Abortion debate carries weight campuswide

Jenny Caulfield

Creative Editor

A nationwide controversy for years, the topic of abortion and the continued existence of Planned Parenthood have been in the media and have surrounded many college students.

Hudson Valley students have developed their own ideas and opinions on abortion with the subject stirring debate in popular culture.

Adopted from Russia, digital media student Benjamin Furbeck is pro-choice due to his upbringing. Abandoned by his parents at his birth, Furbeck feels that no one else should have to go through that emotional pain, and if a couple is financially unstable, they should do what is right for the child.

“I feel like as long as you can support a child, you should be able to have it. If not, I do not think you should because some people can be parents, and some people cannot,” Furbeck said.

Liberal arts student Jake Snyder is pro-choice as well, following the same reasoning.

“Some people think that basically killing a fetus is like killing a person, but I strongly believe if you get pregnant accidentally and you don’t have the financial stability to raise a child, that child is going to be raised wrong,” he said.

Snyder believes people who are not in favor of abortion are close-minded to the subject.

“To take strong moral standings on someone else’s life just seems strange to me,” he said.

Growing up in foster care, liberal arts student Kendrah Charland is opposed to abortion if whoever is pregnant has family who can care for the child.

“I grew up in foster care because my mom couldn’t take care of me, and I struggled with that a lot. If the person’s who’s pregnant has family that is willing to take care of and adopt [the baby], then I’m against it, but I know from experience that foster care isn’t fun,” said Charland.

Whether students are pro-choice or pro-life, some male students believe abortion is not their decision.

“I am for having the child, but it’s not my decision to make because I’m not the one having to carry the baby,” said engineering science student Shane Batcher.

“The decisions [a woman] makes aren’t necessarily the most beneficial for everybody, but if it’s beneficial for her, I think she should be allowed to do it,” said Furbeck.

Tatum Cavener, an individual studies student, is pro-choice for the same reason.

“I feel like it’s a woman’s decision to make,” said Cavener. “My best friend is super against [abortion]; she would never do it, but she would never stop me from doing it if I needed to.”

Joseph Brill, a math and science honors student, is pro-life due to his religious beliefs.

“I’m a Christian, so my general view is I don’t like it for reasons that there are some things you can do early on,” he said.

Because of his position working at a pharmacy, Brill believes there are options available to people to prevent pregnancies that will make it so that they will not need to choose abortions.

Although he is against abortion, Brill feels that is it should still be allowed for cases of sexual violence.
“I’m not going to tell someone not to get an abortion because I would understand that it would emotionally hurt them if they were raped,” he said.