Last week, First Right, a pro-life student group, sparked a debate on Grounds revolving around fliers stating that abortions increased the risk of breast cancer in women.
According to third-year College student Philip Turner, vice president of First Right, the group found their information in a talk on the subject given by Dr. Angela Lanfranchi, which can be found on the Feminists for Life Web site (www.feministsforlife.org).
After seeing the fliers on Grounds, first-year College students Rebecca Moyer and Megan Downy, both pro-choice advocates, decided to question the statement because neither of them had heard the argument before, Moyer said.
After researching the topic on both the American Cancer Society (www.cancer.org) and the National Cancer Institute (www.cancer.gov) Web sites, the two found information saying that "induced abortions have no overall effect on the risk of breast cancer." The debate however, "is still controversial, with some doctors believing that abortion does increase the risk of breast cancer," according to the Web sites.
The women decided to make fliers of their own, stating the facts that they found and asking students to "question" First Right's findings.
"We didn't want to make an argument that was completely pro-choice, because that is a standstill debate, but the fact that they put up information saying that abortions cause breast cancer was really a surprise to us," Moyer said. "It seemed like propaganda and a fear tactic."
Moyer also was upset about the way in which the group portrayed their information.
"If they wanted to make their argument, they shouldn't have used the approach of scaring young women. It is anti-feminist," she said.
On the other side of the argument, Turner said the cancer statement would bear further research.
"I believe we can't know for sure if there is a link or not," Turner said. "We are finding more about it each day, but we can't yet prove either side conclusively."
Turner said the "Question it" posters were a good idea.
"I think it is good if we have a dialogue and people realize that there is a question," Turner said. "I think that both sides wanted people to be more informed and that each was able to get their messages across."
Pro-choice supporters wrote "awesome" and "thanks" on several of the "question it" posters, and Moyer, remaining anonymous until now, received an e-mail from the pro-choice e-mail list thanking the person who put the posters up. On the flip-side of the debate, pro-life stickers were stuck over the "question it" fliers as well as many of them being quickly ripped down.
"We got a good enough response and feel that our efforts were worth it," Moyer said. "I would definitely do the same thing if another situation arose."
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