To the editor: 

I picked up a copy of your opening fall issue, and inside was an advertising supplement from the Human Life Alliance under the title “…And Justice For All.” What followed were multiple stories and facts about the physical and psychological damage abortion can have on a woman. 

While I am not shy talking about this issue, and think that it is an important topic for a college newspaper to discuss, I was extremely shocked by the bias which was displayed throughout these articles. These were not articles meant to start an open discussion about this sensitive topic, but instead meant to shame women into making a choice without thinking. 

One article titled “Reproductive Racism” compared the abortion clinics of today – using Planned Parenthood as an example – to an early 1900s abortion and birth control movement which targeted racial minorities as a way to control minority population. The article stated that “…black women are 14 percent of the female population and have 30 percent of abortions, and Hispanic women are 15.8 percent of the female population and have 25 percent of abortions.” These statistics are very misleading because there are numerous factors that could cause a certain racial group to have a higher probability of having an abortion, and none of these relate to targeted racial abortions from Planned Parenthood. 

While I understand that these were not the direct words of The Badger Herald, I feel that you have a responsibility to screen the advertisements that you allow in your newspaper, especially those that limit the ability to have an honest debate about this important issue. I feel that it hurts your credibility as a newspaper and unintentionally divides people.

Paul Theis ([email protected]) is a sophomore majoring in electrical engineering.