Campus reacts to legislative abortion talks

In the first month of this year's legislative session many topics dealing with reproductive rights were brought to the table.

The issue of defining a person, extending the period a woman must wait after requesting an abortion and receiving the mandated information, as well as questioning the amount of funding Planned Parenthood should receive, were considered by the state Legislature.

There is no text in some of the mentioned bills at this time, but the fact that these discussions presently exist at Utah's Capitol is concerning, said Karrie Galloway, CEO of the Planned Parenthood Association of Utah.

Nationally, 3 percent of women seeking care from Planned Parenthood do so for an abortion. This number decreases to 1 percent in Utah. Though there are a handful of women's health clinics in Logan, none of them offer abortion procedures, Galloway said.

As the issues encompassing reproductive rights are nationally controversial, many Utah educators are careful to expose both sides of the argument and analyze related statistics and data as scientists but still prompt their students to consider the heated issues.

"You aren't spinning anything," said Eddy Berry, a USU sociology professor. "Just tell them how it is. A woman's risks are substantially lower in getting a clinical abortion. What you do as a scientist is you explain what your chances are of dying in childbirth in a First World country (or) in a Third World country … and your chances are surprisingly high."

Pro-life vs. pro-choice

Everyone Berry has met is "for life," she said, and labeling reproductive rights as pro-life or pro-choice creates a divide between people.

"The terminology is a political labeling and it is no more than that," Berry said. "It completely hinders the discussion, and it places walls between people and their ability to talk to one another."

When people with opposing views sit down in a room and discuss their views on reproductive rights, the subject is rarely black and white, Berry said, and this is true for any controversial topic.

"I am very pro-choice," said Claire Ahlstrom, vice president of USU College Democrats. "I think that a huge reason why I am pro-choice is because we haven't defined life yet. I am LDS, but the church hasn't even come out and said what defines a person."

Ahlstrom, whose father is an obstetric gynecologist, said she believes many people who claim to be pro-life don't realize they may be pro-choice. Being pro-choice doesn't mean thinking abortion is a good idea, but that there are certain extenuating circumstances, including rape, incest and health problems of the mother, under which a pregnant woman should have the right to obtain an abortion, she said.

Many who say they are pro-life are saying the pregnant woman must go through with giving birth even in the case of rape or life-threatening health concerns, she said. Though Ahlstrom said she would never have an abortion for any reason other than ensuring her continued health, she believes other women should have the choice.

"If abortion is murder, then you have to tell me when murder is justified," said USU philosophy Professor Richard Sherlock. "Just because you are having a hard day or because you don't think you can't take care of somebody? All of that is just nonsense."

Sherlock, who said he is pro-life, also said he disagrees with GOP candidate Mitt Romney's previous stance on abortion, which was that he would never advocate for abortion but will not take that right away from another individual.

The question of abortion will be solved when society can collectively decide when a human becomes a human, Sherlock said.

Brittany Wilson, whose name has been changed for her protection, first found out she was pregnant at 15 and said she never considered having an abortion, though her mother was supportive in whatever her decision was. She said she considers herself to be pro-life, but thinks it is OK to abort a baby in the case of rape or health concerns.

"I just feel like it's taking a life away," Wilson said, "that you're making a choice for their life and they're not getting the chance."

Currently she is working to graduate from a local high school using unique services for students with children. Free child care is offered at the institution while she attends her classes. She made the right decision in raising a child at a young age, she said, because it's rewarding and fulfilling watching her daughter grow up, always learning to do new things.

"The terms pro-life and pro-choice … aren't actually statements about what a person believes. It's like describing someone as pink or purple," Berry said.

Current local legislation

Reproductive rights have been a hot topic on Capitol Hill in Salt Lake City this year, with several bill proposals that would change the way people access abortion procedures in Utah.