Not taking a stance diminishes discussion

Last week, Whitworth University in Spokane announced it was discontinuing an affiliation with Planned Parenthood wherein university students could receive credit for internships or volunteer at the organization’s Spokane Office.

As reported in the media, university President Beck Taylor said the affiliation sent a “confusing signal to many of our constituents” that somehow the university had “taken a side” in an issue — abortion — that has become highly politicized over the years.

But by discontinuing the relationship, is not the university “taking a stance?” Whitworth has allowed a pro-life student group to be a chartered campus organization, thus receiving funding and other benefits, while on the other hand, is refusing to extend a charter to another student group affiliated with Planned Parenthood unless it drops that relationship.

Is this not taking a stance of favoring one group over another because of a highly-politicized social issue?

The Presbyterian Church, of which Whitworth is affiliated, has a national position on abortion that respects the sanctity of life while acknowledging ending a pregnancy can be a moral choice in some situations. The Church also calls on its members to respect the diversity of beliefs on this issue.

Is not Whitworth taking a stance against this position in its actions against Planned Parenthood and the campus student group?

Not only is it taking a stance but Whitworth’s decision isn’t recognizing nor respecting Americans’ ever evolving position on abortion. In a Jan. 26, 2017 report, the Pew Research Center found in its polling that 59 percent of Americans supported legalized abortion in most cases, with 69 percent saying the Supreme Court’s 1973 Roe v. Wade decision legalizing abortion should not be completely overturned.

As expected, the ideological divide on the issue has Republicans leaning towards making abortion illegal while Democrats and Independents would like to see it remain legal. Reflective of the fact that many Americans don’t cast important social issues in terms of absolutes, 44 percent polled by Pew believe abortion is morally wrong.

So, most Americans want to keep abortion legal, but view it as morally wrong. Maybe that means most Americans want it kept legal, but seldom used.

It’s sad that Whitworth’s “stance/non-stance” regarding Planned Parenthood focuses on abortion, which is a small, small percentage of what the organization provides, rather than the far larger amount of services in family planning and women’s health. Whitworth’s decision is therefore an acknowledgement to validity of the position of those who only see Planned Parenthood through the abortion lens.

It’s easy to get up in arms and raise fists and protest signs in anger over something we disagree with. Much more difficult is to put down those protest signs and actually step up and help women facing difficult life issues.

To those who oppose abortion, how often have you stepped forward and volunteered physical, emotional and financial assistance to women who find themselves in the situation of having to consider terminating a new life? We ask the same question of those who favor a woman’s right to choose.

Ironically, Whitworth’s decision to take a stance/non-stance regarding Planned Parenthood is denying a greater fostering of this type of volunteerism by removing incentives, such as credits and internships, to do so. It’s also sending a mixed message because by not admitting it’s taking a stance, it’s limiting it’s ability to instigate meaningful dialogue.

If one of your core values is respecting the diversity of beliefs, then you should acknowledge your own belief, while at the same, respecting the beliefs of others by not demonizing them, or questioning their moral compasses.

That’s our stance.