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Issue date: 10/4/07 Section: News

Photo by Melissa Mary Smith [Click to enlarge]

Photo by Melissa Mary Smith [Click to enlarge]

Wednesday began the two-day, controversial photo-mural abortion exhibit still on display in front of Youngstown State University's DeBartolo Hall until 4 p.m. today.

The 20 6-foot-by-13-foot panels, which depict graphic images of aborted fetuses, are a traveling campaign by the Genocide Awareness Project. The event on campus is sponsored by the Youngstown State University College Republicans.

The project is part of the Center for Bio-Ethical Reform, a non-profit American Pro-Life foundation.

The non-profit's stated goal is to educate college students across the country about the inner workings of contemporary abortion and how they say it is comparable to modern-day genocide.

Mark Harrington, the center's Midwest branch executive director discussed the history of the project's founding and the mixed reception it has received during its travels to over a hundred campuses since 1998.

Harrington explained that there are usually 20 percent of students who strongly support the exhibit, 20 percent who are against it and the remaining undecided 60 percent are typically the audience he wants to target.

Harrington said that although there are religious and moral connotations to the foundation and exhibit, the real issues trying to be stressed are those of the human and constitutional rights being violated by allowing abortion to be legal.

Harrington expressed that he was originally influenced to create the exhibit based on his knowledge of social reform during different times in history. He feels that the well known and horrifying photographs associated with various reform movements have served in part to facilitate change, and he hopes to accomplish the same thing with the murals. He said it is important to communicating the misconceptions of abortion and change the opinions of the mainstream media's audience, which he believes is being lied to or censored from the truth.

As the exhibit is aimed at college students, what do YSU students make of it all?

"I don't know what to say. Why show disturbing pictures to make a point? I really think they went about this the wrong way," senior Katie Miller said.

Some students were shocked by the raw, uncensored nature of the picture display that wrapped around the front lawn of DeBartolo Hall.

"It's nasty — I was just about to get lunch," freshman Matt Wilson said.

Other students expressed confusion about the murals' juxtaposition of images of the Holocaust and the Cambodian Killing Fields and the messages the project was trying to convey.

"I see no comparison here — Hitler took over, and the Jews didn't have a choice, but women have the choice to abort," senior Jessica Stephenson said.

In accordance to the Pro-Life viewpoints of GAP, some students saw logic in the murals.

"It's disturbing, but definitely shows the harsh reality of the choices people make," freshman Nikita Jones said.

Still, other students were vocal about their disagreements with the exhibit and its personal comparative messages.

"Everyone has their right to support this, but I choose not to," said senior Kelly Noyes, who was handing out oppositional materials representing NARAL Pro-Choice America, a reproductive rights group.

Pamphlets, brochures and flyers from both the GAP and the Pro-Choice ends of the abortion argument were distributed to those in attendance, while campus security was on duty in the vicinity of the display.

Ron Cole, manager of news and information services for YSU, said the university recognized a need for police presence at the exhibit to remain peaceful and so university and student business could continue as usual.

Cole said that the organization went through the appropriate university channels.



The GAP exhibit will remain up from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. today.

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