Some left roses, others just passed by.
On a cold and quiet Wednesday afternoon, 2,200 small reminders of abortion stood in the Parade Ground.
Students for Life put on “Crosses For Life,” placing white crosses on the Parade Ground in an attempt to raise awareness of the 4,400 abortions reported daily in the United States.
Eddy Herty, a Students for Life member, said many students have no clue how many abortions are performed each day.
“Our hope is that students recognize that twice these crosses is how many abortions there are a day,” Herty said.
Emily Clancy, Students for Life president, helped another student put up a sign that read “Every day … X 2.”
“The more exposed people are to abortion, the more numb they are to it,” Clancy said. “There are even other names for it like ‘pregnancy termination.’ We’re trying to remind people that it’s not over and even though there are different names, it’s still a baby.”
Because Wednesday was the 30th anniversary of the Roe v. Wade decision that legalized abortion in 1973, Clancy hopes there will be a greater push for equal rights for human life.
“Martin Luther King Day promotes equal rights for all races, and we need to promote equal rights for all ages as well,” Clancy said.
One observer, Jansen Rothman, a sociology sophomore, left two roses by the crosses in remembrance of those babies who have died from abortion.
“It’s amazing to me how the government says it’s okay to kill babies and inmates on death row,” Rothman said.
Some students, however, were not as accepting of the display.
“They’re concentrating on one side and not the entire spectrum,” said April Tauzin, an English literature and women’s & gender studies senior. “Many women have died from this too, especially when abortion was illegal. I think this is going to raise a lot of awareness, but you can’t stop abortion.”
Emilie Guttner, an international studies junior, feels the display will create stronger opinions in people who already have made up their minds on the issue. “Whatever someone thinks about the issue is what they’re going to believe,” Guttner said. “There’s no point in trying to change people’s minds, and if you do, it will only make them more passionate about their opinion.”
Still other students felt the crosses merely stood for a belief, and the gesture was peaceful, not forceful.
Snvah Rha, a history senior, said she did not think the display was trying to force anyone to change his or her mind, but instead was intended to make people more aware of the other side.
According to The Advocate, since the Roe v. Wade decision 30 years ago, legal abortions have declined. In Louisiana, the numbers have dropped from 22,000 in 1982 to 11,384 in 2000.