by Jeremy Hunt
Daily Lobo
Fifteen 8-foot-wide, two-story-tall panels displaying aborted fetuses are stirring debate in Smith Plaza, south of Zimmerman Library.
The exhibit is presented by Justice For All, an anti-abortion organization with a UNM chapter.
Student Mohammad Bundrage said it's a one-sided presentation.
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"This is disgusting. It's totally biased," he said. "They should show a teenage mother suffering."
Rebeccah Pedrick, a spokeswoman for the organization, said the event is meant to question people's views on abortion.
"Our statements on the display are mostly in question form," she said. "We're not here to tell people what to think. We're here to ask people what they think."
Justice For All's event includes free-speech boards - poster boards where people can write anything - poll boxes for people to vote on whether
abortion should be legal, and an open microphone for people to express their views.
Abortion-rights organizations, including Spiritual Youth for Reproductive Justice, the Women's Resource Center and Women's Studies, have booths for the Reproductive Justice Fair, which coincide with Justice For All's exhibit.
The exhibit and the Reproductive Justice Fair will last until Wednesday. The open-microphone forum continues today and Wednesday from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Pedrick said the displays will get people involved in the discussion about abortion.
"We have found that this is a visual culture, and we are visual learners," she said. "The main reason we use this is because this causes people to stop and talk."
Student Kate Tatom said Justice For All is not trying to open up a dialogue with its pictures.
"They're trying to force you to believe what they believe," she said.
Student Amanda Aragon said the display should be on campus. Abortion is wrong because it is murder, she said.
"Women shouldn't really have the right to have an abortion," she said. "They should give it up for adoption."
Aragon said the presentation is good, because it shows things people don't know about.
"It's perfect for people that are ignorant - ignorant Democrats," she said.
Student Marshall Martinez, a member of Spiritual Youth for Reproductive Justice, said women should be able to make the choice to have an abortion.
"Morality is not something we can apply as a blanket to society. It's something the individual
decides on," he said. "The moral way to deal with the issue is to allow women to make the decision."
Pedrick said the organization isn't concerned with outlawing abortion.
"Our organization's mission statement is to make abortion unthinkable - not illegal - unthinkable," she said. "Our goal is to challenge the rationality of abortion."
Pedrick answered questions about abortion issues, such as rape, by asking questions in return. She said answers about abortion are too complex for a one-sentence answer.
"Why should the child pay for the crimes of the father?" she said. "I want people to think about the question."
Martinez said Justice For All is addressing abortion the wrong way.
"Rather than showing graphic pictures of what they claim are aborted fetuses, they could use their resources and energy to
provide sexual education and
contraception and accessible health care to prevent unintended pregnancies," he said.
Student David Loiselle said he spoke during the open-microphone forum because he disagrees with one of the panels that states abortion is genocide.
Loiselle said abortion is not genocide because abortion doesn't target religious, ethnic or national groups.
"When they look at the individual portions, it weakens their overall platform," he said.
Summer Little, program services coordinator for the Women's Resource Center, said it participated to provide correct information.
"There's a lot of information that would not be available if we were not here," she said.
The exhibit states abortion causes breast cancer, but the World Health Organization says there is no link, she said.
Jeff Haughton, a member of Medical Students for Choice, said the exhibit uses outdated information that is misleading.
Haughton said the panel labeled "What are the health risks?" is wrong, including statements that link abortion to cervical cancer and birth defects in subsequent pregnancies.
"It's not a factual information presentation," he said. "Carrying a baby to full-term is more dangerous than abortion."
