Abortion clash continues
Published Oct. 31, 2003
The two-story pictures of aborted fetuses are gone, but students involved on both sides of the debate disagree on whether the display was a success.
The paneled display that exhibited graphic pictures of aborted fetuses was set up in Kuhlman Court on Monday through Wednesday this week.
MU officials said though they had planned ahead for student protests from both sides, the precautions weren't as necessary as anticipated.
"The exhibit sort of seemed like a non-event," said Cathy Scroggs, Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs. "I think they have maybe gotten more news than they deserve, frankly."
Scroggs confirmed, however, that the exhibit did prompt 10 employees from Student Life and Brady Commons to keep tabs on the exhibit to ensure everyone's safety.
Sarah Amos, spokeswoman for Peaceful Presence, the group that protested JFA's display, said she thought the campaign on campus had been unsuccessful.
"JFA will probably not put Mizzou on their Web site as a successful campaign," she said. "They were frustrated by Mizzou's lack of response because their goal is to make pro-choice supporters yell at them."
However, Mizzou Justice For All spokesman Jonathan Block contested Amos' claim, saying the exhibit was successful.
"We are very satisfied with the response that we received," he said. "We had around 10,000 students pass the exhibit and a very healthy dialogue with the Mizzou community."
Joanna Shrewsbury, a JFA spokeswoman, described JFA as "as pro-life because we believe an abortion is acceptable only in instances when the mother's life depends upon it, such as ectopic pregnancies."
Abortion rights wasn't the only issue that came with the billboards. Amos said there were about a dozen instances of harassment reported to the MU Police Department in incidents at Speaker's Circle and Johnston, Hatch and Gillette residential halls.
MU police Capt. Brian Weimer said there were no police reports filed for Monday's events at Speaker's Circle, but he said he could not comment for any other times or locations.
Block dismissed Peaceful Presence's allegations as untrue.
"No Justice For All representative harassed anyone in any way," he said. "I know they alleged the police were called two or three times, but we checked with MUPD, and they had no record of the police being called."
To address concerns that arose from vandalism directed at a student in a residential hall, Frankie Minor, director of Residential Life, sent a letter to every student living in the residential halls about debating controversial issues within the four core values of MU.
"We certainly had the Justice For All exhibit in mind, but we felt it was important to not just limit it to that," he said. "Just last week we had the evangelical ministers in Speaker's Circle, which were widely attended by the students. Some of the behavior there was spirited, and some it may have been slightly inappropriate, so we just felt it was a good idea to put this out."