Abortion Argument Sparked on Campus
2 min readBy SACHA BRENAC
Students for Life, the University of Mary Washington’s anti-abortion organization, chalked Campus Walk last week with their convictions. These included, “Love them both,” “social justice begins in the womb,” and a famous Dr. Seuss quote, “A person is a person, no matter how small.”
That same night, a small unofficial group of abortion rights advocates chalked their own message in an attempt to balance the messages. They utilized satire like “Save the sperm, protect the holy fluid” and “Social justice begins in the wombat.”
The anti-abortion messages resonated with the student population.
Anti-abortion advocates use fiery rhetoric to make their message resonate. This associates abortion rights with people who are pro-abortion. This is not true and is an offensive claim. Conservatives need to tone down the rhetoric so a more honest dialogue can be engaged.
This debate has grown even more furious over the past decade from the assassinations of doctors who specialize in safe abortions and domestic terrorist bombings of abortion clinics. If one goes to the March for Life, held annually in Washington, D.C., there are many disturbing signs portraying aborted fetuses and dead babies. The rhetoric is violent.
Many conservative lawmakers demand a defunding of Planned Parenthood, a non-profit organization specializing in reproductive health and affordable health care for mothers and children. Since three percent of their services go towards safe abortions, they are targeted vehemently.
Though both sides are legitimate in their concerns and arguments, the anger that has engulfed this issue is tearing this country apart. With doctors being murdered, abortion rights advocates being ostracized in religious schools and disturbing images being shoved into the public, the anti-abortion camp must calm down.
This discourse portrays the abortion rights movement as a pro-abortion movement. There are no baby-killers; there is nobody promoting back-alley abortions. There are merely two sets of people arguing the same thing from different directions: abortion is wrong, and we have got to find a way to tame it.
