Want to play Frisbee? There’s a club for that. Pintrest projects, eat snacks, or play childhood games? There’s a club for that too. And now because of a few students’ passion for the pro-life movement, there is a place on campus where students can rally together and join the crusade against abortion.
The pro-lifers meet at 5:00 on Tuesday nights in the Aagard basement, and a typical night for the club involves prayer, snacks, and educating themselves on pro-life apologetics through educational films or a guest speaker from Students for Life of America. However, on Sunday, Apr. 21 the group will be hosting a movie night with free pizza and root beer floats.
The club began in February when the issue of abortion in the states began to weigh heavy on freshman Mara McKinney’s heart.
“Since 1973 there have been more than 54 million abortions, that’s the entire [states of] California, Oregon, Washington, Idaho, and Nevada gone… the more I thought about it I was like ‘man I really need to do something’” she said.
Realizing Corban didn’t already have a pro-life club, she decided to start one for herself. She wanted to help spread the true tragedy of abortion, inform people how they can respond to the issue in a Christ-like manner, and help pregnant women in the community.
However, McKinney couldn’t do it on her own. With her hopes high she went to her friend Alexis Miller to ask if she’d partner with her and become the club’s vice-president. Although Miller was hesitant at first because neither of the two had much experience running a club, or much leadership training at all, she said she’d give it a try.
What was once the desire to see fewer abortions in the world is now a club gaining momentum in the community. The club doesn’t just sit around and talk about how bad abortion is; they do stuff. They’re currently running a diaper drive on campus and have various collection boxes set up in dorms and the library. Though, McKinney admits that they’re still learning to ropes on how to effectively advertise this on campus.
Even bigger news is that on Apr. 1 club member Kayli Moser was given the opportunity to speak in front of the Oregon state legislature in defense of the unborn. Moser spoke with three other women through the organization Oregon Right to Life.
“Speaking before the Legislature was a honor and privilege I won’t soon forget,” said Moser. “Speaking is my passion [and] speaking truth is my calling. God calls us to do everything heartily and for Him, and so that is my goal when I speak.”
Club members have also been seeking training outside of campus. Recently McKinney, Miller, and next year’s treasurer Jesse Houser traveled to Seattle to attend a Saturday conference hosted by the SFLA. The training consisted mostly of sitting through lectures but McKinney said they learned a lot of information that “helped us get more excited for next year.”