A child-sized wooden casket leaned against the sky-viewing sculpture in Red Square today as a crowd of about 30 people stood around a man reading something aloud.

“We are gathered here today to mourn the many tragedies that occur leading up to, and culminating in, every abortion that happens in Whatcom County, and in our country as a whole,” the man shouted. His voice cracked and his body shook as he yelled the words across the square.

Campus Christian Fellowship staged a mock memorial service from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Friday in Red Square as a way to call attention to abortion. Every hour during passing periods, someone from the group read aloud a two-page homily — a list of things to mourn — as others placed flowers on the casket.

Meanwhile, about a hundred feet away, students from VOX, Voices for Planned Parenthood, handed out condoms, lube, dental dams and information about birth control. Their table was part of a weekly event the club puts on called Free Condom Friday.

Neither group knew the other would be in Red Square today.

“We’re not out here because of them and they’re not out here because of us,” VOX member and Western freshman Nicole Enslow said.

Some students walked by the memorial looking confused, some averted their eyes or put headphones on, some stopped to listen and some of those quickly shook their heads and walked away.

Shanon Kempt, a staff member with Campus Christian Fellowship who read the homily just before 2 p.m., said the group hoped the event would be a gentle, respectful but provocative way to approach the topic.

“I don’t know that [it] was our goal to change people’s minds,” Kempt said. “We just wanted to bring awareness in a gentler fashion and open up the lines of communication and dialogue and discussion.”

Campus Christian Fellowship staff member Geoff Mumley said he and some of the other leaders in the group came up with the idea because many students were coming to them expressing concerns about abortion. He said they wanted to create a symbol that wouldn’t offend people or “beat anyone over the head” with the topic.

The casket was built by a student. It was meant to be infant-sized, although it was a couple feet tall.

“That’s not a tame image,” Mumley said. “But it does bring home the issues in play here.”

The memorial comes just a few days after the Tuesday night reenactment of the Supreme Court case Roe v. Wade put on by the Sexual Awareness Center. Campus Christian Fellowship also held a discussion Wednesday night in Fraser Hall room 4 in which they played a "Law & Order" episode that dealt with an abortion doctor being murdered and used the show as a springboard for dialogue.

“Dialogue” seemed to be the word of the day today. James Junior, a staff member with Campus Christian Fellowship, said while the point of the memorial was to raise awareness and create a space to mourn, he also hoped a dialogue would start and said he was grateful for the discourse that has been happening on campus this week.

“We don’t talk about these topics very openly, so I’m really glad that this stuff’s happening,” Junior said.

Some people passing through Red Square came over to VOX’s table to ask what was going on. Enslow said she thought perhaps people were more comfortable asking them than approaching the people conducting the memorial.

“There is some common ground here,” Western senior and VOX member Brittney Hykal said. “We all want to prevent abortions.”

Three percent of Planned Parenthood’s services in Washington are abortions; the rest are preventive care such as birth control.

Western senior and VOX Coordinator Laura Hughes said their club’s mission is to provide education and resources to students. She said if someone has a specific question about abortion, VOX’s objective is not to offer a specific direction but to help them understand the situation.

“It’s great that people want to have a discussion about abortion,” Hughes said. “My hope is that it’s an objective discussion and touches on all the different aspects.”

Enslow and some fellow VOX members went over to listen to the homily as both events were coming to a close.

“We know they have just the same right to be out here as we do and we respect their opinions,” Enslow said. “We wish there were more of a dialogue so that we could come to more knowledge on each side.”

Hughes said she welcomes that dialogue being sparked.

“I’m all for it,” Hughes said, “As long as it’s done respectfully.”

Share this article:
                                   

Be first to comment on this article

Only registered users can post comments.
Please login or register.