Anti-abortion and Abortion rights advocates sat side by side Monday night, united in their interest to learn about the anti-abortion feminism movement from feminist Sally Winn.
Sponsored by Penn for Life, the discussion kicked off the annual Respect Life Week, which will continue until next Tuesday.
The week aims to "raise awareness about the cost of abortion and the death penalty," according to Penn for Life Vice President Frank-Paul Sampino.
Included on the agenda are a drive to collect baby items, a mock cemetery of "unborn children" and a rally against the death penalty.
Winn, who is vice president of national anti-abortion organization Feminists for Life led Monday night's event. She argued that women turn to abortions because they do not have the moral and economic support to go through with their pregnancies. She advocated increasing the resources available to pregnant women and changing the prevailing attitudes surrounding the female body, adding that "women deserve better than abortion."
Winn, who became pregnant during her junior year of college and went through with the pregnancy, said she was impressed by Respect Life Week.
"I think it's a wonderful, holistic approach to look at all these different aspects of life," she said, adding that she was encouraged by the turnout of representatives from both sides of the abortion issue.
Also voicing enthusiasm for the ideological diversity of the crowd, Sampino said that he hopes that students who disagree with Penn for Life will continue to participate in Respect Life Week.
"This week isn't exclusively for people who already share our values -- we're reaching out to those who don't," the College sophomore said.
"At a university, people who disagree should come to our events to challenge our own preconceived notions and their own," he added, saying that the issues on the agenda are not typically on the mind of a Penn student on a given day.
Penn for Choice president Niva Kramek attended Winn's talk to expose herself to other viewpoints.
"We like dialogue-- hopefully they'll be more open discussions" about abortion, the College junior said.
Kramek said that she thought that Winn's speech was biased, but she still learned several things from the discussion.
"I'm in favor of everyone being able to voice their opinion," Kramek said.
Elizabeth Slavitt, a College freshman who said she was for abortion rights, also attended the discussion because she was "intrigued by a person being feminist and pro-life."
She added that she is glad that Penn for Life is bringing up other issues besides abortion during the week.
"I feel like I've heard the pro-life arguments before," Slavitt said. "Respect Life Week is transcending the abortion issue into the death penalty issue."
The death penalty and abortion are "urgent problems that need to be fixed," Sampino said. "We're trying to get people to realize the urgency of these problems by offering new and different perspectives."
