Gory pictures distasteful on campus (Anti-Abortion pics)

University Daily Kansan (U. Kansas) ^ | 4/30/03 | Mandy Schick

[NorCoGOP]

LAWRENCE, Kan. -- I have been writing this column in my head now for four years, since I first saw the gruesome and sensationalized photos of aborted fetuses that anti-abortion activists adorned our campus with.

Now, after a lovely spring day has been ruined by these photos and the offensive comments that accompany them, I have decided to exercise my First Amendment right.

The purpose of this column is not to get into some sort of argument over semantics, to debate the definition of the term "baby" or "life" or to debate the morality of abortion. I only wish to defend the group of people on this campus who have been arguably the most devastated by these anti-abortion demonstrations: women who have had abortions.

I have no statistic as to how many young women on this campus have had abortions, but I am willing to bet that it is in the hundreds or perhaps even the thousands. Think for a minute the effect these billboards have had on these women.

The abortion protesters I spoke with this week had one horrible misconception. They assume that women who have had abortions had some sort of malice towards the pregnancy they terminated. This is pure ignorance. I have several friends who have had abortions. It was not by any means an easy decision to make. These women had to make an excruciating choice that will affect them for the rest of their lives. That's not to say that they regret the choice they made; however, having an abortion was a frightening ordeal for them, one they surely do not wish to relive while attempting to cross the campus so they may receive an education.

Fact: Abortion is legal in the state of Kansas. Fact: The University of Kansas is a public university. Is it a forum for people to enact moral judgment on someone who did something entirely within the realm of the law? Since when has it been appropriate to express glaring public disdain toward someone for making a choice she had every legal right to make? What is the purpose of these protesters? Is it their goal to make those who have had abortions feel guilty by posting words such as "kill" and "genocide"? (Whoever first equated this term with abortion has surely never opened a dictionary.) They assured me that their only aim was to put an end to abortion. Why must they accuse hundreds of young women of murder while trying to make a point?

We all have the right to make moral judgments. We all have the right to decide whether a woman who has had an abortion is a murderer. These abortion protesters have a right to their platform. However, just because a woman has had an abortion does not mean she has to endure this. This is a state school. At a religious institution it might be acceptable to post billboards condemning peoples' actions; but this university is not such an institution. Maybe this wasn't the intent of these protesters; however, it disgusts me that any one young woman on this campus has to tolerate such blatant disdain of a choice she legally made.

I do not expect these protesters to realize my point. After having several discussions with them during which they uttered unconvincing mantras, I realized that arguing with them was useless. My question is, which university official thought it appropriate for young women on this campus be harassed for exercising their legal right? I am horrified that our beautiful campus was polluted with these horrific displays, and I am dumbfounded that it was permitted.

[Guenevere]

Wichita is well known for it's abortion doctor who performs 3rd trimester abortions!

[Guenevere]

(spellcheck!)...its....

OR to put it more succinctly...

Wichita is well known for George Tiller, who performs and has performed FOR YEARS 3rd trimester (late term) abortions.

[luckystarmom]

I hated the radical anti-abortion protestors at my college campus. I'm a conservative, and they pissed me and my roommate off.

I can remember numerous occasions that they would be walking around carrying a coffin and disgusting pictures.

Now that I have young children, I'd be really pissed off if the radical anti-abortion protestors were out when my children were visiting campus.

I think this is in the same vane as the Vagina Monologues and the Vagina Festival that my college held. They are both distasteful, and I don't think children should be subjected to these scenes.

These images should be left in private not public places.

[luckystarmom]

I just posted about the Vagina Monologues also. I can't stand either. I don't think they should be shown in public places that are public to children.

[js1138]

But network news should be required to show the graphic horrors of war...

[Sloth]

Gory? Sounds like these folk are simply celebrating the beauty of "choice."

[Right Wing Professor]

I've never figured out how an act can be sacrosanct, whose results are too horrible to be put on public display. "It's not a baby, it's just a fetus". So if it's nothing special, why are they afraid to look at it?

[Pan_Yans Wife]

I agree with you. And, I can honestly say I have NEVER viewed these images... I am an adult, however, and I have the mental faculties to imagine just how horrific they are. I do not think it is the images themselves that should be found objectionable. An honest discussion of what the pro-choice activists are up to, should be much more shocking.

That being said, I do wonder at your comments about children viewing these pictures. Most college-age students have viewed much more violence on television than you could imagine. And if these graphic photos bother them, I would be really surprised. I would be more worried about what the students and liberal professors are saying about abortion.

I do not condone the shock tactics of either the pro-choice crowd or the pro-life crowd. I believe that it is futile to have an confrontational argument with the other side.

Until you change the hearts of the people, abortion will remain legal in the United States. Changing the hearts of one person at a time, is a much better goal, in my opinion.

[Michael121]

I drink coffee. eeekkk!

I smoke, cigars, and cigarettes. About a year ago a woman walked by me, Harumphed and said smoking is bad for my health. I said "Lady my grandmother lived to be 104, my grandfather lived to be 102." She said, "Oh and I bet you're going to tell me that they smoked." And I said, "No, they just knew how to mind their own "effing" business."

[Dianna]

Now that I have young children, I'd be really pissed off if the radical anti-abortion protestors were out when my children were visiting campus.

I have also brought my children to school with me, and if they had seen something inappropriate, that would have been MY fault. A college campus isn't for children.

[winner3000]

(These abortion protesters have a right to their platform. However...)

...then she spends the rest of the article detailing why the protesters should be prevented from having their platform! Typical!

[Mr. Silverback]

I am dumbfounded

Nah Mandy, you're just dumb. Plus, I suspect strongly that you're a liar. You see, I have been pro-life since my early teens and have been a donor to pro-life organizations for longer than I've been a conservative, and I have maybe talked to one activist who believes that all or most women had malice toward the children they aborted. The likelihood that every pro-lifer on the U of K campus believes this is very low, IMHO.

Mandy's spring day was ruined. A note at the bottom of her column on the Kansan website says she's a graduate student in French literature. So she's probably under 30 and her picture is consistent with that estimate. Ergo, she gets to enjoy lovely Spring days because Mama didn't exercise her perfectly legal "right" to have Mandy vacuumed out of her uterus and thrown in a dumpster.

Sorry that dead babies bother you, Mandy. They bother us, too. That's why we're trying to stop the killing.

[Mr. Silverback]

ProLife Ping!

If anyone wants on or off my ProLife Ping List, please notify me here or by freepmail.

[BibChr]

Whoa. I had EXACTLY the same thought.

Sca-a-a-a-ary.

Dan

[HighRoadToChina]

BUMP!

[luckystarmom]

For one thing, the my parents lived in married student housing when my dad was in college. Many of the other married couples had children. That is still the case on many college campus.

When I was a child, we went to visit my older brother at Texas A&M. From the time I was 8 years old, we were going there several times a year.

Next year, I would like to take my children to my 20 year college reunion.

I know that Texas A&M is now home to the George Bush Library. It is a shame that it is now not always a child friendly place. It was when I was growing up.

A public university in the open public areas should not be home to any horrific images. I would be upset with any nude, sexual, or violent images for whatever purposes.

It's one thing if it is in private, but it is not. I would be upset if someone displayed Playboy pictures in a public forum.

[BibChr]

I render to this feminoid one of the lowest insults I could direct to her species:

You, ma'am, have the brains of Barbara Boxer.

Like Boxer, she objects to and is horrified by the pictures.

Like Boxer, she has no problem with the practice.

Dan

[luckystarmom]

Actually, I think showing an ultrasound picture of a live baby before an abortion is an excellent way to stop an abortion.

I also think having shelters for girls that want to safely deliver and raise their babies is also another solution. I would also encourage adoption.

I'm the type that believes that showing positive images of adoption is a much better incentive than the scare tactics.

(I also hate the scare tactics used by the anti-drug commercials. There was one on at the beginning of the movie Cody Banks: Secret Agent. It was a kid movie. The commercial was not appropriate for my 6 year old daughters. I was pretty pissed they showed it.)

[Pan_Yans Wife]

I guess Compassionate Conservativism is a method of reaching those who need to know the truth about abortion.

I am reminded of "love the sinner, hate the sin". It seems so simplistic, but if intervention happens when a young woman is uncertain of her options, she may never chose the abortion.

Conversely, I believe that we should actively reach out to those who have had abortions, to show them that they need not do it again, there are responsible choices they can make, and that there is redemption and forgiveness, if they seek it.

[Guenevere]

#43....Turn this around a little bit, OK.

While I have been actively Pro-life for many years, I have always favored showing sweet little pictures of babies --(whenever I have held a sign) with a sweet little caption.
That's my preference.

However....

The product of abortion is hideous and horrible to look at.....

..that's why the abortion advocates don't want you to witness the results.
It might make you wince....
..it might make you cringe...
..it might make you shudder, and wonder why this has been allowed for over 30 years.

Now let's go back in time ...to the end of World War II....
...let's watch as the long line of German citizens are MADE to walk through concentration camps & view crematoriums.

You might also wonder why there are so many books, films and remembrances of the Holocaust...........pictures of man's brutality to man.....horribly mangled, dead bodies of innocent people ....

..So we will never forget.
So we will never let this happen again.

It too is hard to look at, but is accepted as a responsible thing to do....LOOK.

Pictures are worth a thousand words.......they truly are.

And certainly, young adults on a college campus should be mature enough to cope with viewing the results of what is happening SOMEWHERE--EVERY DAY in their own city.

.....40 million abortions in the US alone merits a few pictures, don't you think.