Pro-Life Demonstration on Sproul Plaza Arouses Student Opposition

A pro-life demonstration on Sproul Plaza today featuring graphic photographs of aborted fetuses drew approximately 40 UC Berkeley students in a spontaneous counter-demonstration.

The pro-life demonstration was organized jointly by Berkeley Students For Life and the Center for Bio-Ethical Reform, a pro-life advocacy group. The event ended at 4 p.m. but will continue on Tuesday, organizers said.

Discussion ensued between event organizers and students on the issue of abortion amidst chants of "My body, my choice" from counter-demonstrators.

Graduate student Ameer Hasan said during a discussion with event organizer Walter Hoye that an image of an aborted fetus next to a quarter was inappropriate.

"You have a quarter, and the word 'liberty' and 'in God we trust' ... is that a coincidence?" he said. "There's a lot of things that went into the production of that photograph ... It draws emotions, not necessarily logic."

But organizers countered that similar efforts at other university campuses had made a difference in convincing some students not to have abortions.

"In 1998, we brought (pictures of aborted fetuses) to the University of Tennessee," said C. Fletcher Armstrong, Southeast Regional director for the Center for Bio-Ethical Reform. "We know of nine babies that were saved because their mothers were pregnant on the campus and were considering abortions. They saw the picture like the one you see ... and they didn't have those abortions."