As a new member of the Daily Bruin team, I probably shouldn’t say this, but the most interesting, honest and informative feature in the student paper on Feb. 24 was an advertisement.
Last Tuesday’s 11-page insert (which is still available at humanlife.org) detailed the full consequences of abortion.
Of the issues examined in the insert, racism may be one of the most dire. Akua Furlow, a black woman (if you find such details important), wrote in the supplement about abortion’s inherent racism. Even as far back as Margaret Sanger (founder of the American Birth Control League, now Planned Parenthood), abortion has had questionable ties to eugenics: the principle of improving humanity by limiting the reproduction of people with undesirable traits.
Statements from the founder included ideas like, “The undeniably feeble-minded should, indeed, not only be discouraged but prevented from propagating their kind.” Some believe it was sentiments like this that led to practices of forced sterilization of many black women in the South, which was exposed by Essence Magazine in 1973 after women learned years later such procedures had occurred.
AlfonZo Rachel, founder of Macho Sauce Productions, also commented on this theme.
A YouTube commentator and musician, Rachel pointed out modern travesties, like Planned Parenthood’s “part in the death of over 11 million black babies since 1973,” adding boldly, “That’s genocide.”
Perhaps on the opposite side of the spectrum, the insert deals with what they call the “myth” of overpopulation.
In this brief, the Human Life Alliance points out a connection between the rise of the “overpopulation scare” and that of abortion. As the world’s population rose, people thought abortion could fix the supposed problem.
Of course, the problem may not be that simple. Mark Steyn, the Canadian author of “America Alone,” details in his column that western society can’t survive with both spending on liberal programs and a fear of overpopulation.
Evidence of his warning has already emerged. In Europe, the average fertility rate is 1.45. It takes at least a rate of 2.1 to replace the population as it naturally dies off. Fertility rates would need to rise if you want a youthful labor force to fund social programs like medical care or social security for an aging population.
Perhaps the most poignant section of the insert details abortion methods, including “dilation and suction curettage” and “vacuum aspiration.”
As if the names themselves weren’t horrifying enough, the publication explains exactly what each is; for example, it describes how “dilation and evacuation” occurs when the doctor “seizes a leg or other part of the body and, with a twisting motion, tears it from the baby’s body.”
The Supreme Court, in its decision in Gonzalez v. Carhart, gives a similar definition outlining how during the procedure, “friction causes the fetus to tear apart. For example, a leg might be ripped off the fetus as it is pulled through the cervix and out of the woman. The process of evacuating the fetus piece by piece continues until it has been completely removed.”
Lila Rose, a third-year history student and president of both the national Live Action organization and its UCLA branch, said she feels truth is missing from this debate.
After seeing the insert, Rose said, “it is a terrific way to get the truth out there; to really show students” what abortion does to women and society.
In addition, she commented on the secrecy of the abortion rights movement, adding, “UCLA students deserve to know the truth about that pre-born human being.”
This truth is often clouded, even by semantics. For example, no one is “pro-abortion.” Liberals and feminists instead chose the moniker “pro-choice.” This doesn’t even begin to explain the stance.
I will not be so vague. As a conservative, a woman and mostly as a living, feeling human being, I was heartbroken by the 2008 defeat of Proposition 4 (the one on parental notification).
For many in the anti-abortion community, it was one more assault on countless lives, but unlike a more militant “No on H8″ population, we accepted the disappointing ““ if not horrifying ““ election results as law.
However, I do commend the efforts of groups like the Human Life Alliance and Live Action to educate students through research and peaceful protest.
They do everything they can to peaceably end the devastation ““ both to the unborn children they labor for directly and the mothers who often regret the decision they made to abort their child’s potential.
With people like Rose and the insert authors working tirelessly to offer the full story, UCLA students don’t need to remain in the dark.
Students must continue to investigate this issue in its entirety and do all they can to educate themselves and their peers.
We can all work to end the great travesty of our generation: the genocide that is abortion.
If you have some “choice” words to contribute to this debate then e-mail Bowers at kbowers@media.ucla.edu. Send general comments at viewpoint@media.ucla.edu.