By Cassidy Hamilton

Staff Writer

Since the early 1990s, the city of San Marcos and the students of CSUSM have been confronted with the demonstrations of the shamelessly opinionated pro-life organization known as the “Survivors of the Abortion Holocaust.”

The group is comprised of young adults, ages 18 – 30, who travel across the country setting up graphic posters and handing out Human Life Alliance advertising supplements, at various health clinics and universities. Their intent is to dissuade young and impressionable college students against the choice of abortion, regardless of the circumstances surrounding the pregnancy.

Two decades have passed since these “Survivors” began demonstrating in the San Marcos area and it is past due that student feedback is presented regarding their presence on campus, as well as shocking persuasion tactics.

On Sept. 4, the Survivors organization was set up for the duration of U-hour in front of Kellogg Library. The most prominent visual the group displayed was indisputably disturbing. For all students to observe, there was a lengthy banner with a visual comparison drawn between the Holocaust of World War II and abortions conducted in the U.S. today.

The top image was a photograph of a pile of emaciated corpses inside of one of Hitler’s many concentration camps with the text “Hitler’s Holocaust” across the bottom of the photo. The bottom image was that of an aborted fetus against a white background with the title “America’s Holocaust.”

Next to this banner, members of “Survivors” handed out their Human Life Alliance papers titled “…And Justice for All,” a 12-page supplement put together in traditional newspaper style. The Human Life Alliance papers contain information concerning supposed psychological and physical effects of abortion, abortion in cases of rape and incest, and other topics of relevance.

Not all students disagree with the anti-abortion message being propagated here, but that the interaction between student and organization generally appears to be negative.

Nicole, a freshman, came across the demonstration within her first week at the university.

“I thought it was a bit much,” Nicole said. “It was really shocking and it just seems like there are better ways to get their message across.”

One student, who shall go unnamed, claims that when she responded with a polite “No thank you” to the Survivors’ efforts as they tried to hand her The Human Life Alliance supplement, a girl from the group told her “You’re going to die.”

While the opinions regarding the antics of “Survivors” may vary among students, there are flaws in the content of their propaganda that must be brought the attention of the public, especially at a time when the information presented could affect the decisions students make. It is absolutely imperative that students are well-informed about a choice that could potentially alter the course of their lives if ever faced with it.

The Human Life Alliance section titled “The Long Term Effects of Abortion” claims that “feelings of depression and despair are some of the common psychological complications from abortion.” The footnote of this article reveals that this information was gathered from a study of adolescents in Minnesota dating back to 1986.

Naturally, science has advanced over the past 26 years and according to the Harvard Review of Psychiatry of 2009, “post-abortion depression and psychosis” is not recognized by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders of the American Psychiatric Association. Gail Robinson, one of the researchers of The Harvard Review of Psychiatry, explains how many studies allegedly proving the occurrence of depression and psychosis among women who have had abortions were flawed in their procedures.

The researchers conducting these observations often sampled groups of women who were abused as children or “exploited” in other ways before the experience of their abortion, thus altering the results of an observation that should be representative of all women in order to accurately measure the after effects of the abortion procedure. As stated in the Harvard Review, “clinically significant adverse symptoms occur in a minority of women and when they do, the strongest predictor is mental health before abortion.”

Not only has the myth of “post-abortion depression and psychosis” been disputed by authorities in the psychiatric field, but they have shown that it is the demonstrations of groups such as “Survivors” that would be the root of any post-abortion depression occurring in women after their procedure, if any.

Because of the stigma society has implicated with abortion, the fear of judgment and disappointment from peers could be an outside factor inducing psychological trauma in women after a procedure that does not normally result in the deterioration of mental health. The Harvard Review of Psychiatry explains it as so, “later feelings about an abortion may be influenced by…current depression related to stressful life events, or the effects of public campaigns attributing psychological problems to abortion.”

We are all entitled to our rights of free speech and expression, which “Survivors” does not hesitate to exercise, but with this right are standards and expectations of decency and accuracy of information presented, neither of which is respected by this group.

“Survivors” intentionally presents their ideas among students who are young and still developing their views of the world. It is simply unfair and immoral for them to be permitted to distribute propaganda with outdated and disproven information. While they have their right to free expression, students have a right to be properly informed about life choices, which is where “The Survivors of the Abortion Holocaust” fail to serve.