A group of protesters picketed the Pro-Life Society’s stall at the Societies’ Fair on Thursday, September 19.
Holding a large sign with the slogan “MISOGYNISTS OFF OUR CAMPUS”, protestors from Manchester Leftist Action stood in front of the Pro-Life Society’s table.
Protest participants talked with students, discussing their opinions on the Pro-Life Society and their discontent with their presence on campus.
Members from the Pro-Life Society were blocked from view by the large sign before representatives from the SU asked that both Pro-Life members and protesters share the allotted space.
Both sides agreed to divide the stall, so as not to block students from interacting with either side.
An interview was conducted under the condition that a phone call with the Pro-Life Society’s President was allowed prior.
When interviewed, Erik (a member of the Pro-Life Society) argued he was there, “To be the voice for the voiceless”.
The society believed the protest did not disrupt their attempts to converse with students.
During our conversation, Erik said, “Today, during the freshers’ fair, we had a lot of students interested in joining”.
When asked what the society had planned for this year, Erik told us, “Distribution is the main point for this semester” with plans to expand further into more direct engagement.
During last year’s protest (February 29) a petition was circulated to have the society shut down by the SU, citing the emotional harm to women and gender-non-conforming students.
Expanding on this further, he stated:
“It took quite a while to open [the] society, and it met a lot of resistance from other students who ha[d] petitions trying to shut us down”.
Erik reiterated the argument that “our society does not only include the issue of abortion. It’s also about capital punishment, death penalty, assisted suicide and general suicidal behaviour”.
Yet, he focused on “providing support for students who are pregnant on campus” and “if there are any students on campus who got abortions before, we’ll try to provide psychological help for them to get over the horrendous act, which people do commit. […] sometimes even, the rate of suicide after abortion is really high”.
There was a discussion of the safety of society members, “Well, there was a little more hesitance about safety reasons, but it never really would have stopped me to come here”.
“The Students’ Union was support[ive] when we were opening our society” he said, providing security during events.
Yet, the protesters argued that the presence of the controversial society made students feel uncomfortable on campus.
When asked for comment, Manchester Leftist Action said:
“We are a group of feminist students that believe that the Pro-Life Society has no place on our campus. They are attempting to spread an inherently misogynistic agenda on our campus, and this must be shown to be unacceptable. We believe that bodily autonomy is a fundamental principle, and key to liberation from patriarchy. Their lies about abortion and pregnancy should not be tolerated and normalised under the guise of “debate”. The reactions from the student body to our protest showed that the students of Manchester will not stand for this.
One of the most frequent claims we heard on the day of the freshers’ fair was that people who have had abortions are always at an increased risk of depression and suicide. This is an unproven statement that is typical of the fear mongering that pro life groups use to push their anti-abortion agenda. We believe this type of misinformation cannot be permitted to spread unchallenged. Pregnant people need our support whatever their choice, and to have their choice to access any healthcare be properly and correctly informed.
We will continue to take action against the Pro-Life Society until they disband, and encourage other students to do the same”.
When asked for comment, a spokesperson for the Students’ Union stated:
“Our priority as the Students’ Union is to empower all students to shape their university experience and voice their opinions. We support running counter campaigns on important issues while ensuring equitable access to resources for all societies, regardless of differing lawful views”.
