Editor Bans Abortion Ads at SDSU’s Daily Aztec

The new editor of the Daily Aztec, San Diego State University’s student newspaper, said Thursday that the publication will no longer accept advertising for “abortion-related services.”

Editor in Chief Jon Petersen, 22, said he opposes abortion and considers it immoral. Petersen, who describes himself as conservative and “a born-again Christian,” said accepting advertising for abortions would in effect be condoning an immoral act that he nevertheless acknowledges is legal.

“I just didn’t want to see the Daily Aztec become an abortion-referral service,” he said. “I interpret the advertising policy. It (accepting the ads) indirectly would mean that Jon Petersen (endorsed) abortion.”

Some Rift Among Staff

Petersen, a senior, said he made the decision to cancel the ads unilaterally, after discussing it with friends and Daily Aztec staff members. Though the decision created some dissension on the staff, Petersen said it was the right thing to do.

“Our advertising policy states we will run any ad that advertises a legal product or service unless it serves primarily to oppress the rights of a certain group,” Petersen said. “I am opposed to abortion because it is the taking of human life and oppresses the rights of the unborn.”

The editor, who acknowledged that his religious views influenced his decision on how to run a general-circulation newspaper, said, “We live in a New Testament world.”

Officials for the clinics who advertise for abortion services in the newspaper could not be reached for comment late Thursday.

Review Expected

According to Petersen, the Publications Authority Board, which sets the Daily Aztec’s advertising and editorial policy, will review his decision.

“They could overrule me on this,” he said. “but they generally have a hands-off attitude.”

Although abortion-related ads will no longer be accepted, Petersen said he will continue to accept ads for telephone sex, which he said is also immoral. The student newspaper, he said, does not base its advertising policy “on what is moral or immoral, except the taking of a human life. That’s where I draw the line.”

The newspaper will also continue to accept ads from companies that sell research papers, which are often plagiarized by students, he said. Officials off the California State University system are trying to obtain an injunction against a company that sells term papers to college students and which advertises in the Daily Aztec. University officials argued that the sale of term papers violates the state Education Code.

“That’s a tough one,” Petersen said. “I don’t see how a research paper can oppress anyone’s rights. . . . They (term paper companies) have a legitimate purpose. It’s a gray area. I want to let the marketplace decide.”