Each year, the Notre Dame and Saint Mary's Right to Life club strategically places signs and crosses around their respective campuses as part of their annual demonstrations. After four years in lovely Notre Dame, I have found that not only are we not accepting of alternative lifestyles, we also refrain from respecting opinions that go against the Notre Dame social norm. If people were allowed the opportunity to have their voices heard, perhaps they would be less likely to seek other forms of expression.
While discussing the destruction of the crosses, Right to Life co-president Lauren Galgano, told The Observer that she felt, "personally attacked." Miss Galgano, how do you think those crosses make a man or woman who has been personally affected by abortion feel? By displaying the crosses on the green, are you subtly attacking your own classmates? The last time I checked, abortion was still a legal activity in the United States, and under the law not equated with murder. Alas, the pro-life and pro-choice debate will not be solved in the editorial column of The Observer, but one-sided demonstrations must end on the Notre Dame and Saint Mary's campuses.
In March, a group of students and members of the South Bend community joined with over a million people in Washington, D.C. to March For Women's Lives. The march proved that the pro-choice movement is alive, and that there are plenty of men and women fighting for reproductive rights. The pro-choice movement may seem to be non-existent on these campuses, but that is hardly the case. Instead of fostering hate, the recent destruction of crosses should cause members of the collegiate community to foster a logical, open dialogue between both groups, free of shock tactics.
MacKenzie Ulm
senior
LeMans Hall
Oct. 13
