I’m not a supporter of Choose Life, but I do agree with their right to exist on campus, as a SSMU club – or rather a group of their sort. My last boyfriend, Voltaire, said it best when he said that he may not agree with what you have to say, but I’ll defend to the death your right to say it. Cutting off Choose Life would be, in my opinion, somewhat similar to the ridiculous campaign working on cutting off financial support to QPIRG. I don’t agree with all the events held by QPIRG, but I agree with their mission to give voice and venue to otherwise marginalized voices. I don’t agree with Choose Life (neither with their name nor with their, ironically enough, morally reprehensible tactics) but I do believe that such a group should be given the right to exist on campus because we are in an academic setting that requires debate for intellectual and personal growth. What I also do not agree with is the group’s monolithically religious and aggressive nature. Actually, the more I write, the more I realize how I don’t like anything about the group. Damn, sons. An anti-abortion group has the right to be on campus and have our support; it does not, however, have the right to implicate those who have undergone abortion as Nazis. I don’t know many women who have undergone abortion who have also attempted to invade Poland. Choose Life needs to rethink its tactics and nature. If you want men and women to rethink abortion, how about adopting a new, less aggressive approach? How about some intelligent engagement? Photos of aborted fetuses and signs of regret from those who have had abortions clearly hasn’t worked out well – why not try something new? Repetition of failed attempts is just a sign of stupidity anyway. Oh wait. Never mind. Obvious stated.
Sana Khawaja Saeed
Master’s I Islamic Studies
Daily columnist