Everyone strolling through the Plaza of the Americas Wednesday was treated to a graphic display by a seemingly scientific organization known as The Center for Bio-Ethical Reform.
We just hope you weren't getting ready to dig in to your Krishna Lunch.
Though there were futile signs warning passersby that they were about to be exposed to graphic photos, the display - dubbed the Genocide Awareness Project- was, at best, insensitive and tasteless.
So what did this demonstration entail? Explicit photos from the conflict in Darfur?
No, just unnecessary photos of supposedly aborted fetuses, some with their hands juxtaposed with quarters to demonstrate their innocent vulnerability.
How repulsive.
The center's Web site claims that the large photo murals it carts to various college campuses across the country are used to "illuminate the conceptual similarities which exist between abortion and more widely recognized forms of genocide."
The mural goes as far as to compare the photos of these aborted babies with blacks killed in racist lynchings and Jewish Holocaust victims.
We think a more appropriate name for the demonstration would have been The sensationalism Awareness Project.
Do they really think that this is the best way to stop college women from having an abortion? Or to even get through to a college audience?
The graphic nature of the center's demonstration essentially turns off anyone who would be willing to ask a question or openly debate the issue.
When someone views the mural, the main instinct is avoidance if the first instinct hasn't already been physical illness.
The only thing a group that would stoop to the level of displaying photos of fetuses demonstrates is a close-minded view.
While abortion continues to be a highly contested political and personal issue in the United States, the way in which this group chooses to display their stance only hurts their cause - wrong or right.
It's important to know that despite their obviously confrontational and exploitive tactics, The Center for Bio-Ethical reform is actually one of the more moderate anti-abortion groups.
The members promote non-violent methods of stopping the practice and do not condone attacks on abortionists or the clinics where they practice.
In fact, the center even promotes the belief that abortion is justified only when the mother's life is imminently in danger.
But you would never know it from its visit to the UF campus.
And that's precisely why the center's approach will accomplish nothing to eliminate what they call "the evil of abortion."
If members really wanted to combat the number of abortions in the United States, they would offer resources for young women who find themselves with an unplanned pregnancy. If they really cared about the unborn children and wanted to protect them, they would demonstrate the value of adoption instead of burying it in the pages of their Web site.
And if they really wanted to change the minds of those who identify themselves as pro-choice, then it would be wiser to engage them in considerate, thoughtful discussion - not a shocking scare tactic.
