As passers-by walked near the intersection of 10th Street and Fee Lane on Friday, they were greeted by the image of a dismembered fetus displayed by Created Equal, an Ohio-based pro-life organization.
“You’re terrible people,” a man yelled, noticeably distressed and crossing the street.
Other students walked by the bus stop brusquely, avoiding eye contact with the dozen or so young men and women passing out fliers and asking the question stirring such strong feelings.
“What are your beliefs on abortion?”
Created Equal set up signs from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Friday outside Hodge Hall to protest abortion. To them, abortion is a form of ageism.
Sarah Jimenez is the communications coordinator at Created Equal. She said that while every woman should have the right to her own body, she shouldn’t have the right to choose to abort.
“We want to protect women and give them the right to choose,” Jimenez said. “But not every decision is right.”
IU student Melissa Bergsneider said she disagreed with that premise, citing her views that abortion is a women’s rights issue.
“It’s really complicated, I understand that,” she said. “But after all, it’s her body.”
Some pro-choice supporters oppose the methods used by pro-life demonstrations such as these. They say the images are too graphic.
Created Equal’s images, Jimenez admitted, are shocking. One shows a dismembered hand laid upon a quarter, for scale. Another shows a foot resting on the same coin.
A pamphlet passed out by the protesters confronted viewers with an image of a dismembered fetus arranged around a neon yellow highlighter tip.
Jimenez said that these images are crucial to the effectiveness of Created Equal’s message.
“It’s absolutely necessary to allow the victims to speak out against the injustice done to them,” Jimenez said. “If we don’t have the images, they don’t have a voice. They died in vain.”
Also crucial to Created Equal’s message is security for its protesters, according to media coordinator Sam Riley.
Many protesters carried a GoPro to document any instances of violence, which isn’t uncommon.
Last week at Ohio University, a man in a mask destroyed a Created Equal sign. Around noon Friday, an IU student pulled over near the protest, got out of his car and knocked over a sign.
“We have a lot of people that come up and try to trash our signs and spit on us,” Riley said.
Jimenez said no matter the circumstance, it’s never okay to get an abortion. She said she believes women get abortions before fully understanding the procedure and that this deception is a symptom of the for-profit nature of abortion clinics.
“They have been lied to because the abortion industry is making bank off of abortions,” Jimenez said.
Riley said he didn’t know who exactly funds Created Equal, though he said most of the organization’s money comes from private donors. Furthermore, while protesters at 10th Street and Fee Lane represent a variety of faiths, Created Equal is not associated with any religious organization, Jimenez said.
Bergsneider said she believes there are numerous valid reasons to have an abortion, from the high cost of raising a child to the considerable mental fortitude parenthood requires.
“It’s her decision,” she said. “She would be the one (caring for) the baby for her whole life.”
