Pro-life student group surpasses 1200 chapters nationwide
The nation’s largest nonprofit dedicated to promoting the sanctity of life recently surpassed more than 1,200 active student chapters across the United States.
Founded in 1988 by Georgetown University students, the nonprofit, now known as Students for Life, seeks to educate and mobilize high-school and college students to “transform culture by helping young people make abortion unthinkable and obsolete.”
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To that end, the organization trains thousands of students every year through its annual conference and its campus programs, all of which aim to strike a delicate balance among opportunities to “converse, confront, advocate, and support.”
In addition to its pro-life advocacy, many of its chapters also provide support services for women, including fundraisers for pregnant women in need and organizing donation drives for expectant mothers.
“There are people out there that are really concerned about this atrocity, because I do think it's the biggest civil rights issue of our day,” Matt Lamb, chief communications officer of Students for Life, told Campus Reform.
Lamb explained that while Students for Life recently surpassed 1,200 chapters across the United States, more than 500 of them are based on college campuses, including the University of Kansas, the University of Mississippi, Brown University, and many more.
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As Campus Reform previously reported, these chapters have challenged their school’s ties to Planned Parenthood, have been protested for their “traumatizing” views, and have even filed lawsuits against their colleges to fight viewpoint discrimination.
They also provide an ideological counterpoint to the growth of Planned Parenthood on campus, which has 500 college chapters across the United States.
Kristen Wood, a student at the University of Missouri, initially joined her school’s Students for Life group during her freshman year. Now in her senior year, Wood has become the group’s president, and leads its efforts in pro-life advocacy.
“Our organization's positive impact on campus is undeniable. We grew from around 6 active members to over 30 in a single semester,” she told Campus Reform, adding that the group was even recently awarded a Chancellor’s Award from her school’s administration.
"This organization has allowed me to devote myself to a cause that is truly meaningful and even has introduced me to my closest friends,” she continued. “The pro-life generation will be on the right side of history, and I'm so excited for the future of our movement."
Audrey Nitzel joined Students for Life as the Michigan Regional Coordinator, telling Campus Reform that she’s amazed at how many students ask her “what is abortion” during her travels around the state.
[RELATED: Student for Life touts 600 more campus groups than Planned Parenthood]
“They have no clue that a genocide is occurring around them,” she remarked. “Our constitution protects our right to life and I believe that all humans, no matter race, gender, intelligence, level of dependability, location, or circumstance deserve that innate human right.”
She went on to suggest that history shows “the impact that arises” when society and the government proclaim that “a certain group of people do not deserve that right to life.”
“This discrimination has caused the holocaust and slavery and countless other infringements of our rights,” she concluded. “I support the pro-life movement because I do not support the murder of billions of human lives.”
Follow the author of this article on Twitter: @Toni_Airaksinen
