"Little One" Posters Show Humanity of the Unborn

By Liz Townsend

Posters showing the personal journey of a baby from conception until birth make up an exciting new pro-life educational tool, offered by the Respect Life Committee of the Archdiocese of Baltimore. Called the "Little One" posters, each one features a beautiful pastel portrait of an unborn baby, accompanied by a description of the changes told from the baby's point of view.

"Our purpose is to help restore the humanity of the unborn child in the hearts and minds of everyone who sees the posters," Linda M. Brenegan, a member of the Respect Life Committee, told NRL News. "The text speaks only to the baby's development, which makes them suitable for any (secular or religious) educational purpose public and private schools, doctors' offices, hospitals, churches, etc."

The Respect Life Committee first developed the posters to accompany its Spiritual Adoption Program, which was inspired by the late Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen, who encouraged Catholics to say a special prayer daily for a baby in danger of abortion. Parishioners in churches participating in the program " spiritually adopt" a baby during the nine months of pregnancy, asking God to spare the child and her parents from the trauma of abortion. At the end of the nine months many parishes hold baby showers and donate the proceeds to local crisis pregnancy centers.

Brenegan said that many parishes asked the Respect Life Committee for educational aids to help participants relate to their "adopted" child's development. The committee got the idea of a series of posters, one for each month until birth. Brenegan drew portraits of a baby at each stage of development.

Graphic artist Ruth Bielobocky designed the posters using Brenegan's pictures with text describing the changes taking place in the unborn child, such as "My heart started beating today!" for the first month; "I can suck my thumb now" for the second month; and "Mommy felt me kick today" for the fifth month. Each poster goes on to describe some of the milestones the baby reaches in that month.

"They reflect on reality in a way that ties into the spiritual message we need to preach about the importance of every human life," Baltimore Cardinal William Keeler told the Catholic Review . "They're beautifully done and instantly tell the story of the development of an individual baby."

Brenegan said that the posters have been extremely well received. About 18,000 posters have been printed so far. "We hope they spread all over the country and even all over the world," she said.

The posters have been translated into Spanish, and the committee plans to translate them into other languages if asked. The price is $35 for a set of nine 16" x 20" posters and $35 for one 24" x 30" poster with all nine posters together.

To order them, call Linda Brenegan at the Respect Life Committee at (410) 547-5537 or send an e-mail to life@archbalt.org.