An anti-abortion documentary film which has been shown to high-school students has raised concerns among women's groups that the film was "too gory."
"This film shows the process of abortion, where viewers can actually see the incompletely-formed fetus being removed from a mother's womb. What our group hopes is that instead of showing such a gory film to students as a deterrent, schools should re-direct their focus on proper sex education," Wu Wei-ting (
The film, Eclipser of Reason, was produced by former US abortionist Bernard Nathanson. The Fujen Catholic University Faculty of Theology owns the copyright of the film in Taiwan.
Pro-choice
As the foundation takes a pro-choice stance, Wu felt that that the idea of a woman owning the right to her own body is not represented in the film.
She pointed out that men should also shoulder their responsibilities in cases of abortion.
"Proper sex education with the emphasis on safe sex and that men should shoulder some responsibility when women go through abortions are two important topics that we hope women's groups can have further discussions about," Wu said.
In reaction to the objections, Dean of the Faculty of Theology at Fujen Catholic University Louis Aldrich said yesterday that giving viewers a wake-up call is the main purpose of the film.
"Of course, we understand that the content of this film is gory and may make viewers feel uncomfortable; however, it is a factual presentation of what is really going on inside the womb during an abortion procedure. By showing this film, we want viewers to realize that there is actually another human life, besides that of the mother's, which is at stake in an abortion," Aldrich said.
Converted
Aldrich said that Nathanson used to run an abortion clinic and was responsible for over 75,000 abortions. He was one of the pro-life activists who convinced the US Supreme Court in 1968 to legalize abortion throughout the US. However, in the 1970s, with the arrival of new technology -- sonograms -- obstetricians were able to see a fetus growing inside the mother's womb. Touched by what he saw, Nathanson was converted and became a pro-life campaigner.
Aldrich also said that should his faculty members decide to show the film to students, they would make sure an introduction to the development of a fetus was done before the screening. This would be followed by a film showing a loving mother taking care of her infant, in order to tone down the oppressive feeling one might get from just simply watching the abortion.
Aldrich said that Fujen University had made 10,000 copies of the film for a Buddhist group upon request, as the leader of the group wanted to show the film to his followers.
"The message we want to convey is that there are other options available to women, such as giving the infant up for adoption. We hope that women who are thinking of having abortions would give this idea a very careful second thought," he said.
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