Seven pro-life protesters rallied in opposition to a Tuesday visit by
President Barack Obama to Jesuit-run Georgetown University while around
10 students demonstrated against the pro-life protesters.
Several protesters demonstrated against Georgetown's invitation to the president by displaying signs such as "It's murder, Georgetown" and "If you want a Catholic education don't come to Georgetown", The Hoya reports.
They held several large photographs of graphic abortions, and one protestor wore a mask of Obama's face and painted his hands with fake stage blood. The protesters stood inside and outside of Georgetown's front gates, shouting slogans with a megaphone.
A counter-protest led by 10 students, originally organized through Facebook by Mara Hollander, opposed the pro-life protesters.
"People need to know there's more than one element to this discussion," Ms Hollander said. "We were out there to provide a balance ... to create an awareness that there are people at Georgetown who support choice."
The cluster of students stood inside the gates and held signs declaring "I'm a Hoya for Choice" and chanting "We support Obama, we support choice."
Randall Terry, a prominent pro-life activist, founder of Operation Rescue and leader of the Georgetown pro-life protest, described Georgetown's invitation to the president as "... an affront to faithful Catholics and to the innocents we are charged to defend" as well as "[a deliberate poke] in the eye of the bishops and faithful Catholics who have condemned President Obama's appearance at [the University of Notre Dame]," according to a press release from Christian Newswire.
GU Right to Life president Caitlin Devine said the group was not contacted by any of the outside groups that held protests today and was therefore not aware of their plans.
Devine added that Georgetown's invitation differed from Notre Dame's, as Obama spoke specifically on the economic crisis and did not receive any honorary degree or speak at a commencement ceremony. But she emphasized that abortion policies can still not be swept under the rug.
In his speech, President Obama declared that the economy is moving in the right direction but also cautioned that the country is not in the clear yet, FoxNews reports.
He delivered "prose, not poetry," aimed at crystallizing why this recession differed from previous ones.
Obama blamed greed and irresponsibility, not a normal downturn in the business cycle, for the current recession, and defended his administration's aggressive actions to tackle it.
"There is no doubt that times are still tough," Obama said. "But from where we stand," he said, "for the very first time, we are beginning to see glimmers of hope. And beyond that, way off in the distance, we can see a vision of an America's future that is far different than our troubled economic past."
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Protests Come to Campus Alongside Obama (The Hoya)
Obama Tempers Optimism With Reality on Economy (Fox News)
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