USF student Bella Pozo created this design for T-shirts that a group of students will wear to protest at the debate, “Is abortion morally acceptable?” held on the USF St. Petersburg campus. The debate is being led by a man on both sides, which is what Pozo and her classmates take issue with. Courtesy of Bella Pozo
By Anna Bryson
The debate on abortion, led by two men at USF St. Petersburg Thursday, will be met with a student protest.
Bella Pozo, a senior art history major at USF Tampa, is organizing a protest against the debate. It’s not wrong to have a debate about abortion, but it’s wrong to have that debate led by two men, Pozo said.
“The issue that I have and that many other women have is that USF specifically should not be instigating this idea of silencing the female voice,” she said. “(USF) isn’t hosting it, but they are providing a space for it so technically they are.”
The debate “Is abortion morally acceptable?” will be held by Florida Preborn Rescue, a “Christ-centered, on-site sidewalk counseling at local abortion clinics,” according to its website.
The anti-abortion side of the debate will be led by Florida Preborn Rescue founder Scott Mahurin, and the pro-abortion side will be led by philosophy professor John Miller.
“I don’t want to cause a major scene to where it turns violent or anything,” Pozo said.
Pozo, along with about 15 other students, is planning to attend the debate wearing screen printed T-shirts that read “not their issue.” Other ideas the group had were “should women debate the morality of circumcision,” and “man gives hot take no one asked for, on issue that doesn’t affect him.”
In response to an op-ed about the debate published in The Crow’s Nest last week titled “Women deserve to have a voice,” Mahurin commented on Facebook:
“… 1. I offered this opportunity to over 500 professors/instructors throughout Tampa Bay, both male and female. 2. John responded with the most interest and enthusiasm. 3. John will defend the pro-choice position with skill and winsomeness. 4. Many women actually refused to participate because of my gender. 5. There will be a Q and A at the end of the debate for anyone to ask any question they would like…”
The debate will take place in the Community Room at Harbor Hall on the USF St. Petersburg campus, 1000 Third St. S, from 7 to 9 p.m.
“It’s made me so upset, it’s in my community and this is something reachable and I can make my voice heard,” Pozo said. “I usually try to stay out of the political light… but after the Brett Kavanaugh case it made me really upset and personally scared as a woman. It’s really sad at this point with women not having a voice, women being seen as objects instead of actual people and even baby factories at this point.”
Anyone interested in joining the protest can contact Pozo on Instagram @bellapozo.
Why protest? Why not show up, encourage debate and voice any concerns during the open question period? It doesn’t look to me that anyone was shut out of the discussion. According to the report this opportunity was offered “to over 500 professors/instructors throughout Tampa Bay, both male and female.” It looks like the “pro-choice position is ably represented, by a philosophy professor no doubt. Doesn’t Bella Pozo realize that it was a group of men in black robes that granted the legal right to abortion? And does she really believe that every woman is in favor of abortion? And doesn’t she realize that those who are against abortion believe that it is the killing of an innocent human being? It is, therefore a weighty issue to which both men and women need to speak their minds. The idea that it is somehow equivalent to circumcision calls into serious question the credibility of university students who believe such a bad joke.
I never knew that morality had a gender. I think this “protest” is an exaggeration.
Typical. Bella is just drawing attention to herself. I agree with Russ. She can just show up and offer her view, like anyone else. Perhaps she will learn something in the process. But then, I can’t believe I actually wrote that last sentence, because doesn’t strike me as the teachable type.
I know a lot of women who who love the chance to publicly debate Bella Pozo about the question she raises: Do men have any business talking about abortion? I don’t know, did non-slave owning white northerners have any business talking about the morality of owning slaves? Did Gentiles from other countries have any business talking about the morality of Germans killing Jews and other people they thought unfit to be preserved in the gene pool? Do any of us have any business protesting the killing of innocents at the hands of someone else who prefers them dead? What business could it possible be of ours? If the question of morality always comes down to subjective preferences, then she is right, nobody has any business ever interfering with (or, I suppose, even holding an opinion about) what someone else does. She must, however, never make the spurious claim that abortion has only to do with what a woman does with her own body. Medical science has clearly shown us that the DNA of that person being carried in her womb is completely different from hers–and was from the wonderful moment of creation when the father’s sperm joined with the mother’s egg to make a wholly different and unique individual. So banish such arguments about this having to do only with the women’s body to the same place where every anti-scientific, dishonest and defeated argument in the end must go.
I cannot speak to this anymore eloquently than Pete did, so kudos to Pete.
But as a woman, I am looking forward to hearing both sides of this issue. It certainly does not matter to me the gender of The Debaters. A true debate will be properly represented on both sides. Years ago, on a debate team, I quite often had to defend a point that went against everything that I believed in. However, if I wanted to win that debate, I certainly needed to present all the facts, clearly and concisely and fought calmly and vigorously towards that end. I am looking forward to seeing that this evening.
I find myself very grateful that Bella Pozo has brought this debate into to such a bright Spotlight with her objections. While I do not feel that her objections carry much weight, I certainly plan on attending NOW and have no doubt that many more will do so as well.