The Lumberjack



Students Serving The Cal Poly Humboldt Campus and Community Since 1929

Tag: Abortion

  • Pro-life protest through positivity

    Pro-life protest through positivity

    The sun streaks through the patchy white clouds and the breeze blows cold off the bay against Moriah Nelson’s face as she sits alone on a corner in Eureka. Next to her are white signs with black lettering stating the message of her protest.

    “Pray to End Abortion,” the sign reads.

    Nelson, 25, has been involved in anti-abortion activism for three years now, working with the Eureka branch of the 40 Days for Life.

    This is a protest that goes on throughout the length of Christian Lent, where protesters sit outside of Planned Parenthood in a peaceful demonstration.

    “It is compassion and Christ-like love that will change and help these women,” Nelson said.

    Nelson said that when she first found out about abortion, she was horrified.

    “I had a lot of misplaced anger as a teenager,” Nelson said.

    Nelson began her anti-abortion activism, as well as volunteering, at a local Pregnancy Care Center in order to initiate change. The center provides clothing and supplies to women and children in need, as well as hosting a medical facility equipped with volunteer nurses.

    “I like being able to serve in a tangible way,” Nelson said, “Women say to us that they are so thankful.”

    Nelson is the oldest of her eight siblings, the youngest is four. They all live together in their Eureka family home, and all of the children are part of a strong homeschool community.

    The family is involved with activism in the community. Nelson said her grandfather was heavily involved in solving the homeless issue up until his passing in 2016. Her brother Courtland, 20, is continuing the legacy.

    “We’re hoping we can build a relationship with the homeless and try to get them to a better place,” Courtland said.

    Every Friday night, Courtland goes out with a group of his friends and some sandwiches to talk and pray with the homeless in Eureka. He is also involved with a pregnancy clinic, painting for them and serving at the annual banquet.

    Courtland is not as active on the issue as his sister.

    While Nelson’s family and service is a huge component of her life, another big focus is her future husband and upcoming wedding in September.

    Her boyfriend Johnny Wisan, 25, is also a Eureka local currently working with at-risk children for an internship at a church in Wales. The program involves mentoring, praying and activities every night.

    The couple met at the age of seven through the homeschool community and she said they immediately knew they would get married.

    Nelson has been to Wales twice, and after their marriage, the couple plans to relocate if he is able to acquire a paid position at the church.

    Though she has never left her childhood home and family, Nelson said that through prayer, she and Wisan realized that Wales was where they could best serve the children.

    “How can I say I am pro-life if I don’t step up and make a change?” Nelson said.

  • Letter to the editor in response to “40-day anti-abortion protest begins in Eureka”

    Letter to the editor in response to “40-day anti-abortion protest begins in Eureka”

    Dear Editor,

    Regarding the Lumberjack article about the 40-Day Anti-Abortion Protest – HSU students need to know that not all religions or religious leaders believe that human sexuality is evil and something to be ashamed of. They need to know that some ways of faith regard sexuality as a blessing to be carefully and thoughtfully enjoyed between people as a way of communicating and sharing love – even if they aren’t married and even if they aren’t heterosexual.

    Like fire, human sexuality can, of course, hurt people both emotionally and physically. As people learn how to express their sexuality and share it with others, they learn by trial and error. Some religions shame people about this reality. Other religions offer factually accurate information and encourage people to make thoughtful and caring choices in keeping with their own deep values.

    The United States is a secular nation that works to guarantee freedom of religion for all its citizens. People whose faith calls them to abstain from all sexual activity before marriage or to abstain from birth control and abortion are free to follow the dictates of their hearts. And people whose faith or whose approach to life allows them more freedom around their sexual expression are also free to do as they see fit.

    Some religious people would like to do away with respect for religious freedom when it comes to human sexuality. But they do not speak for all religious people. Clergy for Choice is a group of interfaith religious leaders who support men and women in carefully finding their own way regarding their own sexuality. Clergy for Choice supports the compassionate and highly professional work of Planned Parenthood.

    So while some religious people practice 40 days of protest to end abortion and to end religious freedom around human sexual expression, other religious people practice a lifetime of supporting Planned Parenthood and thorough and effective reproductive health care for people as they make their own choices in this vulnerable and tender aspect of their lives.

    Sincerely,

    Rev. Bryan Jessup
    The Humboldt Unitarian Universalist Fellowship
    PO Box 506
    Bayside, CA 95524 – Phone: 707 822-3793

  • 40-day anti-abortion protest begins in Eureka

    40-day anti-abortion protest begins in Eureka

    In association with the global campaign 40 Days For Life, a group of people gathered in Eureka outside of Planned Parenthood to protest from Feb. 14 to March 25 in an effort to end abortion. Feb. 13 was the largest kickoff mlly the group has witnessed so far.

    The chill in the air was almost tangible outside of the Planned Parenthood in Eureka as a group of churchgoers gathered on the corner to protest abortion.

    Feb. 13 was the kickoff rally for the 40 Days For Life campaign, a global organization that strives to end abortion through prayer and peaceful activism.

    Stephanie Goodwin, 51, ran four campaigns in the city of Eureka and says the reaction from the community has not been negative.

    “There’s a lot of positive reactions,” Goodwin said.

    Goodwin said the organization’s aim is to be very peaceful, with their primary goal of restoration and healing.

    The campaign began on Feb. 14 and continues until March 25. The group will be returning to host the 40 Days For Life vigil from 7 a.m. until 7 p.m. every day.

    Bill Belairs, 63, and his wife Donna Belairs, 60, also have had positive experiences in their time participating in anti-abortion activism.

    “Some people flip you off,” Bill said.

    At this rally, not one individual came to protest the protesters.

    The Belairs said this was the biggest kickoff they have ever had for the 40 Days For Life protest.

    The rally began with individuals gathering on the corner of Walford and Wilson, shaking hands, lighting and passing out candles and then gathering.

    The ceremony opened with a prayer from Reverend Eddie Ramon, 46, who is the associate pastor at the Sacred Heart Church in Eureka.

    “We ask the Lord to stop the horror of the taking of human lives,” Ramon said.

    After his prayers, which Ramon recited in both English and Spanish, Mark Seitz, 39, with the Fortuna Church of the Nazarian took center circle to begin his prayers, accompanied by a trumpet made out of an animal horn called a shofar.

    “We must proclaim publically and fearlessly that though abortion may be legal in our land, it is not just in our land. For America, we sound the shofar,” Seitz said.

    A guitar was played and lyrics were passed around as the group sang songs such as “Create me in a Clean Heart,” “Oh Lord I Love you Forever” and “No Longer Slaves.”

    The event concluded with a final prayer from Reverend Ramon and attendees parted ways until they join again the next morning at the official beginning of the protest.

    Reverend Eddie Ramon reading from Matthew 18:19 to a crowd outside of the Eureka Planned Parenthood to protest abortion as a part of the 40 Days For Life initiative. Photo by Abigail LeForge.

    The press release for the event boasts the successes of these campaigns, claiming they have saved almost 14,000 children from abortions.

    “Dozens of abortion facilities have experienced sharp setbacks, cutting back hours and closing down for days at a time,” Goodwin said. “94 abortion facilities have been closed.”

  • Defunding women’s rights

    Defunding women’s rights

     

    By|Domanique Crawford

    Don’t spit on my cupcake and call it frosting, don’t urinate on my leg and tell me it’s raining, and don’t make laws restricting my access to healthcare and claim it’s to protect my taxpayer money.

    On March 30, Vice President Mike Pence cast a tie-breaking vote on a measure that effectively defunds Planned Parenthood [PPFA]. The new legislation allows states to withhold federal funding from PPFA and other healthcare programs that provide abortion services.

    Congress first had to agree to rollback on Department of Health and Human Services rule established under the Obama administration that prohibited cutting funds from Title X family planning grants to community health centers because they offer abortion services.

    Despite what the new administration thinks, these programs are not secret baby killing factories. In fact, abortion services are only 3 percent of PPFA’s total services according to the PPFA fact sheet. Regardless of your feelings on abortion, defunding health clinics like PPFA means limiting women’s access to affordable healthcare.

    More and more the Trump administration and state lawmakers seem to be passing laws restricting women’s right under the guise of de-funding abortion services. When clearly, this is another strike against women’s right to equality.

    Even if critics of clinics like PPFA, are afraid of these programs using taxpayer money to fund abortion services, they could just as easily form greater stipulations and regulations monitoring the usage of such resources rather than then simply defunding it. As usually seen with this administration, they defunded another program without a clear plan in sight for all of the low-income people rejected healthcare services by the bill. An attitude that says the Trump administration doesn’t actually care about what happens to women.

    Lawmakers are using a highly controversial issue of abortion to push laws that subjugate women and classify us as second class citizens unable maintain our simplest values. The right to govern or own bodies.

    Pro-choice is simply your right to choose. I respect pro-lifers decision to have a child despite the physical harm the pregnancy can cause the mother, the mental and physical conditions of the baby, and the determination to have a child despite the circumstance of conception through natural conception or through sexual assault.

    I don’t condone pro-lifers forcing their ideals on the rest of us by threatening our access to healthcare. Pro-lifers are free to make that choice for themselves. However, to enforce those options on someone else is barbaric. What’s worse, is punishing women who depend on these Title X services for access to pregnancy care other than abortions, contraceptives, STD/STI testing and treatment, etc.

    If the government were really worried about protecting taxpayer money rather than restricting women’s right, then they would have installed greater measures that guarantee taxpayer money isn’t going towards paying for abortion services. That is what regulatory agencies are for.

     

  • HSU students react to new abortion law passed in Arkansas

    HSU students react to new abortion law passed in Arkansas

    By Erin Chessin

    A new Arkansas law will allow the father of a pregnant woman’s child to sue her if she gets an abortion. There are no exceptions that prevent the father from suing, even in instances of rape and incest.

    The Arkansas Unborn Child Protection From Dismemberment Abortion Act was signed and passed on Feb. 16 by Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson, according to the Center for Reproductive Rights.

    Many HSU students are concerned for how the law will affect women’s rights in the U.S. Sara Narajowski is a kinesiology major at HSU.

    “The law is a huge step back for women’s rights,” Narajowski said.

    She also said that all women deserve the choice to get an abortion because it is her body that is affected by the pregnancy.

    “By pro-choice, every woman has the right to protect herself both physically and emotionally from having an unplanned pregnancy,” Narajowski said.

    Abortion laws around the world vary, some countries are more strict about regulating abortion than others. While abortion is legal in the U.S, the new Arkansas abortion law could encourage other states to pass stricter abortion laws in efforts of discouraging women from choosing abortion. Students are concerned this law could cross over to different states and prevent women from having the choice to abort a child in the U.S.

    Another debate that arises from the new law is whether the law is meant to undermine the Roe v. Wade decision in 1973, which gave women the right to get an abortion without having to state a reason.

    Jason Martinez, a major criminal justice major at HSU, is shocked the law managed to pass.

    “It’s unfair that a rapist can sue the mother of the unborn child for getting an abortion,” Martinez said. “It undermines how severe the act of rape is because the perpetrator can get money from committing a crime, without caring about the mother or the child.”

    Martinez also said that a mother not being able to get an abortion can mean emotional and psychological consequences for the child’s life in result.

    “People aren’t thinking about the child’s well being,” Martinz said. “If the mother has to have the child when she wasn’t financially prepared or was raped, this could cause psychological consequences for both the mother and baby.”

    Kassidy Hayes is a biopsychology major at HSU.

    “The law supports the subordination of women’s rights,” Hayes said.

    Hayes said that she feels that abortion is not an easy choice, but it is a rightful choice women should have for the safety of her body.

    “It’s interesting how these laws are being passed down by men, who will never know what it’s like to carry a baby,” Hayes said.

    Currently, the American Civil Liberties Union of Arkansas is seeking to challenge the abortion bill in court before it goes into effect in 2017.