Abortion.Debate from Mallory Jordan on Vimeo.
University Programs brought the state wide abortion debate to campus this past week. Mary Hallan-Fiorito and Katie Stack each debated their stance on the issue.
Fiorito said in her opening statement, “Those who are voiceless, those who are vulnerable, those who are dependent, are those people that deserve additional protection.”
Stack followed her with her own opening statement, “Legal obligations of this kind necessarily sacrifices one person’s rights in favor of anothers.”
Amy Fletcher is a student at the UofA and attended the debate in hopes of finding out more information on the topic.
“We can kind of be skewed as students, very much so, I wanted to see what the professionals had to say,” said Fletcher.
Fletcher finds with issues like abortion many form opinions without knowing all of the facts. The debate moderator gave his opinion on the issue by stating, “What’s important is being knowledgeable on the facts and making a decision.”
Many students came out to the debate, but a question was asked about what the UofA campus offers for women facing unwanted pregnancies.
Mary Alice Serafini, executive director of Pat Walker Health Center, said the clinic is prepared to give women the resources they need and is able to customize information for each patient.
“We have a list of agencies, offices, places that if we have an inquiry we can give them a phone number or an address,” Serafini said.
Serafini also mentioned that the clinic does not directly deal with abortion issues. They give women referrals to specialists in the area. The clinic does encourage students to ask questions about any health related issue they may have.
The debate allowed for students and members of the community to be involved in a discussion that isn’t always easy. Fletcher made the comment that she thinks it is very important for college students to be open to such discussions.
Fletcher said, “It’s really important that we have opinions now, and that we have the access to the information.”