Americans have certainly seen their share of goofy petition drives – end rattlesnake round-ups, ban the Bill of Rights, add another letter to the alphabet. But some drives are downright chilling in what they seek to accomplish; what’s worse is that they are able to actually garner support.

Take a recent mock petition drive that was only briefly on a U.S. college campus near our nation’s capital. Shocking enough is what it purported to accomplish, but again, what is worse is that some students actually signed it.

From Campus Reform:

Several students at George Mason University (GMU) signed a petition on Wednesday demanding lawmakers legalize “fourth trimester” abortions.

The petition, which was circulated on GMU’s flagship campus in Fairfax, VA., just outside Washington D.C., by Media Research Center reporter Dan Joseph said it was aimed at sending “a message to our lawmakers that women have the right to choose what to do with their bodies and babies” even “after their pregnancies.”

In the video, Joseph – who is wearing an olive green t-shirt emblazoned with a giant peace symbol – is seen explaining what a fourth trimester abortion is: “It’s after the baby is already born.” Pretty difficult to misunderstand that, right?

‘Would it cause harm to the child?’

From the video:

“Recently, there’s been a lot of talk about abortion, with new laws being passed in Texas, which has got a lot of the pro-choice people up in arms. I came out to a college campus and I am going to find out if people are willing to sign my petition to legalize fourth trimester abortion.”

And away he went.

“Currently fourth trimester abortions are illegal in all 50 states,” Joseph explained to students. “We want to make them legal so women have the choice. We feel that it’s a woman’s body, so…”

One young lady asked, “Would it cause harm to the child?” – to which Joseph responded, “Well… um, the child would be gone. It’s abortion.” She then signed the petition.

Another young lady holding a box, with a cigarette dangling out of her mouth, simply said, “Cool,” then signed.

Still another – who Joseph said was only 15 years old – also signed. “I’m not supposed to do this, but you’d really be helping us out,” he mused.

One young man refused to sign, but for an equally shocking reason. He said abortions should be limited only to the first trimester, because, “I don’t consider that to be a person.” As if a human fetus would grow to become something else.

Goading him, Joseph responded, “Why do you hate women, man?” – in which he mimicked a typical response from someone who supports abortion at any time during a pregnancy to someone who does not.

‘Don’t even read it. Just sign…’

As he continued, Joseph was able to convince one young lady who admitted to just having a baby a few months earlier sign his petition.

And as yet another student signed, Joseph remarked, “I say they’re not a person until they can pay taxes!” Her response: “Riiight…..”

A young man who approached him signed the petition even though Joseph wouldn’t tell him what he was signing. “I’m not even going to tell you what’s on it, just sign it… ’cause it’s cool. Don’t even read it… it’s fine. It’s fine. Just sign it.”

When all was said and done, Joseph was able to secure 14 signatures in about an hour.

“That’s a lot for summer, when there are not as many people on campus,” he said. “There were a few people who caught on to what I was trying to do, but if you are a pro-choice activist, you have to be pretty happy about this many people supporting this cause.”

Sadly, he is right.

Sources:

http://www.campusreform.org

http://www.youtube.com

http://www.lifenews.com