Hundreds of students and community members attended a civil debate on an incendiary topic Wednesday night. American Civil Liberties Union President Nadine Strossen and president of the Life Training Institute Scott Klusendorf debated the issue of abortion.
Strossen represented the pro-choice side while Klusendorf presented a pro-life point of view. The event was presented by Associated Students Inc. as part of their “True Life” series.
“The student interest in this was beyond overwhelming,” said ASI program director Michello Curro. Twenty-nine percent of students expressed interest in seeing an abortion debate through surveys, versus just 9 percent for the second-highest-voted topic, Curro said.
The speakers had previously debated together. Though both were obviously passionate about the issue, the speakers stayed on friendly terms throughout the night.
“The values we share are more important than the ones we do not,” Strossen said.
She stressed that “abortion (should) remain safe, legal, accessible and rare” in her opening statements.
She gave a wide variety of reasons for her position. She referenced everyone from religious groups for choice to Ronald Reagan in support of her argument.
“Let’s keep the government out of our bodies and out of our bedrooms,” she said.
Finally, she urged Klusendorf and all of those on the pro-life side to work together with pro-choicers to prevent unintended pregnancies and reduce the abortion rate.
Klusendorf gave a very different speech; his argument centered on whether a fetus is considered a human being.
“I agree with everything Nadine said; she is absolutely correct – if the unborn are not humans,” he said. “No one would have a debate in the name of privacy, choice and liberties if the case was for killing toddlers.”
He then used the acronym SLED to support his belief that fetuses are human beings.
According to Klusendorf, size, level of development, environment and dependency are the differences between a fetus and a baby.
“Are we going to say that all humans have a right to life, or just some?” he asked.
Strossen took issue with Klusendorf’s use of the word “environment.”
“He calls it an ‘environment,’ I call it a woman,” she said.
Next, there was a lengthy question and answer session. Students lined up on both sides of Chumash Auditorium to ask questions on everything from whether abortion should be legal in cases of rape to whether it’s morally acceptable to remove a parasitic twin from its sibling.
After half an hour of questions, ASI president and debate moderator Brandon Souza had to ask the long line of remaining students to sit down.
Students had varying opinions on the effectiveness of the speakers.
“I felt like Strossen was a better speaker; she had better points and got them across better,” earth sciences freshman Brittany Brookshire said.
“It’s easy for (Klusendorf) to be against abortion,” Brookshire added. “He’ll never have to go through that, make that decision.”
Microbiology freshman Fed Ghali disagreed.
“I felt that the speakers were unevenly matched. The pro-life debater was exponentially better. If the pro-choice side wants to convince me, then they’ll have to come up with better arguments,” he said.