Today\’s Global Genocide,” where he addressed the illegality and cruelty of abortion.

Last Thursday, the student-run organization “UMass Students for Life” sponsored a lecture by controversial South Hadley Medical Doctor John Diggs Jr., an outspoken pro-life and anti-gay marriage advocate.

Diggs spoke in a 7:15 p.m. lecture titled, “Abortion: Today’s Global Genocide” in the Campus Center Auditorium, where he shared his opinions on abortion’s cruelty and illegality.

The South Hadley doctor has run into plenty of opposition for his numerous controversial views on abortion and homosexuality and has continually taken public stances against homosexual intercourse and abortion practices.

He wrote “The Health Risks of Gay Sex” in 2002, an essay that describes in detail the risks of homosexual intercourse.

In the essay’s opening paragraph, Diggs states that “Sexual relationships between members of the same sex expose gays, lesbians and bisexuals to extreme risks of sexually transmitted diseases, physical injuries, mental disorders and even a shortened life span.”

“UMass Students for Life,” a group that stands against abortion, wants to further educate the University of Massachusetts and local areas to the dangers of abortion “in the hopes that we will all gain a greater respect for life, from conception to natural death.”

“Ultimately, we hope that our efforts will make a difference for women facing a very difficult decision and will result in saving lives,” according to the organization’s Web site: people.umass.edu/phaines.

According to a Nov. 17 Boston Globe report, Diggs has advocated for certain state policies in order to advance the anti-abortion cause, including forcing women to look at an ultrasound before deciding whether or not to have an abortion.

Diggs is trying to rally the college-aged voter to his cause, as he has visited other universities around the country to speak about the dangers of homosexuality. In October of 2005, the student group “College Republicans” at Gonzaga University invited Diggs to speak.

He called the lecture, “The Medical Effects of Homo-Sex,” and, according to an Oct. 28 article in the Gonzaga Bulletin, changed the headline of the lecture after objection from the University from its original form, which was “The Medical Effects of Homosexuality,” because the term “Homo-sex” referred to the specific act and not to a person.

In the 75-minute lecture at Gonzaga, Diggs stated that homosexuality is defined by two characteristics – promiscuity and penetrative anal intercourse. According to the article, Diggs also suggested that homosexuality was the reason for the spread of sexually transmitted diseases to the general population.

Despite Diggs’ controversial views, he has been honored profusely throughout his career. He was given the Presidential Meritorious Executive Rank Award, the Public Health Service Superior Award and was named the Distinguished Senior Professional of the International Personnel Management Association by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), according to the NIH Web site.

But Diggs has angered many in the gay and pro-choice communities through his politics.

He has advocated against homosexuals through the words of Dr. Martin Luther King, stating in an essay titled “It Doesn’t Take My Training as an M.D. to Recognize that the Essence of Marriage is Reflected in the Neat Division of Mankind into Male and Female” that “were Dr. King homosexually coupled, he would not have had four little children for whom to dream.”