With a sweeping abortion rights ban in place in Kentucky as the matter is hashed out in courts, you might expect the arrival of Created Equal, an anti-abortion campaign, to set off heated arguments on campus. But when we visited around noon on Friday, the scene was relatively quiet, with a few pockets of students engaging the abortion opponents.
Molly Myer is with Created Equal. She described the reaction as mixed.
"It really depends on where we are," she said. "Some people are very apathetic and some people are very passionate on both sides."
Asked if the Supreme Court decision overturning Roe has changed the tenor of the conversations, Myer responded, "It hasn't changed that much, I would say. A lot of people, at first, didn't understand how this would affect the debate, but we know that abortion is still legal in many states and so it's still very relevant."
It’s far from the first time anti-abortion activists have set up shop in the green space behind Miller Hall, an area of campus that sees plenty of foot traffic during a typical weekday. But this year, the activists are noticeably younger than they have been in the past, even if the graphic signs associated with the campaign will be familiar to anyone acquainted with the organization.
Gathered around one of the photos the group says are images of aborted fetuses, a volunteer fielded questions from about half a dozen young people. The conversation veered into religion, homosexuality, and transgender rights as they pressed the activist. One of the students, Chase, a UK freshmen who preferred to give only his first name, said he was shocked to be greeted by the images.
"It feels very... violating," he said. "You know, they're doing it for shock value and I feel like they want to strike up conversations and create attention for the issue, and I just find it very low."
Yet the exchange remained civil and ended with a handshake, if not anything approaching a meeting of the minds.
As for the signs, Myer argued they’re necessary to get their message across.
"The signs are graphic because abortion is graphic," she said.
Baptist-run news organization Kentucky Today reports the state Cabinet for Health and Family Services has reported zero abortions in the commonwealth for four of the seven months following the enactment of the state’s trigger ban last August.
