In a recent commentary ("Students must see results of abortion," ODE, May 6), Brian Stubbs suggested that the negative response of many students to the anti-abortion pictures were, in fact, the sole product of the choice that "pro-abortion" students so coveted and, therefore, ought to be seen as beautiful.
He mentioned that Planned Parenthood was "big business," and, therefore, pro-choice facts were propaganda and finished by pointing out the hypocrisy of supporting choice and decrying war. I'm not going to respond to the entire argument, particularly the propaganda part, because I don't know what was said, but I'll say what I know.
First of all, no activist is "pro-abortion," and, in fact, anyone who denies abortion to a woman who will die, along with her child, through the course of her pregnancy cannot claim the status, "pro-life."
The truth is that the abortion issue comes down to a decision to either honor the inalienable right of a person over "their" body, or to instead honor the inalienable right of a "person" over their body. My point is that abortion should not be the subject of self-righteous rants but rather ought to be confronted as a serious issue.
As for Rachel Pilliod urging people not to view the posters, while idea exchange is important, there is a fuzzy line between speech and an attack, and huge posters of third-term fetus brains are not only a wholly inaccurate picture of abortion but also right on that line.
Certainly, showing these posters to someone who has actually had an abortion, even if they snuffed that would-be life early and for all the right reasons, crosses over into the realm of a psychological attack, and the truth is, like me, you will never have to make that choice, and you have no right scoffing at the inability of others.
The Iraq argument goes both ways. First of all, anti-war demonstrators were never aligned with Saddam Hussein any more than they were ever against America. Who are you to say that the thousands of people we bombed was justified for the sake of safety, but that giving a woman the right to make a choice that will affect herself and her family, for the rest of their lives, is repulsive and offensive?
In short, abortion is a tough problem. Anyone who has the answer is lying. I believe the best route is to leave that problem up to the person, and hopefully the people, that it's going to affect, rather than assuming that the United States government can make that decision for them.
Damian Kemp is a senior biology major.
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