By Steve Weatherbe

A presentation comparing unrestricted abortion to the Holocaust sparked an hour of hostile questions from University of Victoria (UVic) students.

It has also initiated internal discussion among pro-lifers about the best way to reach out to university students.

The visit of JoJo Ruba, from the Calgary-based Centre for Bioethical Reform, was sponsored by Victoria Right to Life and the campus pro-life club, Youth Protecting Youth (YPY). It attracted several hundred students to a surprisingly orderly meeting late last year.

Ruba’s talks at other Canadian campuses have been shut down by unruly protests; and a previous YPY-sponsored debate at UVic was disrupted by pro-abortion students.

Ruba argued first that fetuses are human beings and persons from the moment of conception; he then showed a grisly DVD of an abortion.

Then he made the case for likening the abortion toll to the Holocaust and other genocides, arguing that each phenomenon involves the same dehumanization of the victim. As an example, he said some pro-choice advocates have referred to unborn children as parasites. Abortion, he maintained, also bears other similarites to genocide: in each case, there is a systematic selection of victims, and a massive loss of life.

Some 20 people used an hour-long question period to challenge Ruba. A young co-ed said he was weakening his message with the Holocaust comparison, while insulting six million Jews.

A second student said Ruba was attempting to frame women who have abortions as murderers, and stated: “I think it’s deeply offensive.” Another wondered if the speaker wanted the death penalty for women who secured abortions.

Ruba responded that Canada did not have the death penalty; but he added that those responsible for abortions should be punished by law, according to their degree of responsibility. Historically, he said, the law has punished doctors more than the women involved.

One questioner wanted to know if Ruba would personally  provide support for any pregnant woman who approached him needing help. He responded that his organization concentrated on education; but it partnered with other pro-life groups that counselled and supported women with unwanted pregnancies.

Despite the hostile response, organizers of the event said they were happy with the results. YPY president Anastasia Pearse noted that opponents of the message heard Ruba out, and were orderly during the question period – which was an improvement over past presentations.

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“At least we got the message out,” said YPY member Gabrielle Sutherland. “Whether we convinced anyone is another matter.” She expressed misgivings about the effectiveness of the Holocaust comparison. “There’s nothing wrong with the logic; but it puts you in the position of having to defend the analogy, rather than concentrating on condemning abortion.”

Another pro-life member of the audience, Annette Turgeon, also agreed with Ruba’s logic, but said a young pro-choice woman had made a good point to her after the event.

“[She] was adamant that pro-lifers ignore the mother in all of this. Ruba’s responses to those questions were not strong . . . We in the ‘pro-life culture’ must show concern for both mother and child and speak to how they are one, instead of pitting them against each other

Turgeon added that the fathers of unwanted children need to become part of the pro-life solution. “When dads connect with their unborn son or daughter, they have the option of becoming warriors and protectors of their unborn child and the mother of their child.”

UVic chaplain, Father Dean Henderson, applauded Ruba’s defence of the unborn child, but said his presentation needs more compassion. “If you accept everything JoJo said, you are left without hope – especially for the woman who has had an abortion.” Asked what was missing, Henderson simply replied: “Mercy.”

A pro-life Victoria rabbi, Meier Kaplan of Chabad  of Vancouver Island, told the B.C. Catholic that the Holocaust was a unique event that should never be compared to anything. But all Jews, he said, should resist the killing of millions of unborn babies.

In an interview with the B.C. Catholic, Ruba defended the Holocaust analogy on the grounds that this historical atrocity is one of the few things acknowledged to be evil by everyone in a society that sees most moral issues relativistically.

 “Our first job with most people is just to get them to think about [abortion]. The Holocaust comparison is like a stone in their shoes. It bothers them. We don’t want to diminish the unique nature of the Holocaust; but if the unborn are human beings, the comparison is inevitable.”

Ruba admitted there was room in his presentation for showing more compassion for mothers.

“On the other hand, I am trying to make a point, in an academic setting, that what matters is the truth or falsehood of our claim that the unborn are persons – and not whether I, as an individual, am a nice or good person.”

January 2011