“Do you believe that those who protest against abortion should be allowed to set up public displays of photos showing the carnage of abortion?”
Yes 88 percent
No 12 percent
We chose this topic because of the recent situation in Canada where university students were arrested for setting up an anti-abortion display at Carleton University.
This question gave our UFI staff some moments of reflection as well. Clearly we oppose abortion and are actively working to stop policy that ends the life of unborn children, but this question brings to the forefront a discussion of whether or not it is disrespectful to the victims of abortion to display their mutilated bodies in that fashion. Another consideration is whether or not this type of display alienates those we might hope to influence. Both are good questions that deserve reflection.
Here are some arguments on the other side. The truth is ugly, but people need to be made aware of the reality and the horror of what is occurring with abortion. To use the logic of not presenting photos of what is occurring would be to say that we shouldn’t allow displays of the victims of the holocaust or other genocide tragedies—movies, photos, books of these tragedies should all be banned. These are powerful teaching tools that need to be utilized on behalf of our unborn children.
As one UFI reader put it:
“If you want to keep yourself or your child from seeing awful things, switch off the TV, cut the internet, take away the cell phones and examine all and everything they read. Abortion is murder–the more people who realize it the better. Especially the children who live because of our attention to at least part of that reality.”