Thomas Hernandez
Photo Editor
This story and the headline were updated April 29 at 6:30 p.m. to clarify that the April 23 event was organized by Students for Life in collaboration with the campus chapter of Turning Point USA.
Members of Turning Point USA and a representative from a pro-life advocacy group demonstrated outside the Central Academic Building on Thursday to plead their case against chemical abortions.
Dozens of red bags marked with biohazard symbols to symbolize aborted fetal remains lay beside a table where members of TPUSA talked with students and handed out literature containing their viewpoint on the subject.
Texas A&M University-San Antonio students Victoria Almendarez and Paul Lara spoke with the members but expressed concern about the argument being presented.
“I understand that people have differing views on different topics, but I feel like a narrative is being pushed,” Almendarez said. “Last semester I saw signs about relationship abuse and how to get away from it. I wish we had more of that rather than one-sided arguments that get very heated.”
Lara agreed and wished that “we had more events that are open-minded for everyone to share their ideas.”
The demonstration was conducted in collaboration with Students for Life, a pro-life advocacy organization headquartered in Fredericksburg, Virginia.
Megan Roos, a regional coordinator for Students for Life, organized the demonstration and has one more stop on a tour of Texas colleges and universities with the goal of sharing the organization’s stance on abortions.
Roos said resources are available from Standing with You, a pro-life organization, for those who choose not to get an abortion and need assistance with an unplanned pregnancy.
Jabari Armotrading, vice president of the TPUSA chapter at A&M-San Antonio, echoed the arguments presented by Students for Life and said he hopes the demonstration “educates about the atrocity and the harms to women and the unborn. Above all, we are here for the voiceless.”
The focus of Thursday’s demonstration was on chemical abortions, which often use the drugs mifepristone and misoprostol.
These drugs are banned in Texas under House Bill 1280. Cases of rape or incest are not granted an exception to use these drugs, although, one can be made if a pregnancy could result in death or a major impact on bodily function.
Mifepristone blocks essential hormones needed for a pregnancy to remain viable. The embryo then detaches and misoprostol is given to expel the pregnancy tissue via contractions.
According to the Cleveland Clinic, this form of abortion is considered safe, and the Federal Drug Administration has approved its use up to 10 weeks of gestation.
This is Chemical Abortion, an initiative by Students for Life, says traceable amounts of mifepristone can be detected in water expelled from water treatment facilities.
The information This is Chemical Abortion presents is based on research conducted by unnamed doctors that have not been peer-reviewed and published in a medical or academic publication.
The Mesquite is contacting A&M-San Antonio’s Water Resources Science & Technology program for an interview about the claims from This is Chemical Abortion. The WATR program develops students to enter the water industry which includes classes on pollutants and wastewater treatment.
