History of Abortion: Student’s Silent Protest Stopped by School Officials
April 29, 2008 by Kristen King
Filed under Women's Health
Over the last few months here at women’s health blog Lively Women, we’re talking about the history of abortion in the US and around the world. Discussion is encouraged, and additional information and resources are welcomed. Please leave a comment!
Last week, New Mexico middle school student Jannelle Bushnell was disciplined by school officials for passing out fliers promoting a silent protest against abortion. The 14-year-old eighth-grader at James Monroe Middle School in Albuquerque is adopted, and she believes that she and other students should protest to “save other from the same fate that [she] was almost put into” because her biological mother (who was pregnant at 14) was pressured by adults to have an abortion instead of giving her baby up for adoption.
Jannelle and other students were planning to wear duct tape over their mouths in a silent protest against abortion, and to wear armbands to show support for teen pregnancy awareness and the prolife cause. The school said the protest interfered with the educational process because a silent protest meant that students wouldn’t be able to participate in class. Also, the armbands that Jannelle was encouraging students to wear were against the school dress code.
Janelle served lunch detentions for passing out the fliers, but said that she would be silent today and would support other students who chose to do the same thing even without the duct tape and armbands.
Read the whole story and watch a news clip with an interview with Jannelle Bushnell from KOAT 7 from Albuquerque.
Contents © Copyright 2008 Kristen King
Tags: womens health blog, womens helath, women, woman, health, history of abortion, abortion protest, silent protest, abortion, prolife, teen pregnancy, awareness, pro life, jannelle bushnell, albuquerque, new mexico, james monroe high school, student punished for abortion protest, abortion protest stopped, lively women, kristen king
Maybe it would interfere with the child’s educational experience for the day. But there are plenty of things that COULD interfere with that and I think one girl having a clear and passionate view on the matter of abortion should not have landed her into lunch detention. (At least she wasn’t suspended though. Because then that would have just been funny that she wasn’t allowed to attend classes because she was being silent! and causing a disruption.)
A guy in my high school wore his hair in locks. And while they were quite beautiful they didn’t lay flat on his head but were thick and grew out in every single direction imaginable. He was forced to wear a HUGE KNIT hat (albeit very colorful) because his hair was a distraction to the kids in the class. I found it pretty ridiculous because after a few days (or even a week) kids would just get used to it. A bright green, red and black knit cap is MORE of a distraction in my opinion.
But back to Janelle…having the kids be silent for a day could actually be a GOOD thing. They might learn more by actually listening to their teachers instead of passing notes and talking to their friends during class.
I can’t believe this. That is the most ridiculous thing. In my opinion, I’m from Albuquerque, they promote individualtity and nonconformity. If there are protests, nothing is done. This angers me for people to be punished if they decide to not support something they don’t believe in. She wasn’t doing anything wrong. She wasn’t bothering anyone. She wasn’t even speaking her mind. Flyers are handed out about everything. I’ve been in the public high school system, Del Norte, and anything goes. This is a disgrace and I am obviously upset about this.
I participated in the International Day of Silent Solidarity in October, 2007. The first step I took (a couple weeks prior to the day in question) was to speak with school officials in a meeting about what the day was about and what I planned to do (which was essentially nothing but hand out small flyers to anyone that approached me).
I think that by not springing it on them it was a help… but more importantly they emailed the entire student body informing them of the day, and that I was within my rights to do it. That pretty much nipped any problems in the bud.
Let’s face it, if you show up with duct tape on your mouth at school it’s liable to cause a commotion, but even more so if people aren’t forewarned and it is acknowledged by the school administration. They in no way supported it officially (they cant, given their position), but they supported my right to do it.
Thanks for sharing your experience, Michael. I suspect that because you were participating in an organized event that you didn’t initiate, you had more backing as well.
Sounds like you approached this with a lot of maturity and good sense. Great job!
Ashleigh, maybe it would relieve some of your frustration if you were to write a letter to the editor of the local paper and voice your opinion?
Erin, you raise a great point. Sometimes the solution is far worse than the “problem”!