OWL to host debate on abortion

The always-controversial abortion discussion is coming to campus, as two noted experts will argue their respective cases in an open debate today.

The Organization of Women Leaders is sponsoring a debate on abortion today between pro-life activist Mary FioRito and pro-choice advocate Kathryn Kolbert. FioRito was one of 15 women recently named "Women of the New Millennium" by Newsweek Magazine for her work with pro-life issues. She is the vice president of the Archdiocese of Chicago and advocates the Catholic view that abortion should not be legal.

"My motivation for it comes from a very strong feeling I have for the human rights aspect of the issue and for the social justice aspect of the issue," FioRito said.

She posed the question, "Do we say that an entire class of people forfeits the right not to be killed just because they're weak and vulnerable?"

FioRito cited the lack of assistance available to pregnant women as one of the reasons why abortion is so common in this country.

"As a woman, I am very much aware of the limited resources society offers pregnant women," she said.

FioRito jokingly asked, "Why should we make accommodations for these women when abortion is so cheap?"

She suggested abortion would not occur nearly as frequently if other viable alternatives were more readily accessible.

FioRito herself is currently pregnant. She said when she saw the ultrasound of the baby for the first time, it reaffirmed her views, and she thinks the same experience would cause many people who support a woman's right to choose to rethink having an abortion.

Kolbert — an attorney and a senior researcher at the Annenberg Public Policy Center at the University of Pennsylvania — said people's opinions about abortion often change when they have an unwanted pregnancy.

"Most people have firm views about the issue. Those views often change when they are confronted with dealing with a pregnancy," Kolbert said. "Each individual woman, given the circumstances of her life, has to make a decision based on what's best for her."

She said the right to choose an abortion or to choose to carry a pregnancy to term is an aspect of privacy that should be protected under the Constitution.

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"In a pluralistic society, when people fundamentally disagree over basic human values, our Constitution ought to chart the course that best protects everyone's views," she said. In the case of abortion, she said she thinks these views are best protected when the right to choose is kept legal.

"I think that women ought to have the right to make important and fundamental decisions about their lives, and I think abortion is one of those types of decisions," Kolbert added.

In the past, Kolbert has been named one of the 100 most influential lawyers in the country by the National Law Journal. In 1992, she won the case "Planned Parenthood v. Casey," which she said is the most recent re-affirmation of a woman's right to choose since the United States Supreme Court's landmark decision to legalize abortion in "Roe v. Wade."

Kolbert has been involved with litigation involving reproductive choice, including several supreme court cases, for about 25 years.

FioRito has participated in numerous abortion debates across the country. She said the purpose of her participation was to "engage the questions that are really tearing this country apart."

FioRito said she wants to "actually talk about the substantive questions that people argue about over their dinner tables," she said. She added that she has debated Kolbert once before.

Though FioRito agreed that many of the people who attend her debates already have their minds made up about the issue, she thinks the questions discussed may make them begin to look at things in a different light.

"What I hope to do," FioRito said, "is point out some things that people haven't thought of before."

Kolbert agreed, saying that debates such as the one to be held today are a good way for people to test their own views and reconsider the issue.

Kolbert called it "a great opportunity to see both sides of the issue and come to a better understanding of the question."

OWL co-president Erin Culbertson '03 said she thought this debate between two highly respected women would promote discussion of a very important issue currently facing the United States.

"We thought it would be really good to have this debate now, especially since the new abortion pill [RU-486] was just passed."

"We think it's particularly important now especially with Bush cutting the funding [to certain international Planned Parenthood clinics]," Culbertson added.

Nancy Ippolito '03, OWL's other co-president, said the main purpose of the debate is to spark interest and discussion on the topic. "I just hope that it will make people think about it and talk about it," she said.

The debate will take place at 4:30 this afternoon in the Frist Multipurpose Room.