Bloody and torn-apart fetuses on giant posters are shocking and disturbing.
But it's an effective tactic.
Missionaries to the Preborn, an anti-abortion group, used gory, post-abortion images to show their stance on campus Thursday.
We support the right of women to choose to have an abortion, but we also hold the right to free speech in high regard.
Members of the group stationed themselves around the MSU campus, displaying posters and handing out pamphlets featuring aborted fetuses. Their demonstration, according to the group's spokesman James Soderna, was to teach students "the truth about abortion."
The Missionaries' methods were effective by forcing passersby to see what they might not want to see. There are always things in public people will not want to see. The group has the right to display their view in public and people can simply look away if they find the material offensive.
At the same time, those who support the group's goals might have been disturbed by the in-your-face method.
Whether someone agrees with it, their technique got the message across. Some of the information, however, might have been inaccurate.
Some of the images might have portrayed false depictions of the number of partial-birth abortions. Although the pamphlets made a distinction between ages of the fetuses shown, the posters did not.
This neglected information conflicts with the group's mission to show the truth about abortion. Although an anti-abortion group would use materials favorable to their cause, it doesn't change the fact that free speech should be accurate above all else.
The posters, some of which depicted late-term abortions, amount to a very small percentage of total abortions and are usually done to save the life of the mother.
This needs to be represented to the unsuspecting passenger on the bus who sees the posters without having an opportunity to pick up a pamphlet and see "the truth about abortion."
Seeing what you don't want to see is important. It opens eyes and minds to what would otherwise be ignored. However, presenting this information needs to be done properly.
The demonstration performed - although undoubtedly powerful - created incorrect assumptions and gave misleading information which does a disservice to the audience.
The group's point of view might be sound, but biased information of this sort is nothing more than propaganda. If the missionaries wish to change the hearts and minds of the public in regard to abortion, they need to adjust their delivery. We support their right to be heard, but not to mislead.
