Despite my Catholic upbringing, I am completely pro-choice. That said, I also am entirely pro-protesting in Tate.

The anti-abortion protest in Tate Center Plaza has garnered a great deal of debate among students these past few days. This can only be a good thing, as Justice for All – the group behind the displays – is accomplishing its goal of raising awareness for a cause it is passionate about.

Despite this positive outcome, there are those who find the graphic images to be disturbing or in poor taste. I too would prefer not to see the panels at 10:30 a.m. – if I wasn’t awake prior to my trip by Tate, I definitely was afterward.

The people running this display are more passionate about a cause than many of us, waking up before 9 a.m. (something I would never consider on my days off) to be out there, trying to make people understand the realities associated with abortion.

On its Web site, Justice for All states, “Some injustices have to be seen if they are to be believed. Yet injustice is hardly ever visually appealing.”

I agree wholeheartedly. However, the group also likens abortion to genocide and attempts to bring the realities of this to the heart of our campus.

I wouldn’t term abortion as genocide, but I do applaud the group for trying to educate the masses.

Thanks to my weak stomach, I had to take a few breaths to steady myself after seeing the images. But I cannot deny that the group has every right to be here showing us these images.

For 218 years the First Amendment has granted the right to protest and assemble to all Americans, so long as they do so peacefully. Campus covers 605 acres – if you don’t want to see the panels that Justice for All has, there is probably a different route you can take to class.

I would never deny them the right to protest here, but I also wish the group would accept that abortion has been legal since Roe v. Wade and understand that outlawing abortion is not going to stop it from happening. It’s illegal to smoke marijuana, yet somehow people find a way to.

I think it is safe to say that just because something is not legally condoned, doesn’t mean people won’t do it.

The Red & Black has published columns and letters promoting the legalization of pot and the sale of alcohol on Sundays, facing ridicule and inciting controversial dialogues on our Web site.

That is what Justice for All aims to do – raise awareness and stop a practice it does not agree with, even if it means angering students.

So grant the group the chance to protest – it will be gone soon. And if necessary, walk by Tate with your eyes closed.

- Megan Otto is a member of The Red & Black’s editorial board.