The controversial issue of abortion resurfaced this Monday as students passed thousands of pink and blue flags which filled Copley Lawn on Monday.
The 3,643 flags, put up by GU Right to Life, symbolized the number of abortions performed daily in the United States, according to statistics from the Alan Guttmacher Institute.
Right to Life has been setting up the flags for a number of years, said GU Right to Life President Jennifer Bradley (MSB ‘03).
“Right to Life has always done this, but now the idea is spreading. Catholic University had a similar display last week,” she said.
According to Christian Jenner (CAS ‘03), GU Right to Life vice president, the display was meant to raise awareness of the number of abortions performed each day in the United States.
“The flags should remind us, regardless of us being pro-choice or pro-life, that we are clearly not doing enough to support the women who ultimately choose abortion and to prevent them from being in this situation in the first place,” Jenner said.
Last year’s Right to Life display was disrupted when students began playing frisbee within the flag display.
“Last year, two students got upset and played frisbee in the middle of the display, breaking 200 flags. Students, both pro-life and pro-choice, voiced a lot of anger over the desecration,” Bradley said.
This year, the flags were guarded by officers from the Department of Public Safety. There were no acts of vandalism.
“I think each year the response gets better, since we are able to learn from years past and work with the community to convey our message as positively as possible,” Jenner said.
Right to Life also set a table up on the lawn so students could approach them with feedback.
“People who normally wouldn’t have stopped by came over, offered questions and started a dialogue,”Bradley said.
Hyas for Choice, an organization not sponsored by the University, set up a table in Red Square to field questions and comments from students.
“We wanted to show students that there was another side to the issue; that there are students who don’t feel the same way that Right to Life does,”Hyas for Choice board member Kristina Gupta (CAS ‘05) said.
Gupta said that she felt the flag demonstration worked against Right to Life.
“The flags are more effective for Hyas for Choice because they make people get angry at the anti-abortion proponents,”she said.
Hyas for Choice members expressed frustration over not being able to stage a similar large-scale demonstration to express their views. Since they are not officially recognized by the University, their efforts are confined to Red Sqare, the campus’ free speech zone.
“We wanted to show students that there was another side to the issue; that there are students who don’t feel the same way that Right to Life does,”Gupta said.
