Abortion Ruins "Family Atmosphere" Not Pictures

By Mark Harrington

Melissa Obergefell’s letter entitled “Abortion protesters ruin fair for families” (August 17, 2007) attacks the messenger and not the message. Obergefell writes that the “family atmosphere of the state fair was destroyed” by the bloody abortion images held by pro lifers. She mentioned that her family trip to the fair was “darkened by such an assault” of “extremely graphic, taller-than-me images of dead, mutilated babies.”

Which is worse, people displaying the photographic evidence of dismembered unborn children or that in our city alone thousands of pre born babies are slaughtered each year?

What disturbs the “family atmosphere” of our city is not the presence of God fearing Americans standing up for defenseless unborn babies but the brutality of abortion which we allow to occur countless of times each day. Killing children is not a family value.

Ms. Obergefell: You want to repeal the First Amendment. Pro lifers want to end abortion. Who is the extremist?

Mark Harrington
Center for Bio-Ethical Reform Midwest

PO Box 360503

Columbus, OH 43236-0503

614-759-5195

614-419-9000

"Abortion protesters ruin fair for families"

From August 3-16, 2007 a group from Wisconsin toured Ohio with handheld signs depicting aborted fetus’ and embryos. During the visit they stood with the signs outside the Ohio State Fair. The following letter to the Editor appeared in the Columbus Dispatch on August 17, 2007.

Abortion protesters ruin fair for families

Friday, August 17, 2007 3:29 AM

My family attended the Ohio State Fair's "Family Day" on the evening of Aug. 6. When we exited I-71 at 11th Avenue, we drove to the fair gate through a virtual tunnel of extremely graphic, taller-than-me images of dead, mutilated babies. We never would have imagined that our family trip to the fair would be darkened by such an assault.

My children, girls ages 7 and 3, are exposed to lots of urban realities in our visits to our city's happenings. We can usually count on a reasonably neighborly experience, and if not, we can at least count on a police presence to bring things back to safety. This time, we could tell that the police who were tending to this out-of-control incident were doing the best that they thought they could. Apparently, they'd taken bullhorns from the demonstrators, and were staying nearby but could not infringe on the "rights" of these people to "stand there."

I ask that this "right," and the way that it is dealt with, be further examined. Though I do appreciate the removal of the bullhorns, I do not agree that the sound of this demonstration was more disturbing of peace or more indecent than the sight of it. I could have explained all this much more easily to my children if the demonstrators were shouting Bible verses and curses into megaphones than I can erase those horrible, violent, confusing images from their minds.

The family atmosphere of the fair was destroyed by these people. The exercise of their freedom compromised our enjoyment and that of many others. I am concerned that these demonstrations will continue and maybe even increase, spreading this attack message in our friendly, safe city. I am not entirely unsympathetic to the moral and social issues for which these demonstrators stand, but I do feel our city's family-friendliness is being threatened by their extremism. Change is necessary in the policies that surround this issue.

MELISSA OBERGEFELL
Columbus