{"id":43222,"date":"2018-03-14T09:17:22","date_gmt":"2018-03-14T15:17:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/?p=43222"},"modified":"2018-03-14T09:17:22","modified_gmt":"2018-03-14T15:17:22","slug":"student-group-offers-alternative-to-pro-life-campaign-on-campus","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/2018\/03\/14\/student-group-offers-alternative-to-pro-life-campaign-on-campus\/","title":{"rendered":"Student group offers alternative to pro-life campaign on campus"},"content":{"rendered":"

W<\/span>hen business student Rachel Bolseng found brochures featuring graphic images of aborted infants at the SAIT library, she had to do something.<\/p>\n

\u201c<\/span>Why are these brochures allowed?\u201d Bolseng said.<\/p>\n

She asked the librarian about the brochures, which featured what Bolseng says are \u201cmisleading and graphic images.\u201d<\/p>\n

The library was unable to do anything, so Bolseng, along with her colleague April Kargard, took it upon themselves to form TAACC, The Anti-Anti Choice Community.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhere there is fear, people don\u2019t act rationally,\u201d says Bolseng. \u201cIf it\u2019s taboo people are afraid to ask questions.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bolseng and the rest of TAACC aren\u2019t out to silence anti-abortion groups like the Canadian Centre for Bio-Ethical Reform (CCBR), a Calgary based group that is behind the brochures, as well as public demonstrations that all feature similar graphic imagery.<\/p>\n

The goal of TAACC is to provide a counter balance, as well as resources and accurate information to anyone who needs family planning and birth control information.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s our duty to provide more information to SAIT students\u201d said Bolseng.<\/p>\n

Bolseng and the rest of TAACC were in attendance at the SAIT Sexual Awareness Expo on Feb. 13, talking to students about their mission.<\/p>\n

\u201cNobody is pro-abortion, that\u2019s not what pro-choice means\u201d said Bolseng, addressing what she called a misconception about being pro-choice.<\/p>\n

TAACC has created a series of posters that are around the SAIT campus with slogans such as \u201cOffensive posters don\u2019t make stronger arguments\u201d and \u201cYou respect their opinions, they should respect yours.\u201d<\/p>\n

The CCBR has come under fire in the past, notably for a 2013 event where demonstrators hung a banner featuring the image of an aborted fetus on an overpass above Deerfoot Trail, causing traffic delays and multiple calls to the police.<\/p>\n

The Calgary Police Service had no power to do anything about the demonstation. Similar displays by the group have taken place in Toronto, Saskatoon, Sask., and Surrey, B.C.<\/p>\n

The CCBR has also distributed mailers with similar imagery in these cities.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have the right as Canadians, to free speech,\u201d says Bolseng. \u201cBut there\u2019s a more tactful way to do it. They\u2019re not promoting themselves in the best way.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m frustrated that they have these legal loopholes,\u201d says Bolseng.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut we are very grateful to live in Canada and be able to express our opinions freely.\u201d<\/p>\n

When the CCBR visited SAIT in November, a complaint was filed to SAIT by a member of the faculty, according to a report by The Weal.<\/p>\n

According to the report, the complaint said that the CCBR had violated the staff member’s right to a safe workplace.<\/p>\n

TAACC says their main goal remains to serve the student community not to antagonize the CCBR.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re here to support and represent the SAIT community and students,\u201d says Bolseng. \u201cWe\u2019re here because you feel.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"
Campus crusaders:<\/strong> April Kargard (left) and Rachel Bolseng (right) hold a TAACC poster on Tuesday, Feb. 13, 2018 at the SAIT sexual awareness expo. Bolseng and Kargard started TAACC to provide a fact-based alternative to posters and literature distributed by the Canadian Centre for Bio-ethical Reform. (Photo by Joe Menjivar\/The Press)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When business student Rachel Bolseng found brochures featuring graphic images of aborted infants at the SAIT library, she had to do something. \u201cWhy are these brochures allowed?\u201d Bolseng said. She asked the librarian about the [ READ MORE ]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":448,"featured_media":43225,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"image","meta":{"_ef_editorial_meta_text_assignment-slug":"S3 TAACC","footnotes":""},"categories":[9,1106,2],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-43222","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-image","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-life","8":"category-physical-health-and-wellness","9":"category-campus-2","10":"post_format-post-format-image"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43222","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/448"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=43222"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43222\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":44080,"href":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43222\/revisions\/44080"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/43225"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=43222"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=43222"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=43222"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}