Youth Pro-Life Organizations Reaffirm Pro-Life Unity

Opinion   |   Kristan Hawkins   |   Nov 12, 2010   |   2:57PM   |   Washington, DC

Over the past two decades, the student pro-life movement has grown to a critical mass. Today, there are more youth pro-life groups in high schools and college campuses than ever before.

Nationally, voters aged 18-29 are polling pro-life even more than their parents’ generation.

Each summer, Students for Life of America opens its Missionary for Life and William Wilberforce Leadership Fellowship trainings with the same lecture: pro-life history. During the lecture, I speak about the successes and failures our movement has had since 1973. And I speak about the various disagreements that pro-life organizations have had about varying strategies and tactics. The lecture is not sugar coated.

By the end of the lecture, student leaders are shocked and upset by the disunity that has plagued our movement. I ask all of the students to raise their right hand and pledge to work together with other pro-life organizations as student leaders and, hopefully, national leaders one day.

Students for Life and the undersigned organizations see one of the strengths of the student pro-life movement to be our unity and our ability to work together, despite a different approach at times, to end abortion in our lifetimes. We believe that creating this unity with student leaders will help heal divisions and hurt feelings that unfortunately can happen in the national pro-life movement.

The SFLA National Conference is a great example of the unity within our student movement with almost every national pro-life organization represented, speaking, and working with students. This is also visible on college campuses where students from different backgrounds and religions work together to educate peers about abortion and help women facing unplanned pregnancies. They use materials from different organizations with varying messages to form a cohesive approach to reach as many students as they can.

Our hope is that when students graduate from school they will remain trained, active leaders in the pro-life movement.

We believe it is crucial that pro-life organizations not view one another as competition, but work together and not “re-invent the wheel.” For we are not in the business of vying for customers or national fame, but we are in the business of saving lives. It is critical that we keep our eye on our goal and work to end abortion.

We want to be the drama-free generation. We want to roll up our sleeves and get the job done. We want to end abortion in our lifetimes as a unified national pro-life movement.

We hope you will join us. Now, let’s get to work.

-Students for Life of America, Rock for Life, Human Life Alliance, and Stand True