Western junior Anab Hersi, right, reacts as she turns away from the graphic signs at the Genocide Awareness Project Tuesday in Red Square. Junior Jaminah Shannon, left, was also seeing the signs for the first time. photo by Paul Moore THE WESTERN FRONT
The Genocide Awareness Project’s shock factor has fizzled in its third year at Western.
Western students walked through Red Square May 6 and 7 with little acknowledgement of the images of aborted fetuses, the holocaust and race crimes on display.
The Associated Students (AS) club Western for Life invited the Genocide Awareness Project (GAP) back for the third year.
The GAP focuses on drawing parallels between abortion and genocide in an attempt to show the humanity of unborn children.
“I don’t think consciousness bears on our humanity,” said Darius Hardwick, Northwest regional director for the Center for Bio-Ethical Reform. “We want to show the humanity of the unborn baby.”
The Center for Bio-Ethical Reform created the GAP.
Hardwick said the project compares images of abortion to genocide because they believe abortion, like genocide, is a crime against humanity.
He said he believes abortion should be illegal.
One of the GAP’s goals is to change public opinion of abortion to help people understand that a fetus, though unborn, is still a human, he said.
Claire Russell, vice president of Western for Life, said she thinks the imagery presented by the GAP is the most effective way of conveying the club’s message.
“We’re trying to get the message out there of what abortion really is,” Russell said. “It’s basically a genocide.”
Students spray-painted a wall on the opposite side of Red Square allowing students to express their right to freedom of speech. The messages included abortion rights ideas.
The board had phrases written on it such as, “My way, my choice,” “Jesus loves your right to choose,” and “What about rape cases?”
“It’s a space where people can express what they want whether it has to do with what’s on the other side of Red Square or not,” Western junior Joshua Neuhouser said.
Andrew Holcom, Western graduate student and financial officer of STAND, a student-led anti-genocide coalition, said the comparison of abortion to genocide is a misleading representation of the issue and confuses people.
“The problem we see is this group is using the word genocide,” Holcom said. “If you call abortion genocide, you are saying it is the intent of every woman who has [an abortion] to destroy unborn babies in general. They should talk about supporting life, not exploiting death.”
Russell said the Holocaust is an example of a group who was viewed as less than human and was being exterminated.
Western for Life wants people to realize unborn babies are treated as less than human when they are aborted, she said.
“Scientifically, when egg and sperm meet, life begins,” Russell said. “It’s not like that growing life is turning into anything but a human.”
Western’s chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) was present in Red Square to support freedom of speech for pro-life and pro-choice students.
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