The skewed moral standards of society

Last spring, pro-life protesters stood in the North Plaza at George Mason University. During the peak of the school day, these protesters advocated their pro-life stance to the student population. To encourage the college students to conform to their stance, they presented two-story high signs displaying pictures of aborted fetuses.

First of all, let me say that there is nothing legally wrong with what they did. They were expressing their freedom of speech by trying to share their views with others.  With that being said, I completely disagree with everything that happened over those few days. Seeing a few abortions on the way to lunch is not what I call an enjoyable morning. I understand that my reaction was precisely what they desired but, to be honest, I am still pro-choice. Whether a woman should have an abortion or not is not my decision to make.

Everyone has their own political views and typically these views aren’t easily changed. When was the last time that you changed your political views because of the opposition’s argument? It does not happen very often. When a pro-life supporter is asked why they feel as they do the normal response contains something comparable to “life begins at conception.” They then often proceed to state that abortion is murder. Personally, I don’t believe a fertilized egg is a human life. Of course, in my opinion, there is a point when abortion should no longer be legal.

A human embryo less than a week old, a blastocyst, contains about 150 cells. In comparison, there are over 100,000 cells in the brain of a fly. I know that my argument is never going to sway someone who is pro-life, and I know their claims will never persuade me.

Let’s get to the points that seem to confuse me the most. The United States Supreme Court ruled in 1973 that it is entirely legal to have an abortion. So why are these protesters at Mason? Our nation’s capital, representing the policy makers of this country, are so close and yet pro-life activists still want to badger us with their views.  College students are opinionated and, whether they are pro-life or pro-choice, it is exceptionally hard to change their outlooks. So of course the smart thing to do is force their convictions on us rather than addressing the people who actually govern this country.  Even if they did convince all of us to vote for an anti-abortion law, what would it matter? The ruling would just be overturned.

Looking at the big picture, what makes it okay to advertise these images to the public? These protesters really made me ponder the “moral standards” that we hold in this country. On a college campus, two-story high posters of aborted fetuses are displayed without any trouble, so why is any type of nudity completely frowned upon in our society?  It really makes you think about how and why our society has developed the public standards that it has. Why are things such as the violence and gore of aborted fetuses more acceptable than a nude human body? Why is it that we can argue politics but, when talking about religion, people feel it is more of a taboo? 

Opinions expressed in this column are solely the beliefs of the writer.

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