Spending a few weeks as a
co-operative education student at Canada's pro-life newspaper can be an 
interesting
experience. I came here to learn how a newspaper operates, what skills
are needed, and what type of education would best apply. I learned all
this and more
I came to this position being
"in the middle", between pro-choice and pro-life. I didn't like the idea
of mothers having abortions, but I had the view that everyone should make
their own choices. It wasn't until about two weeks of working at The Interim
that I came face to face with the real pro-choice attitude.
My supervisor received an
article and asked me to type it into the computer. The article was about
pro-abortion pioneers, women who are considered heroes in the early days
of the movement for greater access to abortion. I was amazed at what these
women said, how full of anger they were towards the child in the womb.
Calling them names like "parasites" and "a vampire," I could hardly believe
what I was reading.
After that day, I started
to become more pro-life and saw the world in a different way. My eyes were
opened to what abortion was and how it impacts everyone. Pro-abortionists
say it is a private matter, but I wonder if they see the depression that
follows abortion, or if they've ever dealt with a teenage girl who just
had an abortion, and who was crying her eyes out when she finally understood
she had just killed her child. Their attitudes scare me. How can they be
so cold about the future of humanity?
As part of the co-op program,
I had to give a presentation of my placement to my fellow students. I did
the regular things: took photos of my work, gathered up proofreading sheets,
lay-out sheets and other odds and ends that are used in the production
of each month's Interim. I didn't intend to get into any debates about
abortion. My presentation was supposed to be about the details of my placement
and not my opinion on the pro-life issue.
The presentation day finally
arrived. All was going well until I told my class that I was working at
a pro-life, pro-family newspaper. One girl asked if I was pro-life. I wanted
to say, "I didn't know yet," or "That has nothing to do with my presentation."
But right there it hit, it did matter whether I was pro-life or pro-abortion.
I couldn't write for this newspaper if I wasn't, and I couldn't lie. It
would make me feel as if I was denying something.
I finally answered her with
a very proud, "Yes, I'm pro-life." This caused an uproar in the class.
The girl couldn't believe that someone wouldn't want the right to choose.
A couple of her friends also
jumped on the bandwagon. Yet when I asked if anyone had ever seen an abortion,
or if they know someone who had undergone one, they all said no.
The girl asked if I had seen
the movie If These Walls Could Talk (a pro-abortion film produced by singer/actress
Cher, and reviewed in the October, 1996 Interim). I told her that I hadn't.
She said it was a good movie that talks about abortion. I then told her
that I had seen and read real life things about abortion, and wouldn't
trust a Hollywood movie to do the subject justice.
She then asked if my placement
was "brain washing" me to be pro-life. I gave her a hard look and told
her, "no one tells me what to think, I make all my own decisions." By this
time the class was still on the subject and asking me many questions.
The questions became harder
and most of the students in my class were like me before I started at The
Interim - in the middle. Yet there were those few with the girl who started
it all, who were trying to make a point about choice. I wonder if those
girls were just doing it because that first girl was popular or if they
truly believe in what they are saying.
It seemed to me that many
students have strong feelings, but few facts about what goes on in the
world I had been exposed to. By this time, the teacher took control of
the class and asked me to finish the presentation. I happily went on and
described my work and the many different types of jobs I do, such as writing
articles for the newspaper.
Soon my presentation was
over and the bell rang to tell us that it was time to leave school. I felt
good that I had stood up for what I believed in and never once backed down
due to peer pressure. Before I left my teacher took me aside to speak to
me. My teacher said he was proud of the way I handled the situation, always
speaking so that people could hear, and also for listening to the other's
opinions.
Of all the praise I have
ever received, this was more meaningful.
(Cathy Brunka is a high
school student completing a co-op education placement at the Interim).
