Graphic Anti-abortion Posters In A High School

[Saint_Gemma_Galgani]

I am planning to start a Catholic club at my high school during the 2008-2009 school year. One of the things that this club will do is to make pro-life posters and hang them up at school. Do you think that putting up graphic anti-abortion posters at my high school would be moral? Do you think that it would be effective? The posters in question would have pictures of aborted babies accompanied by something along the lines of "Killed by choice at 3 months gestation". I have three main concerns about these posters.

First, I am worried about the mentally disabled students at my high school. While seeing pictures of dead babies is disturbing for anyone, it would be even more disturbing for someone who would not be able to know why those babies are dead or why someone put their pictures on a poster.

Second, I am worried about violating the dignity of the babies depicted. While obviously the ones to violate their dignity in the first place were the people who killed them, having their pictures on a poster might add insult to injury.

Finally, I am concerned about the effectiveness of the posters. Pictures of aborted babies might alienate more people than they convert.

Would putting up graphic anti-abortion posters in my high school do more harm than good?

[dairygirl4u2c]

on the one hand, there will indeed be a lot of people who are affected postively by them. mostly, cookie cutter liberals who think they have to believe abortion is okay, yet are fighting it amongst themself, will slowly be eaten away at. eventually many of these will change.

some other cookie cutters, though, on the other hand, will simply solidify themself in their position, and take a holier than thou approach, espousing social norms that say posting them is unacceptable and only done by zeolots.
really though, if it's effective otherwise, there's nothing wrong with posting the truth, that people tend to conventiently ignore.

so... not a direct answer, just some stuff to think about. i'd tend to think it more likely to be helpful, just to cause controversy and stir conversation and thinking, which i think would inevitably lead people to reason, to realize the truth. but i may be wrong.
a lot of issues like this people don't talk about, so no one ever changes. they don't see the flaws in their thinking. or, society changes very very slowly. this could help speed up the reasoning process.

so the only real question is whether it's effective. if effective, it's definitely respecting the babies. if not effective, then it's pointless showcasing, and a case could be made that it's not respecting them. proably still would be if you meant well but yeah. bottomline to me is effectiveness.

Edited May 31, 2008 by dairygirl4u2c

[picchick]

I am not going to vote at this time.

I am kinda undecided on this strategy for pro-lifers. I know that in some cases it has been effective. Yet, I feel that it exploits another human being's death.

On one hand I see how it might show the world what is going on in the abortion industry and be an eye opener for the world. It puts a face to the whole abortion controversy and the reason why we fight it. Yet there is something that does not sit right with me when I see the graphic signs.

I feel that it exploits the death and invades the privacy of the baby. They deserve privacy just like all other human beings. I fear that by showing the graphic images of their death, we are robbing them of the privacy that each one of us deserves.

So I see both sides and cannot make a true decision right now.

[Alycin]

Your school probably won't even allow the posters to be put up in the first place. Unless yours is the type of school that doesn't follow dress code, then the likelihood of you being allowed to place those posters anywhere but in your health class is very small. Most schools don't want anything that distracts from the academic environment.

[picchick]

[quote name='Alycin' post='1550074' date='May 30 2008, 09:57 PM']Your school probably won't even allow the posters to be put up in the first place. Unless yours is the type of school that doesn't follow dress code, then the likelihood of you being allowed to place those posters anywhere but in your health class is very small. Most schools don't want anything that distracts from the academic environment.[/quote]

I am thinking that they won't because it is graphic. I mean we are talking about 13-17 year olds who would need to see a rated-R movie without an adult. I don't know how well a graphic poster will fly.

If you do decide to try to post them and the school says no, let me know. There might be effective posters that are not graphic. I'll look for some for you if you'd like.

As far as it being moral, I mentioned it in my previous post.

[dairygirl4u2c]

the academic concern might have merit to it. at first, i thought it sounded like a cop out, much like how social norms say posting them is always bad. but then, they are at a vulnerable time in their life, thinking back to what it was like as a highschooler, and could get emotionally and mentally etc distracted from school etc. this is a reasonable concern.

sometthing still tells me though that i disagree with it, cause i doubt it'd substantially affect a very substantial number of kids. making them think at an impressionable age would outweight the bad effects.
if you think they're not effective, i can see more how you'd disagree.

[Pontifite 7 of 10]

I changed my mind...I'm the dude who said it wouldn't be moral for them to be put up, but I changed my mind. It is. I'm Sorry.

[rhetoricfemme]

My high school wouldn't even allow us to discuss abortion. End of story.

I wouldn't go with the posters, simply it is degrading to the aborted child and it's unfair to have people involuntarily be a part of that visual audience. You may be able to scare some pro-choice folks, but as it's already been stated, you might also solidify other pro-choicers in their belief that

1. abortion is a right
2. Catholics are insensitive and will do whatever it takes to get their point across.

Neither of which is true!

I also have a sad image in my head of a sheltered pro-life teen who isn't ready to see that sort of thing, walking down the hall and then, there's that poster... And remember what you mentioned yourself--what about the mentally disabled students having to see those posters?


Instead, maybe your photo could feature amazing people like Einstein, Mother Teresa, or Princess Diana, and say something like, "Imagine he/she had been aborted..." Pick people who anyone would have a hard time denying their contributions to the world.

[CatherineM]

Not immoral, but not the best idea. I'd put up 3D ultrasounds instead.

[Alycin]

[quote name='CatherineM' post='1550123' date='May 30 2008, 10:52 PM']Not immoral, but not the best idea. I'd put up 3D ultrasounds instead.[/quote]

I like this idea!!!

It's impossible to deny that preborn babies are more than just a hunk of cells when you see a 3d ultrasound. I remember addelyn's 1st 3d ultrasound...

[goldenchild17]

I think it's disturbing to see and I wonder if its the best thing because of that. But then I think, THAT is why it's a good idea. Yeah it's disturbing. It should be. I wouldn't advocate this for any school or function involving predominantly kids younger than high school. But I think high school is an appropriate age to introduce the sickness of it. I like the idea of ultrasounds too, but I think they're both appropriate.

[Lil Red]

+J.M.J.+
America will not end abortion until it sees abortion.

Fr. Pavone? i believe said that.

[goldenchild17]

agreed. and high school's a good place to start I think. Those kids (for better or worse) can still be somewhat impressionable. I think it could make a bigger impact on them than others.

Edited May 31, 2008 by goldenchild17

[jeffpugh]

[quote name='dairygirl4u2c' post='1550059' date='May 30 2008, 09:46 PM']on the one hand, there will indeed be a lot of people who are affected postively by them. mostly, cookie cutter liberals who think they have to believe abortion is okay, yet are fighting it amongst themself, will slowly be eaten away at. eventually many of these will change.

some other cookie cutters, though, on the other hand, will simply solidify themself in their position, and take a holier than thou approach, espousing social norms that say posting them is unacceptable and only done by zeolots.
really though, if it's effective otherwise, there's nothing wrong with posting the truth, that people tend to conventiently ignore.

so... not a direct answer, just some stuff to think about. i'd tend to think it more likely to be helpful, just to cause controversy and stir conversation and thinking, which i think would inevitably lead people to reason, to realize the truth. but i may be wrong.
a lot of issues like this people don't talk about, so no one ever changes. they don't see the flaws in their thinking. or, society changes very very slowly. this could help speed up the reasoning process.

so the only real question is whether it's effective. if effective, it's definitely respecting the babies. if not effective, then it's pointless showcasing, and a case could be made that it's not respecting them. proably still would be if you meant well but yeah. bottomline to me is effectiveness.[/quote]
I'm agreeing w/ Dairygirl here...

Good post

[quote name='Lil Red' post='1550261' date='May 31 2008, 12:44 AM']+J.M.J.+
America will not end abortion until it sees abortion.

Fr. Pavone? i believe said that.[/quote]


Interesting


I'm not voting yet... my first reaction is "yeah, give em the graphics!" but then, I haven't seen aborted baby images yet (I can only imagine what it looks like... ew...) so I'm not one to talk...

[XIX]

[quote name='Lil Red' post='1550261' date='May 31 2008, 01:44 AM']+J.M.J.+
America will not end abortion until it sees abortion.

Fr. Pavone? i believe said that.[/quote]
Fr. Pavone says a lot of things that I don't agree with. I'm sorry, I respect him as a priest and I respect him for his obvious commitment to the pro-life movement, but some of the things he says kinda make me go

Edited May 31, 2008 by XIX

[dustthouart]

I don't think it's moral to shock people with gross images. What if someone is feeling nauseous and sees the image and barfs? "the pro-life movement--it made me literally lose my lunch."

I'm 100% prolife and seeing images of aborted babies shouldn't be necessary. I don't have to see images of dismembered adult murder victims to know that murder is wrong.

Now, tabling and offering to let people look at the images is one thing. Saying politely "Would you like to see an image of an aborted fetus from 3 months gestation?" is moral and awesome. Shoving these images in soeone's face without knowing what their mental state is at that moment is immoral.

Again, some of the people in your school could already be post-abortive and trying to heal. Can you imagine what it would be like for a 16-year-old girl deeply regretting her abortion to see one of those images? I don't think it's a stretch to say that it could inspire a suicide.

With regards to "aren't you glad X wasn't aborted," that's not a good argument, because pro-chociers just throw "Well what if Hitler had been aborted" back in our faces. I think it's much better to say "Aren't you glad your mother chose life?" That makes it personal. Or "Every life deserves a chance." Even Hitler deserved the chance to live--it was his choices that messed it up.

[Greyhawk]

I personally think if anyone should see them, it should be those who support abortion rights to (hopefully) change their mind. If society wants to treat it as a simple medical procedure, it's only fair to show the side effects or abortion's case, the actual consequences. Similar (but on a much lower order) to how commercials for drugs nowadays need to lists out all of the potential complications. Well, in the case of abortion, it's significantly more than a mere side effect of a minor drug. Instead, there's a very visibly negative and personal consequence that is commonly overlooked or ignored. Therefore, I think it's fair (and in some vague sense just) to share these realities with those who support abortion in hopes of showing them the bigger picture. Along the same line of thinking, I would not post it in a public area for a general audience. I would engage others who side with the pro-choice and invite them to look at the [i]necessary[/i] consequences of abortion if those images are to be used.

[prose]

[url="http://www.feministsforlife.org"]http://www.feministsforlife.org[/url] have the best posters I have ever seen, and they are not graphic.

You can find them here:

[url="http://www.feministsforlife.org/ads/index.htm"]http://www.feministsforlife.org/ads/index.htm[/url]

Edited June 1, 2008 by prose

[fides quarens intellectum]

ooh, those are really good posters, prose.

i'm kind of torn on this issue - yes, it might be more effective for high schoolers, and they'd probably remember the posters, but all the negativity attached to posters of aborted fetuses may not be what you're wanting in the end.

[IrishSalesian]

I voted that it would be moral to show the graphic images for the sole reason that unless the younger generation sees what an absolute atrocity abortion is, how are they ever going to change society from that of 'its all about me' to that of a society that is in line with the Gospels? The young people need to know how horrible this holocaust really is, and I know that many of them do not. I know that my mother, and my sisters have said that abortion is morally permissible. I know one woman who said that she would have no problem in taking her daughter to have an abortion for the fact that her daughter has "to much going for her" right now. This is the world we live in. A world that has no idea of the atrocity that abortion is. I think that images will open alot of peoples eyes.