As a member of Students for the Right to Life, I do feel bad for all those who lost their appetite after viewing the abortion exhibit. I feel bad for all those who were saddened or infuriated with the display. I too felt the exhibit to be over the top and controversial. Yet I still am happy we brought it.

For when there exists controversy, there exists dialogue. A college campus is the perfect place to experience controversy, for it calls us to question our deeply held beliefs. Yet the question arises, why are the pictures controversial? Obviously it is because of the content of the message. In 2009, during Genocide Awareness week, there was a display of genocide atrocities in the Sombrilla. Surely no one would say that these pictures were too grotesque for college students.

The only difference between that exhibit and this one was the message. This is where the dialogue has to begin. We are offended, we are outraged, so why? I am sure that mature college students can peacefully discuss abortion in a peaceful and logical manner.

I was able to have a nice dialogue with six people about abortion. We disagreed in the beginning, we disagreed at the end. But we were still able to understand each other’s views more. Only one time was I cussed at. The Paisano failed to mention that at least with regards to the University of Texas situation, Justice for All was able to overturn the decision of UT by effectively arguing that it infringed on the rights of free speech and assembly.

This was not the only journalistic error The Paisano made when covering the exhibit. They wrote “To the surprise of some, most of the students at the exhibit were males.” My first concern with this statement is the notion of who was surprised. Who is this “some”? Usually, the term ‘some’ is a weasel word used in journalism to make a claim without attributing the claim to any specific person.

But even besides that fact, girls outnumber guys three to one in our pro life club. At a recent pro life conference I attended, there were 25 girls and three guys. I think most people have a faulty assumption that guys run the pro-life movement. As a guy in that movement, I can truly say that isn’t the case. I am in the movement to help women and to help those who are being denied a fair chance of life. For we all do agree that life should be promoted.

The only question that truly matters then is when does this value of personhood begin. I believe science and logic can prove it begins at conception. But then that is where we need to begin the abortion debate, which I know has started to exist on our campus due to this exhibit.