EASTERN MICHIGAN UNIVERSITY - The Created Equal organization set up in front of the Marshall building around 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. on Thursday, April 18 to promote their pro-life and anti-abortion views to the students of EMU. The organization was partnered with Protect Life at EMU.
Representatives of Created Equal, Sam Riley and Evangeline Dunn, as well as several volunteers, handed out flyers to passersby as they stood among signs depicting graphic pictures of bloody fetuses. The images, as the organization claims, depict the results of abortions.
“Our signs don’t say that abortion is wrong or abortion is good, it just shows the aftermath of abortion. When we talk to students, we’re just asking them ‘At the end of this image, what is your conclusion about abortion?’” said Evangeline Dunn, media representative for the display.
“We are pro-life, but we’re also very anti-abortion. We’re against any intentional killing of innocent human beings, which abortion always is.”
As seen in previous visits by the organization to campus, the images drew ire and respect alike. Several students approached the body-cam wearing activists to congratulate them for being so open about abortions.
On the other, pro-choice side of the coin, the anger was paltable. “That’s an image of a mother who miscarried. If you want to trigger someone, keep it up,” said one student as she walked by, refusing a flyer-- and confrontation-- as she passed.
Other students readily engaged in the conversation.
“I’m a strict Roman Catholic but I still believe in the right to choose,” said Early College Alliance (ECA) student Erica Richter. “Would I get an abortion? No. But I believe people should have that choice because we don’t live in a bureaucracy. I’ve come back to this place three times because I cannot walk away and not say something because it’s disgusting.”
Though there were several students agreeing with Richter’s views, others made sure to let their side be known.
“[Abortion] is very explicit but I’m against abortion,” said an EMU freshman. “I took a medical ethics class and [the professor] just touched on it. So we were learning about different theories that were kind of bizarre.”
Dunn noted that the organization informed the university three months in advance before the setup and that the go-pros are for the safety of the volunteers. Some pro-choice advocates at the display accused the organization of gathering video for later promotional videos.
“We reserved the spot, and we have warnings on the entrances and exits of the display. We are on a public property and if they know that there’s going to be something there they don’t want to be, they can walk around it or go somewhere else private,” Dunn said.
“When people attack our signs, we feel a little alone. There’s a lot of people who knock down our signs. It’s going to happen no matter what-- you can’t make everyone happy,” she said. “The best thing we can do is show them kindness, and after people leave, they’ll remember two things: what they saw and how they were treated.”
