Wednesday during lunch and afterward, I, like many others in the ISU community, was accosted by the Missionaries to the Preborn.

Graphic pictures of aborted fetuses and preachers spewing hate toward anyone who disagreed with them ruined an otherwise lovely spring day.

Their main purpose is to inflame, scare and shock as many people as possible. MTTP isn’t interested in any side of the story but its own.

I stood for about a half hour with the Women’s Center representatives as they made a counter protest.

We were called whores, fornicators, baby-killers and worse. Would I do it again? In a minute.

MTTP would have you believe that the only purpose of Planned Parenthood is to provide abortions.

That’s only a small part of its mission.

It provides reproductive healthcare for both genders, educational programs, public policies which ensure access to its services and research in reproductive health.

I’ve been thinking of a productive response to yesterday’s demonstration. If those of you in the audience want to make a difference – here’s how.

If you are pro-life, by all means support their cause. If you’re pro-choice, make a donation to Planned Parenthood.

If you’re just there for the sideshow, go someplace else and deprive the demagogues of the attention they crave.

If they throw a demonstration and no one shows up, they’ll go away. Best of all, ISU students, faculty and staff will have their green space back.

Jeffrey Kushkowski

Associate professor

Parks Library