Forum for free speech

…if you agree with us, was the message at this panel discussion.

The NY Salon forum was held to discuss “What’s So Bad About Abortion?” But they only allowed abortion supporters to speak. The panel included staff from NARAL, the National Abortion Federation and a British abortion business. Women who regretted having abortions, who really could tell the panel what’s so bad about it, weren’t permitted to attend.

 However, the NY Salon web site says the group “believe[s] passionately in free speech and discussing ideas robustly” and agrees with the quote generally attributed to Voltaire: “I disapprove of what you say, but will defend to the death your right to say it.”

“The clash of ideas is at the heart of the NY Salon,” the group adds.

So why were they afraid to engage conflicting ideas? Their site claims that…

“NY Salon aims to raise the level of discussion of our culture – from politics and business to science and the arts. We seek to provide environments in which ideas can be robustly debated among critically-minded people from a variety of backgrounds,” it explains.

But Silent No More co-founder Georgette Forney says that’s not what’s happening with the abortion event…

“They really ask the question, ‘What’s so bad about abortion?’, to mock anyone who expresses the slightest queasiness about ripping an unborn baby’s limbs apart or who feels remorse for a lost life,” Forney said.

No robust debate among critically minded people there.

Forney said she can tell the NY Salon organizers what’s so bad about abortion because she’s talked with thousands of women who have had them and wish they could go back and undo the decision.

Why ask the question if you don’t want to hear the answer?