Viral Video: Medical Students Walk Out From Induction Ceremony As Anti-Abortion Keynote Speaker Takes Stage

Last month, on 25 June, in a landmark decision, the US Supreme Court overturned the 50-year-old Roe vs. Wade ruling and said the United States conferred the right to have an abortion. But, soon after, numerous protests followed by vandalism and violence have broken out against the anti-abortion laws in the country. This meant that millions of US women lost the legal right to safe abortion.

While there are numerous protests on social media and endless photos and videos are being posted and circulated, one incident related to the medical students from the University of Michigan has grabbed everyone's attention and has gone viral.

The incident happened on 24 July, which is a month after the Roe vs. Wade judgement, when the freshers from the University of Michigan Medical School initiated a walkout during their induction ceremony to protest against the invitation of the keynote speaker of the event, Dr Kristin Collier, an anti-abortion law supporter.

This took place the moments before, Dr Collier took the stage to begin his speech. He is an Assistant Professor of Medicine at the University of Michigan Medical School and Director of the University of Michigan Medical School Program on Health Spirituality & Religion.

Just a week before the initiation ceremony, 350 students of the university had signed a petition pleading the authorities not to invite Dr Collier to the event. The petition said, 'While we support the rights of freedom of speech and religion, an anti-choice speaker as a representative of the University of Michigan undermines the University's position on abortion and supports the non-universal, theology-rooted platform to restrict abortion access, an essential part of medical care...This is not simply a disagreement on personal opinion; through our demand, we are standing up in solidarity against groups who are trying to take away human rights and restrict medical care.'

The video has garnered 16.4 million views. Watch the video here.