displays at fairs, festivals, and through tabling events.
The focus is literature distribution and personal conversation, rather than holding
signs. 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 profit-seeking businesses. We do our
best now to display at church and community festivals. The soft-to-the-touch
baby models create enduring impressions on children. On college campuses, tabling
is an effective outreach for Students for Life of America chapters. A well-placed table
with a couple sharp students engages the broad cross-section of views on abortion.