Yale Pro-Lifers Educate Campus on Fetal Development
BY Liz Townsend

In a campaign that has generated interest and controversy, Yale pro-life group Choose Life at Yale (CLAY) has been hanging posters around campus depicting the growth and development of the unborn "Baby Lucy."

Although many posters have been defaced or torn down, the campaign has called attention to the humanity of the unborn and generated conversation about life issues.

"The posters are helping us draw attention to pro-life issues," CLAY president Debbie Bedolla, a junior molecular biology major, told NRL News. "They're making the message more accessible to people who may immediately turn their heads if you mention abortion."

The Baby Lucy campaign, which began early this semester, charts the baby's development as the new posters are changed weekly. Each poster has a picture of the unborn baby and text describing the developmental milestones achieved during that week.

The campaign will continue until the spring. "At the end, we'll have a baby shower, inviting everyone to bring baby gifts that we'll donate to a local crisis pregnancy center," said Bedolla.

The reaction on campus has been mixed. Some students, while saying they are "pro-choice," told the Yale Daily News they support CLAY's right to express its opinion. "I think it is a very wise campaign," freshman Alexander Dominitz told the Daily News. "They are trying to change the status quo and are using whatever means are at their disposal."

Others accused CLAY of using "misleading" facts. "At four weeks it is a fetus," student Nick Seaver, president of the Yale American Civil Liberties Union, told the Daily News. "I think this campaign is misleading because a fetus is not a child and they are trying to hamper a woman's right to choose."

"It is scientific fact that life starts at conception," Bedolla responded. "When you see an abortion on a TV screen, you see that something has died."

Still others chose to tear the posters down or write crude words on them. "It saddens me that some people's only reaction is lewdness," said Bedolla.

CLAY was formed in 2003 by students who were offended by events at Yale celebrating the 30th anniversary of Roe v. Wade. Bedolla said that CLAY now has 150 people on its mailing list, and attracts a diverse group of members interested in different aspects of the life issues.

The group hosts speakers, and will co-sponsor a debate in December that will ask the question of "whether abortion is morally justifiable in a free society," Bedolla said. CLAY is also planning a benefit dinner in February to raise funds for a sonogram for a local crisis pregnancy center.