Ohio University students and Athens locals heard from several anti-abortion groups on College Green and in Athens’s uptown areas prior to a speech given on the hotly debated topic by Kristan Hawkins, CEO of the Pro-Life Generation and president of Students for Life of America, or SFLA.
Hawkins’s appearance at OU on Wednesday was her first of seven campus tours featuring Montana State University, University of Montana, University of Texas at San Antonio, University of Texas at Austin, Harvard University School of Law and University of Indiana.
The Fall 2024 tour follows Hawkins’s “No Abortion, No Exceptions” speaking tour last spring.
According to a press release obtained by The Post, Hawkins’s goal is to change the views of “indoctrinated” students on pro-choice issues.
Tabling for Hawkins’s speech began on College Green at 11 a.m., accompanied by demonstrators from the Abortion Abolitionists movement on the corner of South College Street and East Union Street.
The two anti-abortion groups advocated for stricter abortion legislation, but according to Hawkins, the biggest difference between the parties is the penalty they associate with abortion procedures.
“If you are against abortion, you want the abolition of abortion,” Hawkins said. “The difference is (Abortion Abolitionists) are pro-prosecutions. They’re prosecutionists if you want to have a more technical term for it. They believe, like I do, that abortion is a moral wrong … but they believe that a mother should be prosecuted and face criminal penalty for having an abortion.”
Hawkins added that her focus in Athens is not only to convince students that abortion is wrong but also to encourage supportive measures to be made available to the pregnant person instead of punishing them.
“Do I believe abortionists should be held criminally liable - yes, but that's not the focus of our mission,” Hawkins said. “Our focus is just to stop the killing. I'm going to do it in the fastest way possible while extending grace.”
Hawkins’s time on College Green focused on interacting with students including questions, debates and social media content creation, while demonstrators near Schoonover Center held signs and spoke more generally to bypassers.
Although Hawkins’s said her demonstration focused on science and reasoning, Abortion Abolitionist participant Shane Granum said his group's demonstration aimed to remind students to repent from their sins.
“We believe that the gospel is the solution to abortion,” Granum said. “We believe that if anybody who has had an abortion, or does any sin, believes in Christ and repents of their sins, they can be forgiven of their sins and have everlasting life, even if they committed the sin of murder by abortion.”
Abortion in Ohio is legal up to 21 weeks and six days gestation, according to ACLU Ohio. On Nov. 7, 2023, Ohio voters passed the measure “The Right to Reproductive Freedom with Protections for Health and Safety Amendment,” which became law Dec. 7, 2023 and now protects certain abortion access.
Students and community members also vocalized their opinions on abortion, both on the streets and in the classroom, during Wednesday’s events. According to first-year marketing major Kay Schmelmer, the graphic nature of the abolitionist demonstrations, coupled with heightened emotional responses from the presidential debate, made her feel uneasy.
“Everyone deserves the right to voice their opinion, especially from a public place … however, when the fight is constantly (about God)...that's not a valid argument,” Schmelmer said. "I get it, protest what you want, but do it in a way that fits the place you're doing it at instead of just making it look so targeted and aggressive.”
Hawkins’s speech, which addressed some of the demonstrators' concerns, drew counterprotesters and campus safety personnel despite a peaceful, passionate conversation.
