By MADDY TIEDE
STAFF WRITER
On October 5th, across from the Roxy Theatre in Potsdam a group called Lifechain gathered to protest abortion–a crowd that was interestingly composed of predominantly men and children. Often the case in Washington politics, the loudest voices on the issue pertaining to the female’s body were not that of females. Fortunately, some voices from the SLU student body were heard from across the street. Six individuals, comprised of Dubbers and friends, made their way to Potsdam on this Sunday afternoon to spearhead a counter protest unit. Moments of their encounter were strange, but nonetheless, their attendance was productive.
The crew did some preparation and research beforehand. “I looked up the organization Lifechain ahead of time just to make sure that we weren’t going to protest people sitting around holding hands and singing gospel songs,” explains Dub member Olivia Hatch ’15. Indeed, this was not the case. Instead the six Laurentian’s were met with about forty individuals standing along the busy road, spaced over an arms distance apart from one another. Some of the Lifechain line sang while other segments of the row stood in silence, raising signs that read everything from “Pray to end abortion” to “Abortion Kills Children.” The group appeared to be about 80% male, and what struck the counter protesters most was the amount of children under 12 present. Could the kids really comprehend the heated lettering they held up?
The Dub, on the other hand, were equipped with signs that expressed their passion about the issue and their reasons for showing up that day. They placed themselves directly across the street with animated, hand-made signs that read: “My Body, My Choice,” “Celebrating Life with my Right to Choose,” “Don’t like abortion? Don’t have one,” and “Get your Bible out of my Uterus.”
The SLU students then decided to take their actions a step further and engage with the anti-abortionist protesters, requesting individuals to defend their stance. The overall finding was not surprising, the children had no real concept of abortion nor the support their presence on that side of the road signified. Thomas Matt ’15, one of the SLU students present, described their naivety, saying, “I mean some of these kids were as young as 4 years old, they have no idea what abortion entails or the social implications of the issue.” He said that one of the Dub members, Evelyn Redshaw ’15, asked one of the adults why they had the children there protesting and received the short response of, “They know that abortion is murder, and that’s all they need to know.” Thomas also wanted to make it clear that, as a male, he supported the counter protest movement by advocating the sentiment that it is a women’s issue and that women should be the one’s making the decision about their own body.
The highlight of the day was when the SLU students were spontaneously joined by eight other counter-protesters! The fortuitous event made their presence feel like a success paired with the uneasy feelings they stirred. Olivia reflected saying, “I think we made them uncomfortable, which I’m happy about because maybe that will encourage some of them to think about why we were there.”
Driving to the next town over without expectations, the crew left the counter protest feeling that it went over well. Thus, when the Lifechain event happens again in May, the Dubbers and friends are sure to be there to counter protest. Next time around, however, they hope to unite about 50 pro-choice SLU students and locals in order to outnumber the anti-abortion protesters and to serve as a female voice on the issue that affects women.