HOCKINSON, Wash. (KOIN) – A local anti-abortion group held a demonstration outside Hockinson High School Wednesday, raising some red flags for parents.
The demonstrators displayed graphic images outside the school, which many parents in the community say are inappropriate for kids to see.
“I was extremely shocked,” parent Mark Held said. “It made me angry, but also I kind of put myself in the children’s position, of somebody so young witnessing something that graphic.”
Held says while he understands the message, the images were inappropriate to showcase outside a school.
A 16-year-old student told KOIN 6 News “they shouldn’t shove it in our faces like that.” Another 14-year-old girl said, “the words are OK but the pictures are too much.”
But local abolitionist leader Don Cooper says, if students are old enough to get pregnant, “they are old enough to know about the facts.”
“You have to go to them and force feed the facts,” Cooper said.
Assistant Superintendent Dr. Slade McSheehy says, while the images aren’t things they want any students to be seeing, “it’s not a decision we get to make.”
As long as the demonstrators stay on public property and don’t come on campus, McSheehy says they are legally allowed to be there.
The group has previously demonstrated in front of other high schools.