THE OPEN CASKET

The Battalion - March 22, 2004
http://www.thebatt.com/news/2004/03/22/Opinion/Opening.The.Casket.On.Abortion-637543.shtml
Opening the casket on abortion
By Cody Sain

In the summer of 1955, a young man named Emmett Till took a trip to Mississippi to visit relatives. His mother warned him of hostility toward blacks in the South, but he failed to heed her warning. In August of that year, Emmett was beaten and shot to death by two white men, and then his body was thrown in a river. His crime was speaking to a white woman in the grocery store. After the body was recovered, Emmett's mother held an open-casket funeral so everyone could see the heinous crime done to her son. His face and body had been beaten beyond recognition, and he had a bullet hole through his head. This crime and the case that followed are considered by many historians to be a major turning point in the struggle for civil rights.

On Monday and Tuesday of this week, there are setups at Rudder Fountain and Academic Plaza by an organization called Justice for All. These setups show graphic, often difficult to look at pictures of aborted fetuses. A common question asked by passers-by is, "Why do they have to show this?" At the University of Colorado-Boulder, a black student asked this question. One of the volunteers told him the story of Emmett Till. The next day he returned, asking for help to defend the pro-life movement. When asked about his sudden change of heart, he responded that Justice for All is simply "opening the casket" on abortion.

So, what should be seen once the casket is open? First, one should be able to decide from the pictures if the fetus is indeed an innocent human person. If it is, then the question of how, if ever, it is justifiable to end an innocent human's life must be answered. One must either conclude that there are times when it is OK to end an innocent human life or that abortion is murder and must be stopped.

Second, if abortion is nothing more than a simple medical procedure, then the aftermath should not be a problem to look at. If the panels contained pictures of pulled wisdom teeth or of women and men with stitches, although it might seem odd and disgusting, one would not object to this as fiercely as he might the Justice for All demonstration. What is the difference? Having stitches and having teeth pulled are just mere medical procedures, but, as the Justice for All panels show, abortion involves the dismemberment of a human being. Making a trip to the local abortion clinic as being comparable to a trip to the local dentist masks the true reality of abortion; Justice for All's goal is to unmask this illusion and expose this heinous crime.

When the movie "Schindler's List" was released, its producers donated copies of it to high schools around the country. Faculty members acknowledged its importance in helping students understand the realities of the Holocaust. Abortion is today's Holocaust. To truly understand the horror of it all, it must be seen.

Bob Dylan, in "The Death of Emmett Till," wrote: "If you can't speak out against this kind of thing, a crime that's so unjust, your eyes are filled with dead men's dirt, your mind is filled with dust. Your arms and legs they must be in shackles and chains, and your blood it must refuse to flow, for you let this human race fall down so God-awful low!" These words regarding Till's death ring even clearer when spoken about abortion. The human race has truly reached a new low when it is considered just and a right to kill your own children.

It is true that the Justice for All display might cause unima ginable difficulties and emotional stress both for women in crisis pregnancies and those who have had abortions in the past. There are people on hand who are ready to counsel women in need. However, this does not affect the need for the display. In the case of women in crisis pregnancies, they have the right and a need to see what abortion really is. And finally, for post-abortive women (and men), acceptance is the first step to healing. Now is the time to see the truth. Now is the time to act. No longer will the caskets of aborted children be closed.