A portion of the Quad will turn blue and pink Friday when more than 3500 flags blanket the area around Denny Chimes. The flags are part of Bama Students for Life’s annual Cemetery of the Innocents.

“Cemetery of the Innocents is a memorial to commemorate the human beings who abortion kills every single day in the United States,” Claire Chretien, president of BSFL, said. “Each pink or blue flag represents one human killed by abortion.”

Joanna Robinson, treasurer of BSFL, said more than 3500 male and female fetuses are aborted in the U.S. each day.

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“Cemetery is important because it educates campus about the sheer number of human lives that are ended by abortion each day, as well as promoting dialogue on campus, instead of sweeping the issue under the rug,” Robinson said. “This week, we are trying to convey the message that abortion both hurts women and kills the most defenseless members of the human family.”

Robinson said every student is affected by abortion, which she said has wiped out a fourth of our generation.

“[Students] should care because as a society we owe women in crisis better options than taking the lives of their own children in the name of ‘freedom of choice,’” Robinson said.

Chretien also said abortion hurts everyone and students should take vocal action against it.

“It hurts our peers and unjustly ends the lives of defenseless humans,” Chretien said. “We must never be silent when it comes to injustice. Our generation survived Roe v. Wade, but Roe v. Wade will not survive our generation.”

(See also “Pro-abortion rights group counter-protests Bama Students for Life poster“)

Robinson said the event has been happening almost every year since BSFL’s founding in 2006. The flags will be posted in the morning and will last all day and into the night. Robinson said BSFL has acquired a grounds use permit for the display.

Earlier this semester, controversy arose from another BSFL display that was taken down from a Ferguson Center display case after a staff member said she had received complaints. The story made national news and spurred conversations on campus about free speech. Ultimately, BSFL was issued an apology by Carl Bacon, the director of the Ferguson Center and allowed to reinstate their poster display.

(See also “Clarifying the legal mess surrounding the BSFL poster removal“)

Another controversy the group has experienced was with another Quad display set up in the spring of 2013. The Genocide Awareness Project display resulted in an attempted counter protest from Alabama Alliance for Sexual and Reproductive Justice, who said the display was graphic and offensive.

“As with any controversial event, in the past we have received a variety of responses to Cemetery of the Innocents,” Robinson said.

Robinson said students, faculty and staff are sometimes shocked to learn about the number of legal abortions.

“Some thank us for what we are doing, and thankfully most students remain civil whether or not they agree with us,” Robinson said.

“When they see the Cemetery of the Innocents, many students are devastated to learn the number of abortions that occur every day,” Chretien said. “Bama Students for Life hopes that abortion supporters will engage in calm, rational dialogue with us instead of resorting to personal attacks and insults.”