Give me a break, College Green
Well my last post was about my anger over the prayer tent that was situated on college green last week, so I was glad to see when that got taken down, but then on my way to work this morning, college green struck again. This time, however, it's a display about ten times as in your face as the little prayer tent. There are 700 pink and blue flags on the lawn, each representing a life lost in Philadelphia as a result of abortion, along with pro-life posters and flyers. Now this display didn't leave me any room for indecision, I was mad. Not that I am necessarily strongly for or against abortion, but I am strongly opposed to those to protest against how a woman treats her body. This display is an insensitive, flashy demonstration about a very sensitive, personal issue. Abortion is obviously a very controversial topic these days, and there are definitely very strong feelings on either side. But that doesn't mean it isn't still a sensitive issue. There is no black and white in abortion, each woman has a unique situation and the right to choose what she does with her body. These 700 flags make it seem that every abortion is the same and every woman who chooses an abortion is a murderer. I believe in the right to choose, but I also believe that both pro-life and pro-choice sides should respect one another and not pull these kinds of demonstrations which look down upon anyone. Since when did college green become the new soap box?
1 Comments:
I had a similar reaction; as I am close to a number of women who have actually had to face that choice, I am very sensitive to how complex a decision it is for most women. Although I am sure there are a few people out there who take the issue lightly, my own experience is that I know of no woman for whom "abortion is the new birth control." That said, I am much happier with this display of an anti-abortion demonstration than the one we faced several months ago where the protestors brandished the most grotesque pictures of aborted fetuses. As you probably surmise, I'm not opposed to shocking imagery to make a point, but I also don't think a public green is really the best place for it.
College greens are interesting places with respect to speech like this. Penn is historically committed to free speech, so it becomes an attractive public venue. People should obviously have to right to perform their speech--though I am unsure if taking up so much of the green with their flags is really appropriate--I would see it as a pretty big deal if it were a nice day, as students use the green and if they can't mobalize enough protestors to occupy the space they should not be able to grab it like that.
But, for the most part, they seemed respectful and just trying to make their point. It is a point I don't agree with, but I'm not really against them being there and making it.
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