Abortion protestors post images in Quad

Christine Brownell and Josh Ziese (State Hornet)

October 16, 2000

Abortion protestors passed out literature and confronted students in the Library Quad on Tuesday. Graphic photographs of aborted fetuses held by anti-abortion activists at the library quad Tuesday drew shouts of protests during the group's day-long protest. Members of Survivors, whose members were born after 1972, when Rowe vs. Wade legalized abortion, handed out informational pamphlets, religious cartoons, and held up poster-sized photographs.

"We're a group of teens spreading the word about abortion. We believe that people should know the truth about this," said Ben Bradley, Survivors member. "A lot of people don't know that you can still have an abortion during the third trimester." Kimberly Colard, a member of Survivors said that there is a lot of misinformation going around about abortion.

"It is legal to get an abortion at any time, for any reason," Colard said. Elizabeth Sholes, communications director of Planned Parenthood of California, disagreed, saying the law limits when an abortion can be performed. Abortions are not performed during the third trimester in California, unless the life or health of the mother is at risk, Shole said.

Many students refused to take the information and some students argued with members of the group. "There have been some upset people. They are upset about the pictures," said Greg Revelez, campus safety officer. Security was present during the demonstrations at the request of the Student Affairs Office and from the Survivor activists.

"This is such a hot issue with people right now, so the officers were for our protection and the students," said Survivor volunteer Danielle White. "We've had a lot bad responses with people punching our signs and sometimes punching us."

The Feminist Majority Leadership Association, an on-campus student club, is planning to distribute material in the library quad Thursday in response to today's protests, according to Pat Grady, coordinator of the Women's Resource Center.They also plan to have a petition for students to sign requesting a review of the college policy that allowed Survivors to display their graphc abortion pictures. "We want to distribute more accurate information than what was being handed out by the anti-abortion rights protestors," Grady said.

Kristi Salesky, a Liberal Studies freshman, said she saw people yelling at the activists.

"They have a right to do what they want. Maybe the pictures were disturbing but they have a right to express their opinion," Salesky said.

While there was mixed emotions from the students, Director of Student Activities Lou Camera said that the group was within their First Amendment rights and had applied for all necessary campus permits. The group's three-week tour, which began in Southern California, will conclude this week with a trip to UC Davis, UC Berkeley and San Francisco State University.