Student Choice Challenged

The 33rd Annual March for Life commenced in Washington, DC on January 23. Among the thousands at the March against the Roe v Wade decision of 1973 were young people from across the nation.

For many of these high school and college students, this is only one part of their work toward putting an end to abortion. In part, this is due to the many organizations that encourage and support students to work for their beliefs. One Right to Life coordinator from Grand Rapids, Michigan said that the students that she works with do not “sit on the sideline.” She found that once she gave the students the encouragement and resources they needed, they became dedicated; “they were amazing students who wanted to teach their peers.”

Yet, for some school groups, spreading their message is much more difficult. A member of the Students for Life club at the University of Maryland, College Park reported that at a genocide awareness event that they planned, students spit on them. Others rode bikes around the table and chanted at them. At another University of Maryland campus- UMBC event, one pro-life student said that he was confronted by a hostile student while he was chalking on the sidewalk in support of President Bush’s ban on partial birth abortion. The pro-lifer said, “The man was angry that I supported President Bush’s ban. He said that I did not understand the situation pregnant women find themselves in…but I did understand, my girlfriend and I had a baby while we were in high school. We kept the baby, and I thank everyday that passes that I have my little girl.”

Most students with whom I spoke with said that when they tried to express their views and beliefs, other students would call them names and start an argument with them. This hostility was seen at the march, where about 12 protestors made their way up to the Supreme Court, where the march ended, to greet the pro-lifers with insults and slurs about Christianity. They had signs, including a handmade banner that had a silver hanger on it, suggesting that an end to abortion would mean that many women would resort to using hangers to abort their children in the womb. Many pro-life students attempted to talk to the protestors, but to no avail.

Although the protestors gained a large amount of media attention, this did not thwart the efforts of young people at the march to demonstrate their beliefs. The pro-life movement appears to be alive and well, and ready for the much anticipated battle between pro-life and pro-choice supporters.

But where does the hostility demonstrated by pro-choice students come from? Is it innate or learned? If it is learned, where is it taught?

Rosemarie Capozzi is an intern at Accuracy in Academia.