By Emily GlazerThe Daily Northwestern
Northwestern Students for Life lined one mile of Sheridan Road with 3,700 American flags Monday to recognize the 34th anniversary of Roe v. Wade.
The flags represented the number of unborn children aborted each day in the U.S., but at first glance some NU students said they thought the flags were part of a war protest.
Weinberg sophomore Alex Jarrell initially thought the flags represented soldiers who have died in Iraq.
“I thought, ‘Great – activism at school,’ but then I discovered it was not about Iraq,” he said.
Mike Breidenbach, president of NSFL, said the main goal was to raise abortion awareness. The student group also posted banners covered in abortion facts gathered from medical studies, Planned Parenthood and various Web sites.
“(We wanted) to make sure that when people go to class, they stop and pause on Sheridan Road and think about the implication of 3,700 unborn children being aborted every day, ” said Breidenbach, a Weinberg junior.
Breidenbach said the reason his group chose to use American flags was because they represent life and liberty – two rights he said are denied to aborted children. He said he did not expect students to confuse the symbols.
Members of NSFL said they hoped to bring a national issue to the local level.
“It’s not just a distant headline that you see in a newspaper, but it affects people on a daily basis at NU and in the Evanston community,” Breidenbach said. “We think that the least we can do is raise awareness – hope that one sign, one flag can change one’s mind.”
Jarrell also said he was disappointed that NSFL used American flags to symbolize the unborn children.
“They make anti-abortion seem more patriotic than pro-abortion,” he said.
Stefanie Erner, a Weinberg junior, also said she thought the flags represented a protest against the current war in Iraq.
After learning that the flags represented unborn children and stood for anti-abortion, she said she respected others’ freedom of choice.
Throughout the day, some students paused to look at the flags and signs while others didn’t notice the exhibition, walking past with iPod headphones in their ears.
Breidenbach said he received mixed reactions from those he talked to.
“One person said they thought it was great, another said it was despicable,” he said.
He said he saw people raising eyebrows, honking horns and applauding. Thirty flags also were broken, trampled on or taken.
NSFL Vice President Nathaniel Zebrowski, a Weinberg sophomore, told Breidenbach they had to replace about eight signs that described the exhibition, in addition to the damaged flags.
One student posted a three-page paper on a telephone pole describing why she was against the exhibition. In the afternoon, some students gathered around to read her statement.
This was the largest, most eye-catching exhibition done by NSFL to recognize Roe v. Wade in recent history, Breidenbach said.
“We want, at the end of the day, for people to think critically about the issue and incite dialogue into the community,” Breidenbach said. “At this point, it’s a very divisive issue and we understand that, but that doesn’t mean you should shy away from it.”
Reach Emily Glazer at [email protected].
