By Michael Baggot
TOLEDO, OH, April 15, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) - In an effort to present pre-natal development "in an educational and non-confrontational manner," the Foundation for Life organization has rented space in a local mall for its "Truth Booth," featuring a set of ultrasound images tracing the development of a child from seven weeks of age until birth.
The unmanned display is in a rented kiosk in Westfield Franklin Park Shopping Mall.
"Being unmanned will actually help people just wander up to it. They won't feel threatened. They won't feel like there's any pressure. Any preachiness or debate that will take place…They'll debate this within their own minds," explained said Paige Scarlett, development director of Foundation for Life.
Booklets detailing the child's development in the womb are made available below the 4-D ultrasound images.
The $25-30 thousand annual rental cost for the booth will be paid through donations.
Foundation for Life received aid from LifeWorks Ohio, an organization that has helped display three other ultrasound kiosks in Cleveland.
"The whole idea is not to have anybody there talking or pushing an agenda. It's just a matter of providing that information to the public in a way that's not threatening," explained LifeWorks Ohio executive director Molly Smith.
Even professedly "pro-choice" individuals are impressed with the display.
"While this newspaper has long championed the pro-choice cause, the kiosk is an indication that the pro-life message has matured," stated a toledoblade.com editorial.
The editorial described the new "Truth Booth" as "a positive change in approach from the in-your-face tactics used previously by many anti-abortion activists."
In 2004, Mike and Maureen Nuzzi began the "Truth Booth" in Echelon Mall in southern New Jersey as a way of combining the latest in ultrasound technology with written information on crisis pregnancy centers and post-abortion aid.
After requests from mall officials, local volunteers staffed the booth to protect it from vandalism and answer questions.
Maureen Nuzzi told LifeSiteNews.com that her husband "wanted kids to know what babies looked like." He was convinced that the "best way to reach them would be in the malls."
Maureen said that the malls have been "very receptive" to their educational approach that lets people "make up their own mind."
"The booth gives a girl an idea of what see is making a choice about."
Students passing by "wouldn't usually get this information in schools," added Maureen.
"I wish this were here when I was pregnant," stated a journal entry left near one of the "Truth Booths."
Maureen predicted that having the booths unmanned will make it easier for booths to spread through the nation. Plans for booths in California, Connecticut and New York are already in the works.
"Truth Booths" have also been used at conventions, campus ministries, schools, and churches.
Learn more about the "Truth Booth":
http://www.truthbooth.org
http://www.lifeworksohio.org/truth_booth.asp
Support the efforts of LifeWorks Ohio:
http://www.lifeworksohio.org/donate_online.asp
Learn how to start a "Truth Booth":
http://www.truthboothcleveland.org/5_steps.asp
