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At the recent Shakespeare play at the fairgrounds, abolitionists stood on either side of the exits with abortion placards. Vulnerable already from the violence in Macbeth, I felt taken advantage of, having my eyes forced onto the graphic pictures as the headlights illuminated them in the slowly moving column of cars in the darkness of the night.

The Nazi propaganda machine (to take off on the Holocaust comparison abolitionists are using) was very effective with using graphics in conjunction with vulnerable situations to further their cause. When people are deeply vulnerable already, they are most impressionable but they are also the most likely to be hurt.

Working with PTSD in my practice, I am acutely aware what impact these pictures could have on vulnerable children and women. Using this vulnerability toward one’s goals would be very effective, but one might want to ask oneself where the right of free speech interferes with the right to free listening (or viewing in this case), which inherently is part of the First Amendment, and causing more harm. My issue is not about abortion itself here but about the way somebody’s views are forced on a whole group of people who came here to see a Shakespeare play.

GABRIELLE DUEBENDORFER, ND

Sandpoint