Discarded teeth and formless tissue

Perhaps some of you saw the pictures of aborted children along Washington Road on Monday afternoon. I thought the pictures were terrible and extremely saddening — dismembered babies cannot be otherwise.

It is important that the Princeton community know (since it was not made clear in Tuesday's Daily Princetonian article) that Repent America did not notify me nor anyone else that I know of in Princeton Pro-Life, about their plans. Had they done so, we would have asked them not to stage their protest. Just last year, in fact, a representative of a similar group called The Genocide Awareness Project contacted us about the possibility of such a protest on Princeton's campus, and we declined. As evident from reactions to Monday's protest (rage, indignation, disgust but never an actual examination of the abortion issue), it seems such methods merely harden hearts and do little to open minds.

In the aftermath of this incident, I have heard many negative responses from friends (pro-life and pro-choice) as well as strangers on the street, ranging from shock and sadness to anger and resentment. After expressing my own disapproval in the 'Prince' on Tuesday, however, I also received several emails arguing that "desperate times call for desperate measures: children are dying, and people aren't listening otherwise."

I understand what the members of Repent America (and others who feel similarly) were and are trying to accomplish with these graphic images. The shocking and sickening pictures of mutilated and bloody body parts certainly made me turn away in horror at what abortion entails, as I am sure they did to others. I oppose this tactic not because I don't fathom the sheer horror of abortion. These photos did not depict discarded teeth or the formless tissue of a normal surgery; I think everyone who saw them realized this was something terribly different and grave, and certainly inappropriate for a public street among unsuspecting strangers.

Pictures of abortion are readily available across the Internet and can be seen by anyone who cares to do a quick Google image search. Perhaps all of us should make the effort to really know aftermath of abortion, whether we support or condemn it. But random passersby on a public street (including, lest we forget, young children) are not emotionally or psychologically prepared to view these horrific images. There are no means for support, sober discussion or proper processing of these images. Consider especially the distress that such a sudden and shocking reminder might have caused women who were emotionally torn about their own abortions. For such women, even more than for the rest of us, Monday's protest will have been received as a cruel visual assault.

There is certainly a time and a place for these images — they depict the truth, from which the intellectually honest and morally responsible should never hide — but explicit and gruesome truth can be unsuitable and unhelpful in certain contexts, as I believe it was on Monday.

Furthermore, Princeton Pro-Life objects to the protestors' contention that opposition to abortion is a strictly religious matter. Princeton Pro-Life always has and will continue to reach out to people of any or no faith to stand up for the protection of the most defenseless of society — this is a matter of basic social justice, not sectarian dogma. We will also continue to reach out to women and educate them about the physical and psychological dangers of abortion in a respectful and nonjudgmental manner that will unite people of all backgrounds.

Princeton Pro-Life sponsors lectures, discussions and intellectual exchanges to facilitate an ongoing conversation within the Princeton community about the abortion issue, and we are disappointed that Monday's spectacle radicalized and frustrated this discussion. This should not happen. We should all approach the issue of abortion with honesty, intellectual integrity and charity — virtues that Princeton Pro-Life will continue to pursue. Tom Haine is the president of Princeton Pro-Life. He is a history major from Alton, Ill., and may be reached at thaine@princeton.edu.