Anti- abortion and pro-choice protesters clashed in the free speech area of the Fresno City College last week. On Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday of last week, students gathered in the free speech area to voice their position on abortion.

It started on Tuesday when about 40 individuals exchanged abuses and graphic posters and argued their side’s positions trying to down the other side.

Several students said they were upset because of the graphic nature of photos being displayed by a anti-abortion group in the Free Speech area.

“They are gross,” said Nicole Parsneau, a pro- choice protester, about the photo of dead fetuses that were displayed.  She stated that she was upset because the anti-abortion group would take back gains that women had made over the years. She said, “Every woman is different they all have different stories.”

Parsneau said she was inspired by her friend to join the protest because of the graphic images of aborted embryos that were being displayed by members of an anti-abortion group called, “Project Truth.”

Steve Macias, a member of an organization called “Students for life in America,” he described why his group was using the free speech area to promote its agenda.

“We are here to educate women and to show that there are alternatives to abortion,” Macias said. “We realize that abortion is a violent, harmful murderous act to the unborn, so we are here to prevent that by educating women.”  

Macias was there with Don Blythe, a member of Project for truth  who declined to say his last name. Don was the main speaker during the event. “We are here to expose the ills abortion in America,” Don said, adding that they wanted to expose the reality that “abortion is murder.”

The graphic content in the organizations’ photos inspired Chase Williams, an FCC student, to create a sign protesting the pictures of dead fetuses. The Sign read, “It’s your choice not this guy’s.”

Williams who was the first student to challenge the anti-choice group, was just walking by when he encountered the demonstration and “pulled a piece of cardboard out of the dumpster” with which he made his sign.

Others joined Williams’ protest and the crowd began to grow larger.  

Matthew Roman was one of the early protesters. He said he was walking to the cafeteria when he saw a student crying and complaining to the college activities representative.  Roman said the college activities staff explained that the anti-abortion rights group had the right to use the free speech zone for their purposes.    

Roman quickly created a petition and began asking those who disagreed with the graphic content to sign it.

Blythe, defends his organization’s use of graphic posters.  He said, “Free speech is not meant to tickle somebody’s ear. Free speech can be hard to swallow; free speech is supposed to irritate. “

Macias provided a historical comparison. “In England, a guy by the name of William Wilberforce used graphic images of slaves to show the gory human side of slavery to convince other to stand up against the travesty.”  

Supporters of the anti-abortion group began to rally in support of the photos, creating their own protest signs as the rhetoric escalated and both sides hurled insults at their opponents.

As the day went on, a student who was member of FCC’s prayer group begin to preach to those who were against the graphic nature of the photos. He told them to repent for their sins. Some protesters complained that the pastor’s sermon missed the point of why they were protesting; they were their protesting the graphic nature of the photos, not the other side’s beliefs or opinions.  

A man yelled, “A woman’s place is to give birth to a child no matter what.”

Another person shouted, “It’s a woman’s fault if she got raped, she opened her legs”  

Kayci Harris, an FCC student, said she was inspired to join the protest because she was insulted by the radical comments made by an anti-abortion supporters, “I don’t appreciate that a man who had no connection with me is trying to tell me what to do with my body.”  

Harris says that she had had a partial birth abortion for health reasons, and that she was very by many of the radical statements made by the anti-abortion supporter. She said, “I believe that there are more reasons to have an abortion than people understand.”