Don’t coerce Duke women into choosing life

An 18-year-old Duke student finds out she is pregnant. Where should she go? What should she do? This is where Duke Students for Life would take a stand against abortion, spending money and effort to blow up pictures of aborted fetuses and visualize statistics on the numbers of baby murders. Such tactics are emblematic of movements trying to scare or shock onlookers away from what the movement is protesting.  

But pro-life supporters are in a unique position to do something that other movements cannot: collaborate and prevent. Despite the incredible amount of money pro-life activists receive from religious and conservative groups, pro-choice supporters are constantly disappointed by how pro-lifers funnel everything into what happens after unprotected sex, and, do so in a way that often shames or confuses women.   

Conservatives and liberals should agree on a right to make decisions without interference from the government. Yet pro-lifers use their influence to try to force legislation that reduces women’s options. Conservatives and liberals should also agree on the importance of preventing unprotected sex and unwanted pregnancies. Yet pro-lifers are most known for picketing Planned Parenthood and other women’s clinics, screaming at patients and workers rather than encouraging the use of the birth control and sex education services these offices provide.   

No one should be shamed or scared into making an individual, life-changing decision. No one should be coerced into a decision by simple ignorance of the options. We have a unique opportunity on Duke’s campus for pro-lifers and pro-choicers to come together and educate women about unprotected sex, about how alcohol and drugs can contribute to sexual assaults and unwanted pregnancies and about women’s options should an unexpected pregnancy occur. It is hard enough for Duke women to navigate sex. Places like the Chapel and the Women’s Center should together form a support network to help women make the best choices for themselves. After all, you can’t “choose life” without first being able to choose.  

Nicole Nelson Trinity ’09