Tag prolife | Hannah Ihms

September 2, 2014 by Hannah

Local Ministry Will Host Former Planned Parenthood Manager

Located downtown at 115 W. Mulberry Street in Kokomo, Living Alternatives Pregnancy Resource Center helps families in the midst of unexpected pregnancies. Whether it’s a listening ear, parenting advice, or baby clothes, the staff and volunteers at Living Alternatives are committed to helping pregnant women and girls during their journey of motherhood. The Center is open Tuesday through Friday and visitors can make an appointment or stop by. For more information, see their website and Facebook page.

Each year, Living Alternatives hosts an annual banquet to share what the Lord has done through their ministry and to cast a vision for the next year. This year’s banquet will be held at First Church of the Nazarene (2734 S. Washington St., Kokomo) on Tuesday, September 23rd, 2014 at 6:30PM. These banquets are an excellent way to learn more about their work and get involved. It is free and open to the public. This year’s theme is, “..He rescued me…” from Psalm 18:19, which is directly related to the story of this year’s keynote speaker, Sue Thayer.

Sue Thayer worked at the Planned Parenthood clinic in Storm Lake, Iowa, in 2002 when a deceased infant was found in the county’s recycling center. Law enforcement subpoenaed pregnancy records from all local medical providers, but Planned Parenthood was the only agency that refused to supply patient information. Sue was directly in the crossfire of what became a national controversy regarding the privacy of medical records. Then, in December 2008, Planned Parenthood began introducing webcam abortions in every clinic in the state. Sue was fired from her role as the Center Manager when she refused to offer this new “on demand” product.

Sue has gone on to become a strong voice for life. She is a tireless advocate for children, with a special love for the unborn. As the founder and director of Cornerstone for Life Pregnancy Resource Center, Sue is dedicated to advocating for the unborn, beginning at conception. Her story is living proof of God’s mercy and grace.

To RSVP for the banquet, call (765) 454-5566 or email kokomo@hopeforafuture.com.

in Education 0 comments

January 22, 2013 by Hannah

Touching the Face of God

On January 22, 2013, the 40th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, I gathered with others in the Urbana-Champaign community to commemorate the human lives lost through abortion. In this opportunity to speak at the Community Ecumenical Pro-Life Prayer Vigil, I wanted to share hope. The prolife movement is alive and well because of young people like the ones I met at the University of Illinois.

“In the beginning, God…” (Genesis 1:1)

Why does Scripture open with these words? Because God is the center of reality: “…[I]n Him we live, and move, and have our being…” (Acts 17:28)

During creation, God said, “Let us make man in our image, in our likeness…” So God created man in His own image… male and female He created them. (Genesis 1:26–27)

God stamped His likeness upon us, and shared His divine being with us.

Because He “breathed into his nostrils the breath of life… the man became a living being.”

This is at the heart of the prolife movement. A person is alive and is human because he is made in the image of God. Humanity has nothing to do with age, ability to learn, or net worth.

The future of the prolife movement is bound up in our ability to communicate this to others.

And to speak to this generation, we need to know where it’s at.

When I was on campus, I invited medical students to attend a screening of the film Maafa 21. I sent this question out to the med school listserv: “What is the leading cause of death among African-Americans?” I listed several options to choose from: heart disease, cancer, stroke, or abortion.

The answer is abortion.

I thought that the students would challenge the fact that I would group abortion with the other causes of death, and say that a fetus isn’t really alive, or human.

The email sparked a lot of debate, but no one questioned the fact that unborn children are humans. They took exception to the fact that some children should be born.

One student wrote, “By ‘Planned Parenthood’s aggressive agenda against minorities’ do you mean showering them with condoms and birth control pills?”

Another student said, “Yes, black women have the highest rate of abortion in this country. But it is also true that hispanics and blacks are also much more likely to be below the poverty line…”

She continued, saying: “I grew up in DC, a city where minorities are the majority. I volunteered at planned parenthood, where primarily black nurses and black doctors cared for primarily black women. This is an opinion–but I don’t think they were trying to kill off their race. I think they were trying to provide sexual health care to a population that desperately needed it.”

It’s logical that this young woman would say this, because it’s what she’s very likely been taught throughout her life. The anti-life side has been much more shrewd about instituting “sex-ed” programs to convey their viewpoint and our educational establishment is dominated by worldviews such as secular humanism. They know how influential peers can be, which is why here in Champaign
Planned Parenthood has a program of “Peer educators”: highschoolers trained to convince other highschoolers of how great Planned Parenthood is.

Is it any wonder that so many students believe what they are taught?

I quickly found how unpopular my viewpoint was. Of the emails that came through, only one other student spoke up in support of the unborn.

But that student gave me so much hope.

Meg

The fact that a medical student from here at the U of I was a passionate spokesperson for the unborn made me rejoice. Meg helped restart the Christian Medical Association chapter on this campus. Today she unashamedly speaks about the sanctity of life and takes a public stand against Obamacare.

Even though there is intense pressure to conform on the issue of abortion, I have hope for my generation because I have met valiant prolife advocates all over this campus.

Students like Meg carry the image of our Heavenly Father wherever they go.

You’ve heard about some of the incredibly passionate prolife young people who are active on a national scale—people like Lila Rose with Live Action and James O’Keefe with the Veritas Project. But I want to take a few minutes and share with you what I’ve seen right here on our campus.

Jane

There are currently 1061 Registered Student Organizations here at the University of Illinois. Very few tackle the issue of abortion, but one that does is Illini Collegians for Life, a group affiliated with Students for Life of Illinois.

I got to know a student named Jane at Quad Day, when many of the thousand organizations try to reach new students. Our Illini Collegians for Life booth was directly next to a pro-abortion group. They were loudly promoting their “safe sex” freebies, and it was super uncomfortable being right next to them!

One especially vocal young woman decided to leave her booth and come over to ours. She pointed to some of the literature on our table and loudly proclaimed she didn’t believe fetuses looked like that. Jane didn’t shout back. She just calmly showed her a brochure on fetal development with actual photos of babies as they grew.

The change in the woman was phenomenal. She’d come over to our table to start a shouting match, but Jane’s gentleness was something she couldn’t fight with.

Chris

College can be an intense time of change, and many students are won over by the Leftist climate. A student named Chris actually went in the opposite direction. Chris came to the U of I believing that abortion was acceptable, but by doing independent reading and thinking, he realized he was on the wrong side.

He became ardently prolife. He testified before the Illinois Student Senate on prolife resolutions and during one 40 Days for Life campaign here in Champaign, he signed up to go to the clinic every day.

John-Paul

I’m sure that many of you have heard about or know John-Paul. He was active on campus while he was studying engineering at the U of I, and when he graduated he founded Students for Life of Illinois. He is intensely active in lobbying for prolife legislation, providing resources for prolife campus groups across the state, and organizing statewide events to make abortion unthinkable. Like John-Paul says, life is good.

He taught me an incredible amount about what it means to be prolife. He taught me that abortion affects people of all ages. The babies aborted in 1973 would be celebrating their 40th birthday this year if they had lived. So I’ve lost teachers because of abortion. The babies aborted in 1983 would be turning 30 this year. So I’ve lost classmates to abortion. The children who would have been born in 1993 would be hitting 20 this year. I’ve lost students to abortion.

But during these 40 years under Roe v. Wade, many prolife young people have also been born.

Jerry

Young people like Jerry. Jerry is extremely prolife and extremely political. He worked with Living Alternatives locally so they could provide free pregnancy tests inside the Student Union.

He also campaigned hard for prolife candidates. You need someone to go door to door? Ask Jerry. You need to know how prolife a candidate is? Ask Jerry. His enthusiasm is so infectious I think it’s something viral. And his willingness to jump into challenging situations is legendary.

There’s definitely times when you shouldn’t go into battle alone.

Another Student

Each year the University sponsors an event called “Sex Out Loud.” I avoided it like the plague, until one year when I was invited to help with a booth. The booth was sponsored by a Newman group highlighting chastity and emphasizing the Theology of the Body. The event was held in the Illini Union, and was surprisingly poorly attended. Most of the people were the ones working for groups offering stuff like anonymous sex. Some poor students were required by their professors to go to every booth and get a signature proving they’d been there. Our booth was the only one offering anything besides “if it feels good, do it.” But that was our drawing point. We were so different we stuck out like a sore thumb!

People came up wondering what in the world we were about. The student I was working with quoted from a movie where Cameron Diaz tells Tom Cruise, “Don’t you know that when you sleep with someone, your body makes a promise whether you do or not!” He was able to ask students thoughtprovoking questions that challenged what society considers “normal.”

Folks from every booth were also given the chance to speak to the entire gathering. This other student did that, giving a concise description of God’s plan for sexuality.

Diana

Another student I met and got to know well was Diana. Diana obtained her Ph.D. here at the university, and is pursing a career in academia. Her mother worried that if she betrayed her prolife sympathies at this early stage, it might hurt her chances.

But what Diana decided was that to hold back when she would speak would change who she was. And she wasn’t willing to be silent when she would speak. She was one of a handful of students that testified before the Illinois Student Senate when they were considering options to diversify their healthcare options. She eloquently pointed out that many gynecological needs are not covered by the student health insurance plan because only a very few students ever need them.

This was only one way that she lived out her prolife beliefs. Her research focus was influenced by her beliefs about human embryonic stem cell research.

Stephanie

Diana is not the only young woman who’s broken out of the world’s mold for women. Because of the media attention given to women such as Sandra Fluke, it’s easy to think that all single women in school are die-hard abortion fans. But they’re not. Even though it can be intimidating to voice an opposing viewpoint, one of my friends, Stephanie, wrote a class assignment on Feminists for Life. This group advocates for a new definition of feminism, a feminism that values women that are born and those that are unborn.

These are just some of the students I have met here on the U of I campus. There’s many others, too, like:

Mike

Mike, who organized busfulls of students from several campuses to attend March for Life, and

Lazaro

Lazaro, who set up a prolife flash mob on the Quad.

The reason I have hope is because I know students from this campus who recognize the deep definition of dignity, which stems from our Creator God.

Their lives bear His image—the likeness of God.

August 7, 2012 by Hannah

At Death’s Door

The following article was originally published by Illinois Review.

There’s something more convincing than statistics, and that’s pain.

As I stood outside an abortion clinic this summer, I caught just a glimpse of the crushing pain—physical, spiritual, and emotional—that abortion inflicts on all it touches. I saw that there’s times when statistics just insulate me from what I don’t want to see, and inure me to the thought that trends pile up one life at a time.

The building itself was a hideous block building with a tiny parking lot. The waiting room must have extremely cramped, because even though the sun was beating down, family members would check in their sweethearts, wives, sisters, mothers, or friends, then stand in the parking lot, drive away to return later, or wander around aimlessly.

I had no undercover camera to see what was happening inside, but the horror of these moments was reflected in the faces of those enduring it outside.

One man paced around, puffing on a cigarette a few times, then feverishly stamping it out. Another man wept uncontrollably. One of the prolife counselors asked him what was wrong. He said that his girlfriend was inside having an abortion, but he had wanted to keep the baby. He never even got to meet his child.

At that very moment, I’m sure there were delivery wards full of people of the exact same age, socioeconomic class, and ethnic background, just as distracted and distraught. But at least they could talk to one another about the baby’s name, rearrange the baby clothes for the umpteenth time, or speculate on whether she’d have her mom or daddy’s eyes.

What did the people here have to talk about?

Their wife or girlfriend would come out in pain, and there would be no precious bundle. There would be no congratulations, cards, or baby bows. Just pain. And shame.

A prolife counselor greeted each person coming up to the clinic, and told them about a free ultrasound and other resources for their child. His gentleness sometimes elicited a response, and one woman, after checking her sister into the clinic, came back to talk.

She wanted to know if we had any advice on sterilization. She said she knew her sister would never talk to us, but she needed help: this was her eighth abortion. A tall, spare woman, she nervously crossed and recrossed the street several times, always clutching her purse to her arm. Finally she asked us if we knew where she could get a drink. When the procedure was finally done, she pulled her car into the clinic’s narrow lot and helped wheel her sister down toward the car. When the wheelchair was as close as possible, she helped her sister stand and move into the front seat. The woman was visibly in pain; she walked deliberately, seemed drugged or extremely tired, and slumped into the front seat.

Not everyone had the support of their family. One beautiful African-American woman, probably in her late teens and dressed to the hilt, was escorted in by a forty-something white guy in a stylish jacket. The next day a man who looked strikingly similar was back with a different girl. I wondered what questions, if any, the front desk asked those who checked in patients.

A young family with a father, mother, and boy about seven years old came up. The father and son checked in the mother, then left. I wondered what you told your son about something like this. If Mom was going to bring a new baby home, you’d need to prepare your son over a course of months so he could get ready for a new baby sister or brother. He might think about which toys to share, and ask all the questions about where they were going to sleep, and if he’d get to hold him or not. With something like an abortion, I figured the parents just said it was a routine doctor’s appointment. How do you tell your son he had a sibling you decided he would never meet?

One threesome that came up to the clinic was a mother, a daughter, and the daughter’s boyfriend. The girl was silent, but the mother and boyfriend were either extremely cheerful or doing their best to act as if they were. They smiled, laughed—and deliberately avoided eye contact with any of us there on the prolife side. I’ve heard so many women talk about how much they’d love to have grandchildren. Some are desperate enough to start talking about their kids’ pets as grandkids. What would it be like to talk yourself out of grandkids?

The women who breezed by the quickest were well-dressed, on their way to or from work, and evidently just picking up birth control. Those in PJs and flip-flops were there for an abortion, and often entered more slowly. But how many women in the loose-fitting clothes and sandals had originally visited in slacks and high heels?

The only other time I had been to a clinic was when I was a child, and the women looked so much older than me. It was easier to distance myself from what was happening then. These were old people doing things I couldn’t fathom. Now, some of the women I was saw were my age, and most were younger. I saw a girl who could have been ten years younger than me, coming in with her mom. I began to realize that whether I acknowledged it or not, this was my world. The people coming in and out were Americans overlapping with me in space and time. I could have been one of them, leaving behind a medical record and my first, or eighth, child.

Abortion has ingrained itself so thoroughly in our culture that abusive boyfriends and supposedly loving mothers often pressure young women into the same decision. I saw only a single time point in a drama that had started long before. We have got to get engaged so much earlier in this process, so a child’s life doesn’t come down to keeping or rejecting a certain card on a certain day. We’ve got to build a culture where abortion is unthinkable. Where parents decide to be the stewards of their children’s education. Where a girl doesn’t rely on a twerp telling her she’s hot because her dad’s told her he loves her. Where a twenty-something proudly wears a “Virginity Rocks” t-shirt. Where God’s definition of marriage is celebrated.

There is this blessing in the midst of the pain: the further our culture erodes, the more distinct the options become.

in Law / Sociology 0 comments

July 26, 2012 by Hannah

Planned Parenthood’s War on Women

This article was originally published by Illinois Review.

There’s a two-tier system of abortions in the U.S.: those for the haves, and those for the have-nots. President Obama may fundraise for Planned Parenthood, but he’d never send his daughters there. Who would, if they could send them anywhere else?

The Left’s public enthusiasm for Sanger’s brainchild plasters splashy wallpaper on prison walls and plants a smiley face on an urn.

Planned Parenthood is corrupt to the core. Just look at their marketing. The more sexually active the population, the more Planned Parenthood stands to profit. Expecting Planned Parenthood to give abstinence information is like waiting for McDonald’s to hand out dieting advice. It may talk about “safe sex,” but not even “protected sex” halts the spread of sexually transmitted diseases. No matter. This isn’t about health; it’s about sales. If people want birth control, Planned Parenthood can sell it to them. When the birth control fails, they can sell them an abortion. And, while Planned Parenthood promotes equal opportunity sexual activity (females with females, males with males) we can’t neglect females-with-males, because that’s what keeps the abortion stream going.

It gets worse. The standard of care is that if a patient is going to undergo a procedure, they should give informed consent. This implies two things: that the patient has been adequately informed of the risks and benefits of the procedure, and that they are freely choosing to carry out the procedure. Planned Parenthood can market to the desperate mother who feels she must have an abortion at any cost, or the mother who needs convincing.

Former Planned Parenthood staff have confessed the levels of manipulation they have used to convince a woman to abort. Even when this line isn’t crossed, there’s still a highly emotional decision happening, with possible pressure from family, friends, husband, boyfriend, or pimp. But if you have been sexually exploited or emotionally manipulated, don’t expect Planned Parenthood to help you. As Live Action has abundantly demonstrated, implausible deniability even in cases as clear-cut as sex trafficking is alive and well at Planned Parenthood.

Adequate information is another fiction. While claiming “We’re here to give you the medically-accurate information you need to decide what is best for you,” Planned Parenthood misrepresents the inherent risk involved in having an abortion. Their website states, “Abortion is legal in the U.S. and is one of medicine’s safest procedures.”

Given the fact that many medical procedures are no more than skin deep, such as removing a mole, it’s surprising that the organization would make such a bald-faced claim. But then, those kinds are less likely to be suspected. No supporting information is given to support this claim, and the probability of various complications from abortion is not presented. One key risk factor that gets inadequate treatment is late-term abortions. All of the women and girls presented in Planned Parenthood’s featured tutorial video on in-clinic abortions are 14 weeks or less pregnant, and none has even an inkling of a baby bump.

While 88% of abortions are done within the first trimester of a child’s life, Planned Parenthood provides abortions through the third trimester. It makes sense to have one tutorial directed toward women at an earlier stage of pregnancy, but where is the tutorial for women further along? Toward the end of the video, the calm, measured voice of the narrator promises that Planned Parenthood will provide referrals for women who experience complications from their abortion.

Elsewhere, it’s claimed that abortions through 20 weeks are 11 times safer than childbirth, but that after that abortion and natural childbirth have equal risk. Again, no evidence is given to substantiate this claim. Instead of bracing for serious complications, wouldn’t it be better if women were told there are viable options beyond abortion?

The results of a procedure depend not only on the inherent risk, but also on the skill of the individual physician. The average rate of mishap for a certain procedure may be very low, but with a careless physician it will be very high. But a Planned Parenthood patient shouldn’t expect to know anything about their abortionist before they show up. If she was going to a doctor or a dentist for the first time, she could look up their name, specialty, and most likely even their picture online. Not with Planned Parenthood. The Illinois Planned Parenthood website assures potential clients:

“For nearly 90 years Planned Parenthood of Illinois (PPIL) has been Illinois’ most trusted provider of reproductive health care. Our skilled health care professionals in the Chicago area and central Illinois work to ensure that each woman receives personal, sensitive and confidential care in a professional setting. All of our physicians are board certified or board eligible in Obstetrics and Gynecology or board certified in Family Medicine.”

It declines to list anything more than this, so it’s impossible for a first-time visitor to research their physician by name. Clients put their lives into the hands of a complete stranger. If abortionists were gifted physicians, wouldn’t they be proud to list their credentials publicly?

Placing clinics in low-income neighborhoods increases Planned Parenthood’s access to minorities, but it also removes accountability and ready access to emergency personnel and resources. Of course, even great physicians sometimes make mistakes, which is why hospitals regularly hold Morbidity & Mortality conferences. It’s here that the medical staff discusses cases that went wrong so that the core issues can be identified and mended.

For abortionists running solo practices, who provides this level of accountability? Are they ever questioned by their medical peers on their techniques, or botches? The ghastly findings in Dr. Kermit Gosnell’s abortion practice in Philadelphia last year spurred nine abortion clinic inspections in Illinois. Some hadn’t been inspected for over 15 years, and two were closed because of what was found. The inspections stopped short of any Planned Parenthood clinics, however, because these clinics are not licensed or inspected due to their similarity to doctor’s offices. This includes the clinic where Tonya Reaves was treated.

Tonya Reaves Planned ParenthoodIf the Planned Parenthood clinics had been adequately monitored, might Tonya Reaves be alive today? How many abortion clinics have emergency plans? Who vets the skill levels of physicians applying for jobs? Is the convenient location of clinics enough justification for their isolation from trauma units?

If Planned Parenthood of Illinois had fully informed Tonya Reaves of the risks she faced in her second-trimester abortion, would she have continued with her decision? It’s a question we will never know. But each woman should be given a fully informed choice. When it comes to abortion, it’s not just a woman’s body that’s at stake: it can be her life.

in Ethics / Health / Law 0 comments

July 18, 2012 by Hannah

Where There’s Life, There’s Hope–Even in Illinois

The following article was originally published by Illinois Review.

With his uptilted chin and elitist policies, President Obama has proved how little he understands the average American or cares to represent him. Case in point: his abortion policies.

Mr. Obama’s voting record as a state and U.S. senator proved his support for pre- and postnatal infanticide, an intentness he sometimes toned down on the campaign trail:

Rick Warren: “[A]t what point does a baby get human rights, in your view?”
Barack Obama: “Well, you know, I think that whether you’re looking at it from a theological perspective or a scientific perspective, answering that question with specificity, you know, is above my pay grade.”

But such agnosticism did not keep him from shilling to Planned Parenthood or taking a definite stance on the fate of the unplanned unborn:

“I’ve got two daughters. 9 years old and 6 years old. I am going to teach them first of all about values and morals. But if they make a mistake, I don’t want them punished with a baby.”

The social media prowess of President Obama’s campaign helped propel him into office in 2008, but it certainly did not help him understand the views of average Democrats, let alone average Americans. This May, Gallup reportedthat a majority of Americans (50%) self-identify as prolife, while only 41% self-identify as prochoice. This prolife majority is comprised not only of Republicans, but also of Democrats and Independents. Members of all three political affiliations increasingly see themselves as prolife.

Even though a majority of Americans disagree with him on abortion, President Obama shows no sign of damping his relentless abortion agenda. Instead, he lobbied for Obamacare. Before Obamacare, many Americans (myself included) had grown used to what seemed to be the abortion status quo. Roe v. Wade survived, but state and national prolife laws provided checks on particularly egregious abortion techniques and practices. It was tempting to think that abortion could be contained and eradicated slowly. That in the meantime the Hyde Amendment would prevent taxpayers from being forced to subsidize abortions. We tried not to think about the financial support we already were forced to give Planned Parenthood, and the lives claimed as the slow-motion strategy played out.

Obamacare changed all that. President Obama has destroyed the all-powerful illusion of the abortion status quo, and we begin to see there’s no emergency brake on evil. New methods of assaulting consciences are continually being revealed. “Abortion-free” health insurance is becoming an endangered species. And Obamacare is increasing the country’s prolife/proabortion divide as nothing else could.

As John-Paul Deddens, the founder and executive director of Students for Life of Illinois puts it, “Obamacare gives unprecedented power to the executive branch to use insurance requirements to buy votes. The abortion lobby has already gotten its pay-off through the contraception mandate and the abortion surcharge instituted by the HHS. These mandates will not only constitute political favoritism but also the largest expansion of abortion since Roe forcing everyone to pay for the contraception, sterilizations and abortions of others.”

As disturbing as the implications are for the prolife community, it’s even more frightening for the unborn of America. “Safe, legal, and rare” is becoming “Just as unsafe, legal, and subsidized.” Indeed, the 2008 Democratic Party’s platform, which was patterned from Obama’s campaign, dropped the word “rare” in reference to abortion entirely.

Even in Illinois, there is hope amid the heartache. This is where President Obama came of political age, and where he first voiced his support of postnatal infanticide. But it’s also where Jill Stanekbegan her political and ethical career. As a nurse in Christ Hospital in Oak Lawn, Mrs. Stanek saw multiple children who survived abortions but were abandoned in a soiled utility room to die. Her testimony to Congress on behalf of the unborn has been strategic in bills such as the Born Alive Infant Protections Act, and she now maintains a prolife blog that earned her the title “Worst Person in the World!” from Keith Olbermann.

Mrs. Stanek is not alone. Prolifers from across the state participate in events such as 40 Days for Life and Life Chain to pray for the end of abortion. This year, five Illinois cities participated in the spring 40 Days for Life campaign, and there are already 96 confirmed locations for Life Chain in Illinois. Meanwhile, prolife organizations such as the Illinois Family Institute are keeping Illinoisans abreast of prolife bills, news, and perspectives.

Young people in Illinois are finding ways to voice their prolife convictions. Live Action’s investigations in Illinois have complemented the work of prolife elected officials in the statehouse. Thousands of students gather in Washington, D.C. on the anniversary of Roe v. Wade for March for Life, and Illinois students are among them. (Here is a video from the 2012 March).

And four years ago, Illinoisans Mike Schaefer and Jimmy Becker combined their love for biking with their concern for unborn children, and Biking for Babies was born. This year, over the course of nine days, ten bikers rode the 1100 miles from New Orleans to Chicago, to encourage others to become involved in the prolife movement. They also raised $31,000 for eight Midwest prolife organizations, including the Living Alternatives Pregnancy Resource Center in Champaign, the Life Network in Waterloo, and Students for Life of Illinois in Champaign.

On the last day of the ride, Mike Schaefer blogged,

“I can simply say that it was a real blessing to bike with and be supported by such wonderful friends. It really isn’t a cause for which we ride. It’s because life is worth living that we ride. The linguistic, political, and social framework of that which is ‘pro-life’, in as much as it may look similar to any other social platform, only attempts to share with others the far bigger and more meaningful reality of something that we are certain of because there is something ultimately very beautiful about it–something so valuable and noble at every stage in life that we fear doing damage to our own humanity should we take it away from someone else, no matter the circumstance.”

The tenacity it takes to plan and execute such a trip is also needed on college campuses, where faculty and peers are often openly hostile to those who take a prolife stance. Students for Life of Illinois is standing in the gap, and offering encouragement and resources to students on 24 Illinois campuses.

Recently this organization recognized three students for their outstanding contributions to the prolife effort in Illinois. Christina Foreman and Pam Suresca have been outstanding leaders on their campuses (the University of Illinois at Chicago and Loyola University), and were named Passionate Leader of the Year and Outstanding Student Leader of the Year.

Videos made by others from their campuses show the contagious enthusiasm these young women have about building a prolife culture: “What stands out the most to me about Christina is the loving way in which she communicates the prolife message. Christina is utterly fearless when speaking about the prolife movement.”

The third award recipient was Anne Marie Dust, an alumna of Bradley University, was named the Courageous Student of the Year. When Miss Dust was applying for a nursing residency at Vanderbilt University, the University required her to agree to participate in abortions. Understandably shaken, she weighed her options. Objecting might limit her chances to take her nursing examinations, or even find a job. Finally, she made her choice. “At the end of the day you have to stand up for what is most important to you,” she says. With the help of the Alliance Defense Fund, she filed a federal complaint. Here is the result of her actions:

The legacy of Illinois and this nation hangs in the balance. Each of us must decide whose vision will shape the future: the proabortion vision of Barack Obama, or the prolife vision of Jill Stanek, John-Paul, Anne Marie, Mike, Jimmy, and others. Here in President Obama’s home state, our fight to defend the unborn is just beginning. But where there’s life, there’s hope.

in Politics 0 comments

March 10, 2011 by Hannah

Prolife, Proactive

This interview was originally published by The Orange and Blue Observer.

Robert Black is a junior here at the U of I, and the new president of the registered student organization Illini Collegians for Life. We here at the OBO recently had the pleasure of talking with Robert about being involved on campus–especially on the prolife issue.

What is the absolutely best thing about the U of I?

The amount of opportunities we have. Faculty and staff allow us to do so much with our four years here.

What are you studying?

I’m studying communications/pre-med.

So you’re planning on going on to med school?

Yes–I’m studying for the MCAT right now; I’ll be taking that in April.

What do you want to do in medicine?

I’m thinking about pediatrics or neonatology, which is especially appropriate for the club I’m now president of (Illini Collegians for Life).

Lately there’s been a lot of buzz on campus about abortion and Planned Parenthood. I know some people first hear about abortion through news coverage. How did you first hear about it?

When I was 7 or so, maybe even 6, I went with my mother and grandmother to a hospital that performed abortions. Of course, it was years later that I fully understood all of what that meant.

What are your views on abortion?

It should be illegal. It’s 100% equivalent to putting a gun to the head of my brother or sister and pulling the trigger. And the thing is, from a federal standpoint, you don’t need to cling to religion or faith to say abortion is wrong. Look at the facts. Despite the [economic or emotional] position a woman is in, it [her unborn child] is a human life. Any scientist who’s worth his lab coat can tell you that from the moment of conception that’s a human life.

What does it mean to be “prolife”?

Being adamantly opposed to abortion, euthanasia, the death penalty, and any other infringement on the human being’s right to live. I think a lot of people who call themselves prolife don’t realize that to be prolife means to be proactive in defending these rights.

It doesn’t have to mean picketing, going on March for Life in Washington, D.C., but when it comes up in conversation, [being prolife means] defending it; it doesn’t mean backing down.

It really does cover all aspects: physician-assisted suicide, abortion, early abortion (contraception).

Does abortion really matter on a college campus?

Yeah, of course! I think it really matters everywhere, because it happens everywhere. The sad reality is that we have a Planned Parenthood on our campus. I don’t care what percentage of their business is abortion: they’re targeting young women who are infinitely stressed out. They have school to worry about, work to worry about; they have their whole lives ahead of them.

Here is where we need it most. Other places it matters, and yet here’s where we’re constantly bombarded with what we do with our bodies. We’re told if we want to do it, do it. It’s easy to pull from all this that abortion is OK.

It matters here very, very much, and I think it’s up to myself and others to be active on this. The future of America and the future of academia is here. Our future politicians, teachers, and engineers are all here. It’s a cultural thing, and this is where it all starts, on a college campus.

Does abortion ever come up in your classes or casual conversations? If so, how do other students or your professors view it?

To a certain extent. It came up in a class once. It was Philosophy 214–Introduction to Bioethics; it was on the syllabus. The professor seemed to have a view toward the prolife side, but was very hesitant to present his own view, possibly because of the department he was in, or the students.

It’s very polarizing to a certain extent. We have this false sense of freedom instilled in us: we think her body is hers, which is true, but it’s a unique child inside of her.

As far as casual conversations, I am an RA in Newman, the Catholic dorm on campus. It comes up pretty often. We want to know how to reason through the questions that come up. Practicing being a devil’s advocate really helps solidify my own position. A large majority of them [the other Newman students] are prolife, so we can help each other in this.

How did you decide to get involved in the prolife movement here at the U of I?

Through Newman, I have had many opportunities. John Paul Deddens, the director Students for Life of Illinois–freshman year I got to know him, and my roommate and good friend Mike Hamoy, who coordinated March for Life for the past three years. He was definitely an inspiration for getting involved in ICFL. This year they were looking for people to be officers. I decided to step up to the plate, because it’s something I’ve always held dear.

To a certain extent, being prolife means being proactive. This, to me, is about giving back.

You mentioned Illini Collegians for Life. What is it, and what kinds of things does it do?

We are the prolife group here on campus that coordinates with Students for Life of Illinois. The cornerstone of our work is putting together the March for Life every year. We also help out with Students for Life of Illinois activism days each month, and we do roundtable discussions every week. We’re prolife and we want to learn more and be able to defend it publicly.

We want to do a little bit more of pregnancy resources. Also, we have a couple events coming up: general meetings, speakers, film showings (for example, Blood Money, a documentary on the business aspect of abortion).

How can interested students learn more about this?

Definitely contact myself (illiniforlife@gmail.com), and visit us on our website (www.illiniforlife.com) or on Facebook. We also have a general meeting coming up–look for fliers around campus.

As an upperclassman and now club president, do you have any parting words of advice for freshmen and others looking to become more involved on campus?

Go to Quad Day, go around, sign up for as many clubs as you think you’d ever go to. When you get all the emails, do something you could see yourself being in for four years, something you could be an officer in during your junior or senior year. Go to meetings.

Your first year, ask the officers, “How do I get more involved?” You really want to take ownership of your passion in college. Get involved, and by your senior year, you’ll be happy.

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