An abortion debate meant to encourage open discussion on the subject was halted after pro-abortion protesters crashed the event and had to be removed by police.
Tufts University held an event, hosted by the campus chapter of the Federalist Society, called “Is Abortion Morally Justified in America?” According to Tufts Daily, Harvard law professor Stephen Sachs and Boston College philosophy professor Gregory Fried were invited to discuss both pro-abortion and pro-life views — but the pro-abortion protesters had other ideas.
The pro-abortion protesters sat in the front row, and were immediately disruptive. One person held a sign which read “I love abortions,” while a noise machine also played various sounds, such cars honking, dogs barking, doorbells ringing, wolves howling, and crowds booing. Though the Tufts Planned Parenthood Generation Action chapter denied the protesters were affiliated with them, Tufts Daily noted the group had posted a request on their Instagram page for protesters to meet before the event.
The Tufts University Police Department had to be called, and forced the protesters to leave, as they made it difficult for anyone to hear the speakers. Their efforts were not appreciated by the people present — even abortion supporters.
The protesters told Tufts Daily the validity and morality of abortion shouldn’t even be questioned — in other words, they disagreed with even the idea of debating abortion.
“I don’t think white men should be making decisions about my reproductive rights,” Sanya Desai said. “I’m hoping that this [protest] will just help people to realize that abortion rights are not something that are up for debate, or not something that should be talked about in a devil’s advocate type [of] way. It’s something that’s deeply personal and that shouldn’t just be joked about or talked about for the sake of it.”
Abortion robs another human being of his or her right to life, and therefore cannot legitimately be considered a right itself. And in a free society, stifling the right to free speech starts society along the dangerous path to stifling other natural rights.
“It’s really a discussion about [abortion rights] in general and to hear both sides,” James Kasparyan, who called himself “pro-choice,” told Tufts Daily. “We expect them to come from varying positions and we hope that they at least either hear something they haven’t thought about before, or their own ideas are reinforced in some way.”
