A Conversation About Abortion
On Thursday Sept. 6, an anti-abortion group, Created Equal, brought a jumbotron to The University of Akron Campus. They displayed graphic images of what they claimed were aborted fetuses. Here is what The Buchtelite staff has to say on the issue.
Signs from Created Equal.
September 12, 2018
Brooklyn Dennison
Editor-in-Chief
[email protected]
Personally, I am an avid advocate of a person’s right to an abortion. I believe that abortion is an inherent right of a person because it is their body. If you want to give the rights to a fetus, you are placing the rights a clump of cells before the rights of the parent who is usually a non-male person. It is misogynistic and controlling of the body, which is a patriarchal idea. That is my aspect, which is coming from the point of view of a feminist and women’s studies student. I understand that people will have views that diverge from mine. However, what Created Equal does is harmful to the community. Created Equal is not engaging in any kind of respectful debate. Instead, they are using fake images for shock value.
Megan Parker
Copy Editor
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Do I agree with the woman’s right to choose what she does with her body? Wholeheartedly, yes. Do I agree with a person’s right to free speech in a public setting, as long as no harm or disruptive behavior occurs? Absolutely, yes. However, what I do not agree with is the use of fake images to scare people. Also, I do not agree that every person should get an abortion. In my opinion, abortions should only occur if the person is raped or medical complications could harm both the baby and the parent. I do not believe a person should get an abortion if they were not using protection, as they made the choice to risk getting pregnant. You see, what society should really be focusing on is fixing the process of adoption, to make the idea of giving a child up for adoption less scary and a better option for everyone.
The Created Equal jumbotron, protected by caution tape and security guards, in front of Bierce Library.
Amanda Piekarz
Arts and Entertainment Editor
[email protected]
Abortion is a touchy subject for a lot of people. What I don’t condone, and never will, are the groups that want to ridicule, and shame women into not having abortions; the groups that stand outside of abortion clinics with signs, and chants; the fake abortion clinics that trick women into carrying a fetus full term. Groups like Created Equal want to shove horrifying pictures in your face and scare people into keeping an unwanted, or unaffordable pregnancy.
The sad truth is, many groups like this are only pro-birth, rather than pro-life. Once a baby is born, and parents need help affording the cost of a literal human life, they will be ridiculed once again for having children they can’t afford. They will be called welfare-mothers, and government-dependent. It’s a vicious circle that seems to never end. Maybe the baby will be put into the foster care system; and hopefully, they’re adopted. The older that child gets, the less likely it becomes.
I can sympathize with the men who have lost the opportunity to be a father to abortions that they didn’t know were happening. I can sympathize with mothers who struggle with miscarriages, and can’t understand why anyone would knowingly abort their pregnancies. I can even understand those who don’t agree for religious reasons. However, religion should not be making decisions in our government, as there is supposed to be a clear distinction between church and state. So, tell me, where exactly is this line drawn?
