Erica Santiago / News Director
Feb. 16, the Center of Bio-Ethical Reform set up an anti-abortion demonstration on the GC lawns. The demonstration, a part of CBRs Genocide Awareness Project, included large display boards depicting graphic images of mutilated fetuses along with texts comparing abortion to mass genocide.
Devorah Gilman, a CBR spokesperson said to Student Media, “We are here because we understand that this is a conversation that students are having on campus.”
“I’m here because I believe human rights are for all humans and we know that if two human beings reproduce then their offspring are going to be human,” she said.
“Because of that, we need to give human beings human rights form the very moment they are born,” Gilman said.
Gilman described abortion as a “human rights violation.”
According to Gilman, “The images we’re showing today are very bloody and disturbing because abortion is a bloody and disturbing ending to a child’s life.”
“We have pictures of bloody fingers, arms, legs and other body parts because that’s what abortion looks like,” she said. “To show anything else would not be abortion.”
According to a press release to Student Media, the GAP display has been put up over 200 times and at at nearly 75 universities. CBR partners with a team of pro-life students to stand by the display and engage in respectful dialogue with interested passers-by.
She said, “If the pictures of the act of abortion are so offensive, wouldn’t it follow that the act itself is even more offensive?”
There were some students who were disturbed by the graphic imagery.
“I got to class at 9 a.m. this morning and when I saw this [display] I was disgusted.” says Michelle Chavez, a first year marketing student.
“The worst part is that the information is inaccurate,” said Chavez.
“Abortion should be the woman’s choice. Men will never have the opportunity to be pregnant; they’ll never have to make that choice,” Chavez said.
Danielle Vachon, a second year medical student at FIU and a leader of Medical Students for Choice, was also present during the demonstration.
“I feel like it’s very important to have a medical presence [at the demonstration],” said Vachon.
She said, “We [medical professionals] are the ones providing [abortion] services to women. We’re the ones providing access to abortion to women all over the United States.”
“The display evokes a lot of terror, rage and fear and that’s a very destructive way to have this conversation,” she said. “Abortion is a safe medical procedure and I think this evokes a very visceral and emotional reaction. It’s not constructive nor intelligent.”
Though some students were uncomfortable with the explicit demonstration, Gilman assures that the vivid display is necessary in discussing abortion.
She said, “People are pregnant and are considering abortion, so we traveling around the country to spread the truth about who the ‘preborn’ are. They are human beings and this is what abortion does to them.”
In the aforementioned press release, Gilman said that CBRs goal is to “change minds and save lives.”
“We’ve seen abortion victim photography accomplish that time and again,” Gilman said. “Moreover, we recognize that abortion hurts women and have seen how the images can help move a woman from denial into seeking help and healing.”
[picture by Javier Sanlley
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