So I've decided to start blogging again. Maybe it will help me sort out all the thoughts in my head that I usually leave unsaid. Maybe it will help me become less of a stress case because I won't have to carry those thoughts around with me anymore.
My first thought is in regards to the free-speech and Pro-Life debacle at the U of C this past week. Since when is showing horrific posters to people speech? Doesn't something stop being a right when it impedes on other people's rights?
What about my right to get to class without being bombarded with images I don't want to see? By the time I come across the "Caution" barricades I can already see the posters. And really the posters haven't changed in the last 3 years, so do they really need to set them up facing outwards again?
To all those who are screaming "freedom of speech" at the University for threatening to arrest these people, and claim that there should be this "sort of debate" going on on a University campus - when was the last time you were part of the university community? Probably a long freaking time. Who are you to prescribe what should be occurring in one? Healthy debate is good yes, but subjecting unwilling participants to view graphic and disturbing displays is a whole 'nother bag of potato chips. So just shut up and let the University alone. You probably never even saw the posters, but you heard them crying out for their right to free speech and felt the need to jump right in.
What about my rights as a passerby that are being infringed on? The SU and University are in support of the rights of free speech, but they also recognize the rights of the passerby. Thank you SU and the University for protecting the rights of your students! I stand by your decision. For those on the outside of the situation who really have no idea what's going on, please just stay on the outside of the decision.
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3 comments:
Nice blog, Brit. You have a lot of good points.
"Doesn't something stop being a right when it impedes on other people's rights?" -- that's exactly why I'm pro-choice(I know that's not what you were talking about, but I thought it was cool that the argument was there.)
As someone who is pro-choice, I could easily find pictures of women who died trying to abort babies unsafely and whatnot, but that would be just as bad.
Do we really have to have violent pictures to argue something? Shouldn't words and reason be enough? People understand how sad abortion can be--and what a difficult choice it is--but these are often the same people who argue that readily available birth control and sexual education is a bad idea and only encourages sex. The "pro-life" movement is completely reactionary and therefore will never make any difference but remove the rights of women.
They really need to see that the only real way to stop abortions is through education, not fear-mongering and guilt-tripping.
But that's just my opinion...
I very much agree! I'm not really pro-choice, I'm pro-make-your-own-choice, but essentially I guess that's what pro-choice is. Really I've never been in that situation, so how can I tell another woman or couple what is right for them? And if I'm ever in that situation then I will also make the decision for myself.
Well, pro-choice is all about making your own choice! Pro-life people often try to spread mistruths about pro-choice people and organizations -- that they push abortion or something. That's CRAZY! It's all about having the option and knowing all the information you can. I currently volunteer for Planned Parenthood (although this particular organization changed their name to OPTIONS sexual health) and they are all about teaching people about every option and making sure that's the choice they want to make. But they also support educating people about safe sex and the like.
I don't think I would ever want an abortion either, but I have no idea about other people's lives. The majority of women who get abortions are married women who already have children. It's mostly fiscal problems than anything else. Even pregnancy can make you lose your job.
It's really just about the fact that the fetus is living off the woman's body, and would not live without HER body. In law, a person has freedom until they remove/limit another person's freedom (You have freedom to raise your hand in the air, but as soon as your hand hits a person's face, you no longer have freedom). I would say that a fetus fits under that category, especially if it is unwanted and unplanned.
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