A human rights group brought an attention-getting display to the campus of Florida Gulf Coast University on Wednesday, featuring graphic photos of post-abortion fetuses. The photos were on large posters on the lawn outside the campus library, some showing aborted fetuses that had been dismembered and disemboweled.
"We're here because we believe in human rights, and we believe that every human being should have human rights the moment they begin," said Devorah Gilman, whose group, the Center For Bio-Ethical Reform, put up the display. She and several others handed out anti-abortion pamphlets to students passing the display.
"Very in-your-face...doesn't really give you the chance to look away," said FGCU student Sarah Burman.
Burman is pro-choice, and said that the display hasn't changed her mind.
"I think that everyone's entitled to have their own opinion, but this is like a big display kind of forcing it on everyone walking past," Burman said.
"What else could we show you?" asked Gilman, when asked if she's received any backlash for displaying the post-abortion photos. "We can't show you anything else except bloody, torn limbs, because that's what abortion truly is."
FGCU student MacKayla Groth said she's concerned about teens younger than college-age students seeing the graphic pictures.
"We always have middle-schoolers or high-schoolers visiting campus," Groth said. "What if this lined up on the same day that happened, and kids are seeing this before they've even been educated on the topic at all?"
Some FGCU students like Kyle Johnson justify the use of the gruesome display by the human rights group to get their point across.
"It's not too intense, because they need to see that this is a tragic thing that's going on," Johnson said.
The Center For Bio-Ethical Reform plans to display the photos on campus again Thursday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
