Some students’ jaws dropped. Others expressed approval. And some tried to rush by without getting caught in the ruckus.
Certainly, all of the students who caught a glimpse of the signs across campus took notice.
Last Thursday, anti-abortion protesters with signs displaying an aborted fetus converged on VCU’s Monroe Park Campus.
Organized by Life & Liberty Ministries, the protest came less than a week after the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals brought their Animal Liberation Project to campus. The exhibit, which compared African-American slavery to animal abuse, led to racial conflict on campus.
Thursday’s tension reached a boiling point just before 1 p.m. as Billy Joe Grace boosted the controversial image above his head, while a group of nearly 30 students gathered. For more than 20 minutes, Grace spoke through a megaphone to the crowd, which surrounded him on the sidewalk in front of Oliver Hall.
Across Main Street, Ben Murch of Life & Liberty Ministries looked on while he calmly leaned on a sign bearing the same picture.
“We’re here to expose the awful truth of what abortion really is. … We as a nation need to turn from the sin of abortion-the sin of murder-from dishonoring God’s law,” Murch said. “We need to repent.”
The organization’s protest at VCU began more than an hour earlier when they held similar signs in front of Shafer Court Dining Center. According to the Life & Liberty Ministries’ Web site, the display was part of their weeklong effort to reach Virginia universities.
Founded in 1994, Life & Liberty Ministries has taken their tour across Virginia each year since 1997. This year, the group’s 2005 Face The Truth Virginia Campus Tour has made stops at James Madison University, Old Dominion University and the University of Virginia.
As the crowd along Main Street grew, Grace sparked a dialogue with the students. At times, chants such as “We support the right to abort” arose from the displeased group, drowning out Grace’s words.
“I can have a conscience without believing in God,” shouted Ross Plunkett, a freshman, replying to Grace’s assertion that abortions are acts against God.
Plunkett argued that it was the organization’s execution, not their message, that provoked confrontation.
“They’re holding a picture of a dead fetus,” Plunkett said in frustration. “Think about little kids driving by.”
A more vocal member of the crowd named Laura grew more enraged as Grace spoke, challenging his Bible-citing logic with roars for women’s rights. After almost 20 minutes of heated discussion with the group, around 1:15 p.m. Grace gave in to shouts asking him to leave.
After the crowd began to disperse, Laura, the mohawked 20-something-year-old in most fervent disagreement with Grace, continued to dispute the anti-abortion message and addressed the use of the powerful image.
“Most women make an educated decision about what they do long before that point,” she said of the photograph, which showed a mostly developed, aborted fetus. “There are people who feel like they can’t be responsible for the life of another.”
Life & Liberty Ministries’ Richmond protest also stretched beyond the sidewalks of VCU: area residents described sightings of the “truth truck”-a vehicle featuring a mutilated fetus-that the organization brings to protest sites.
Although Plunkett had a milder reaction to the protest than others, he too questioned the demonstration’s effectiveness.
“It doesn’t do anything for either side. It makes everyone look bad,” he said.
Grace said along with the protests, he also heard positive responses. Almost an hour after the volatile scene had nearly erupted, he tried to explain the tour’s intent.
“To raise awareness about abortion and show them what it looks like, for one,” Grace said. “To show that we are accountable for our sin.”