Where does the line go for pro-life groups on campus?

College Confidential Community
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<p>Walking onto campus today, a very, very gruesome sight greets me. A pro-life, anti-choice group has set up huge posters and infotables at almost every corner of the main quad. They consist of absolutely grotesque pictures of, you guessed it, aborted fetuses and are completely impossible to escape. In addition, they are handing out leaflets sporting slogans such as “SURVIVORS OF THE ABORTION HOLOCAUST”.</p>

<p>I’ll be completely honest here. Personally, I have been active in women’s right issues for a long time, come from a country where abortion has been considered an obvious and legal right for quite some decades, and in general I do believe in strong sex-ed programs etc rather than dictating to all women what to do with their bodies and ultimately lives based on, what I perceive as, mainly moral beliefs.</p>

<p>At the same time, I believe in the right to free speech. Even when drilled “informators” argue with significantly younger college students running in-between classes, I think the debate can be constructive and should be protected.</p>

<p>What bugs me about what happened today - and the police were called by the campus authorities - is the extremely disturbing nature of the debate. I feel the pictures were not only playing on emotions rather than sound argument, but (and in addition to creating a hostile and potentially offensive environment on a school campus) also, I feel this was more of emotional extortion than it was anything else. It shows a very low-class debating style, and when asked whether it would ok for someone to, say, display pictures of massacred Iraqis to make a point opposing theirs the “informators” suggested their pictures were “in the name of truth”.</p>

<p>Oh, and did I mention 99% of them were males?</p>

<p>I am torn as to what to think. Personally, I feel visual blackmail has no place on a campus, but at the same time they should have the right to get their message across in whatever way they like. My biggest concern is that a lot of students they were actively picking on had no chance or preparedness to even note things such as loaded language (“kill” instead of “abort”, “baby” instead of “fetus”, etc). </p>

<p>Most importantly, I feel gruesome pictures can have a great impact and convey strong negative sentiments without the realities and complexity of the debate itself necessarily even standing a chance.</p>

<p>What do you think? Where does the line go? Should there be a line? What would be some ways to effectively counter this type of sensationalist-oriented (in my opinion) blitz without resorting to the same tactics?</p>

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<p>While I agree with the pro-life message, I disagree with the tactics you mentioned.</p>

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<p>collegeguy, what does this have to do with freedom of speech on campus? Please stay on topic. And the US supreme court isn’t necessarily my first nor last stop for an informed stance on the issue.</p>

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<p>Oh? And what does the fact that “99% of them were males” have to do with freedom of speech on campus?</p>

<p>The Supreme Court upheld the ban on partial birth abortion. Why? Because it is cruel and they agree that congress has a right to regulate it. This isn’t sensationalism, it’s a fact.</p>

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<p>I think the situation many women are pressed into in countries where abortion is illegal is just as “cruel”. You won’t see me arguing it with gruesome pictures or casually referring to “authority X said so” to prove it, though. Congress has allowed and illegalized a lot of legislation we’d be ashamed of today – especially in the current political climate, I’d hardly blindly follow their rulings as set moral law without scrutinizing the reasoning behind it.</p>

<p>I don’t necessary disagree with the ruling in question, however. What I do disagree with is one, sensationalist, emotional extortion-based tactics and two, full-out ban on a woman’s right to decide what the embryo inside her is and isn’t and what to do about it within a reasonable window of time.</p>

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<p>I do agree the tactics are terrible, and I don’t support that. Regardless of the issue or position.</p>

<p>I would think if it were a private institution, that the university has a right to regulate what kinds of protests take place on its property. Not too sure about public universities.</p>