The demonstrators at the Nov. 1 Students for Life rally saw fit to utilize their own children as political tools. Children as young as five could be seen holding signs featuring anti-abortion rhetoric.

A young girl held a sign that read “A person is a person, no matter how small.” When asked if a zygote was a person, she responded, “No . what’s a zygote?” Soon after, her interviewer was informed that the children were not to be spoken to, as it was “inappropriate to talk to 12-year-olds about abortion.” Children like this girl were brought to the rally and told to hold signs displaying messages of which they had no understanding. Further, it was forbidden to discuss with them the very topic that they were demonstrating.

It’s very cynical to use one’s own children to help make a political point, but it also begs the question – was their position on abortion so tenuous as to require resorting to such means?

Kendra K. Essman

Freshman

Linguistics