Five students taking part in a Genocide Awareness Project were arrested yesterday at Carleton University in Ottawa for showing graphic images of aborted babies and comparing the slaughter in the womb to other atrocities such as the Holocaust and slavery. This might not be everyone’s cup of tea, but certainly such speech and expression should be permitted on the university campus? But this isn’t just a freedom of speech/expression issue for the students, who should be commended for refusing to accept censorious terms for this demonstration (using a room no one would go to). The issue isn’t just free speech — it’s abortion. The students should be applauded, more importantly, for giving a voice to the unborn in an in-your-face way in a culture that does not want to face what it sanctions (abortion-on-demand for any reason, at any time, at taxpayers expense).
The Ottawa Citizen has coverage here. The Ottawa Sun has an article, too, as does LifeSiteNews. The Canadian Centre for Bio-ethical Reform Facebook page has a press release about the violation of the student’s freedom of expression. Here is a video of the arrest. And ProWomanProlife has pictures. In another PWPL post, Rebecca Walberg says:
Wow, we’re lucky to live in a country facing absolutely no threats from terrorism, organized crime, or random violence. Because if any of those were serious problems, there’s no way police would be spending precious time arresting people for saying unpopular things, right?
Stephanie Gray (via Big Blue Wave) wonders why pro-lifers back the students, but don’t raise the same commotion about the 270 babies killed by abortion every day. Gray is correct to say that the killing of the unborn is the greater injustice about which to be outraged, and she has a point in saying that (part of) the reason is that we can see the protesters being arrested but not the unborn being killed. Of course, this fits her tactical agenda of getting pro-lifers behind the use of graphic photos to show the truth about abortion. But I think there is another reason: we think the pro-life side can win the free speech argument, but many are not confident about the ability to win the abortion debate. Many pro-lifers have settled for the right to take part in the debate having given up on the possibility of winning it. I hope I’m wrong, but that is the sense I get from many — not a majority, but certainly a sizable number — rank-and-file pro-lifers.
