CHAPEL HILL, NC – An anti-abortion group called the Center for Bio-Ethical Reform held a protest on UNC’s campus on Monday.
The organization set up a series of banners showing graphic images of aborted fetuses on the Quad. Group members stood by the banners handing out brochures and engaging in conversations and debates with students and staff.
In response to the exhibition, several students gathered to counter-protest holding up signs and umbrellas to cover the banners, several of which included images of lynchings, the Holocaust, and abuse.
Several students and protesters shared their thoughts about the banners and the protest.
“Disgust was my first reaction, anger came after I guess, and I’ve just been here since then,” counterprotester Josh Shooman said.
“Being a Jewish student on campus, it’s really hard for me to look at this and not get angry,” bystander Gabe Cherniss said. “And I am angry.”
“I was really happy to see the counter-protests” bystander Brooke Elliott said. “And I think they are doing the right thing by covering up a lot of these signs are trying to prevent people from having to see these images without consent.”
“It kind of just arose spontaneously, most of us are just people coming out of class who felt horror, disgust, and felt unsafe, we just are blocking it,” counterprotester Helena Walsh said.
The Center for Bio-Ethical Reform did not share how long they would be protesting on campus.