When I was walking to class on what I thought was a normal Tuesday morning, I walked right into a war zone. No not an actual war zone, but a war zone of abortion protesters. I saw about a dozen pictures of dead babies and dismantled fetuses. Surrounding these photographs were protesters jumping at the bit to talk to anyone that walked by about the reasons a woman should not get an abortion. Luckily I had headphones in and kept my head down and got out alive. Even though I was able to walk by relatively unbothered, I was still very upset and disturbed.

A college campus is supposed to be a safe place where you can learn, experience new things, and widen your horizons. When students are nearly slapped in the face with the pictures of dead fetuses, the safe space feels as though it was taken away from them. The proper way to have a conversation about topics as sensitive as this one would be to approach the student and politely ask if they have a moment to speak with you about the topic. This way students have the control over what they encounter that day. When students are given the opportunity to speak openly about important topics, or to steer away from topics they find too controversial to speak about to a stranger or simply feel uncomfortable talking about, they are provided with the safe the campus is supposed to be.

Abortion protesters are not only this aggressive on college campuses, they are notorious for their aggressive behavior in any situation. Women tell stories about going to a clinic to get an abortion and end up being screamed at by strangers who have never heard their story or their reasoning for being there. These strangers tell them how they are going to commit murder and this is a sin and not they are damned to hell. Abortion protesters feel so strongly about their position, they are unwilling to hear out the other side.

The bottom line is if you oppose a certain topic and you want to try to spread your word in hopes other people will agree with you, do not go about it in an aggressive way. Talking to people with respect and in a calm manner goes a long way. When people feel as though their opinion is respected, they are more likely to have an open conversation about the topic which translates to learning something new. The purpose of abortion protests should not be to scare women into agreeing with them but to educate as many people possible and respect is the way to get there.