Issue date: 5/23/08 Section: News

Hundreds of students and community members attended a civil debate on an incendiary topic Wednesday night. American Civil Liberties Union President Nadine Strossen and president of the Life Training Institute Scott Klusendorf debated the issue of abortion.

Strossen represented the pro-choice side while Klusendorf presented a pro-life point of view. The event was presented by Associated Students Inc. as part of their "True Life" series.

"The student interest in this was beyond overwhelming," said ASI program director Michello Curro. Twenty-nine percent of students expressed interest in seeing an abortion debate through surveys, versus just 9 percent for the second-highest-voted topic, Curro said.

The speakers had previously debated together. Though both were obviously passionate about the issue, the speakers stayed on friendly terms throughout the night.

"The values we share are more important than the ones we do not," Strossen said.

She stressed that "abortion (should) remain safe, legal, accessible and rare" in her opening statements.

She gave a wide variety of reasons for her position. She referenced everyone from religious groups for choice to Ronald Reagan in support of her argument.

"Let's keep the government out of our bodies and out of our bedrooms," she said.

Finally, she urged Klusendorf and all of those on the pro-life side to work together with pro-choicers to prevent unintended pregnancies and reduce the abortion rate.

Klusendorf gave a very different speech; his argument centered on whether a fetus is considered a human being.

"I agree with everything Nadine said; she is absolutely correct - if the unborn are not humans," he said. "No one would have a debate in the name of privacy, choice and liberties if the case was for killing toddlers."

He then used the acronym SLED to support his belief that fetuses are human beings.

Continued...

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