The Center for Bio-Ethical Reform (CBR) returned to State College yesterday with trucks bearing pictures of aborted fetuses, generating reaction from local residents and students.

CBR, a nonprofit organization with an anti-abortion message, visited the Penn State campus in October of last year with the Genocide Awareness Project.

This time, CBR is showcasing billboard-size images of abortions on the sides of about six trucks traveling through downtown State College and on campus, a campaign that is continuing today.

The State College Police Department received numerous complaints yesterday from people upset by the images. Officers explained to callers that freedom of speech issues are involved in this case, and activists are only in violation if they disobey traffic or criminal laws, Police Chief Tom King said.

"Our job is to enforce existing laws and to make sure [activists'] Constitutional rights are protected," King said.

The images of aborted fetuses at different stages of development are displayed on the sides and back of the trucks and are accompanied by the word "Choice." The Web site www.abortionno.org is also included.

"People are going to see more and more of these. Our whole purpose is to bother the American people into doing something to stop the killing," said Mark Harrington, a director for CBR in California.

CBR has chosen to educate people using graphic images because it is the most effective way to get people to think about the issue of abortion, he said.

"Justice has to be seen to be understood. Words fail us to describe this type of injustice of this magnitude," Harrington said.

However, Hodya Margolis (freshman-division of undergraduate studies) said she thinks dialogue, rather than shock value, is the most effective way to communicate ideas.

"I think that it doesn't really make people think about the issues," Margolis said. "I'm just angry that they're invading my space."

The CBR project is called the Key States Initiative and is aiming to influence people about abortion prior to voting in both the primaries and the general election. So far, the group has traveled to cities such as Philadelphia and Scranton, and to other states before coming to State College.

CBR director Gregg Cunningham, a graduate of State College High School and Penn State, said the group is visiting State College to educate the city's many young voters and because State College is an influential political area. Cunningham was a former state representative for the State College area.

CBR is especially interested in Pennsylvania because of the senatorial primary race between U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., and U.S. Rep. Pat Toomey, R-Pa.

Specter supports abortion rights, while Toomey does not.

"We're making a major commitment to State College because it's such an important center of learning," Cunningham said.

Paula Nossek, health center manager for Planned Parenthood, 253 Easterly Parkway, said she thought the group's tactics were both "tasteless" and "cowardly," and she questioned the authenticity of the images.

"If they were decent human beings, they would be sick letting kids see it," she said.

Ellen Lovelidge (junior-biology) said she was bothered by the images, especially when she witnessed a bus full of children passing the trucks. Lovelidge gave the truck the finger because she found it so offensive.

"I hate it. I'd like to see it another way, or I'd like to not see it at all," she said.

CBR intentionally targets high-traffic areas, including middle and high schools, to reach the maximum number of people, Harrington said.

It is important to educate these young students about abortion because a significant number of abortions are performed on teenagers, Cunningham said.

"We get idiot parents complaining that their child is seeing an abortion without parental notice and consent. The stupidity of that is simply breathtaking. They're not outraged their child can have an abortion. They're outraged their child can see an abortion," Cunningham said.

Chris Reed (junior-kinesiology) said he did not approve of the methods used by CBR.

"I'm not for abortion, but I find the truck offensive," Reed said.

The Key States Initiative will next move onto Pittsburgh and Erie before the April 27 Pennsylvania primary.