Charles Nailen/The Hoya Georgetown University Right to Life placed 3,598 pink and blue flags on Copley Lawn for a silent demonstration Wednesday as part of “Life Week.”

Georgetown Right to Life members placed 3,598 pink and blue flags on Copley Lawn Wednesday morning, preparing the silent demonstration that has grown to mark the “Life Week” sponsored by Right to Life.

The nearly 3,600 flags represent the average number of abortions every day in the U.S., Tim Foley (COL ’06), Right to Life vice president, said.

In addition to the demonstration Wednesday, Life Week brought a number of speakers to campus and offered several events to promote awareness about abortion, the death penalty and euthanasia, among other issues.

“This week has been a positive experience,” Foley said. “People have been receptive to our message.”

Right to Life students were stationed on Copley Lawn to answer questions about the flag demonstration throughout the day. Two years ago students trampled many of the flags, prompting Right to Life to request a university presence during last year’s demonstration. Foley said that most students who disagreed with the demonstration were not disruptive.

“We’ve seen nothing that violent towards our demonstration,” he said. “Some people have torn up our flyers that we’ve distributed and a few people spat on our flags, but luckily none have been trampled.”

H*yas for Choice, an abortion-rights advocacy group that does not receive university funding, responded to the flag demonstration on Copley Lawn by placing hangers throughout campus and inside classrooms. Statistics were attached to the hangers about the deaths caused worldwide by illegal abortions.

Last night, women’s studies professor Elizabeth Velez had an open-ended discussion on reproductive and sexual rights. “We wanted to show that there is another side to this debate,” H*yas for Choice member Kristina Gupta (COL ’05) said. “Motherhood should not be forced upon anyone – it should be a choice, made willingly and freely. Women throughout history have rebelled against compulsory motherhood, as it destroys a woman’s bodily integrity, agency and autonomy.”

Gupta said that the coat-hanger demonstrations aimed to increase awareness about the dangers of making abortion illegal. “For as long as there have been unwanted pregnancies, women have

turned to abortion as a last resort, in order to avoid compulsory motherhood. Making abortion illegal does not reduce its overall incidence; instead, it simply means that women will undergo unsafe procedures, often resulting in disease, injury or death.”

H*yas for Choice staffed a table in Red Square throughout the week, and Gupta said that it has received positive response about its counter-protest.

“Many people thanked us profusely for responding to Right to Life, by demonstrating that this issue is complex and multi-sided, and by showing that many Hoyas are proudly and vocally pro-choice,” she said.

Foley said that the goal of Life Week’s events have been to create a constructive dialogue about abortion.

“Some have shown contempt. But many were happy to see us engaging the community in a constructive dialogue. Even if people didn’t agree with us, they were willing to raise a debate about the merits of each side,” he said. “Our aim has been to create a dialogue about abortion and life issues on campus, even if people don’t agree with us.”

“We completely respect their right to express their viewpoint,” Gupta said. “What we object to is that they are given university money (our money) to express this viewpoint, however H*yas for Choice is not given any university resources with which to respond. We think that this is an objection that even Right to Life should agree with, if they are truly committed to fostering a meaningful dialogue about this issue, as they have claimed.”

Tuesday evening Life Week sponsored a speech by Fr. John Langan, S.J., on the death penalty. It was followed with an interdisciplinary dialogue Wednesday evening that featured three speakers – Fr. Thomas King, S.J., a theology professor who spoke about the theological aspect of abortion, Dr. Alfonso Gomez-Lobo, a philosophy professor who addressed bioethical concerns with abortion and Theresa Lamonica, a former faculty member at the School of Nursing and Health Sciences who spoke about her experiences with abortion as a former nurse. Right to Life also sponsored a “Prayer Vigil for the Unborn” Wednesday on Copley Lawn.

Tomorrow, the organization will help repair facilities at the Kennedy Institute in northeast Washington, D.C., to conclude the week’s events.

“It’s hard to think about what abortion is intended to do when we hear abstract numbers, but seeing the flag display on Copley Lawn helps people step back, think and, if anything, it will foster a discussion,” Foley said.