Running head: MY PRO-LIFE EXPERIENCE
My Pro-Life Experience Ellen Waymire University of Kentucky
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MY PRO-LIFE EXPERIENCE
2 Abstract
Throughout my time exploring the Students for Life organization, I learned a lot of valuable information about their beliefs, the people who have those beliefs, and statistical facts and information that have shaped each and every one of their beliefs. This experience caused me to question and reassess my own beliefs, in addition to having to do additional research of my own. As much as I enjoyed my experience, I will no longer be apart of this club.
MY PRO-LIFE EXPERIENCE
3 My Pro-Life Experience
The organization that I choose to explore was the Students For Life club, also know as the Pro-Life club, here at the University of Kentucky. This organizations mission statement is: …to end abortion by educating students about the issues of abortion…; identifying pro- life student leaders; equipping student pro-lifers with the training, skills and resources to be effective and successful; promoting student activity to other local, college, and national organizations (Supporters, 2013). I chose to learn more about this organization because I am pro-choice, and I was very curious as to what attracted the members of this organization to join this club. I had numerous assumptions about the member’s beliefs, and through observation, I learned a lot about abortion, which did in fact cause me to question my beliefs, but unfortunately, I will not be joining this organization. Overall, I would say that this was a positive and eye opening experience, but it only reaffirmed my stance on being pro-choice. The assumptions that I had about the organization were similar to how I would imagine any other liberal or pro-choicer would think. I predicted that these people would be extremely religions, unwelcoming, and a group that would have little impact on the community. Some of my expectations were correct, as I anticipated, but some pleasantly
Picture of the organization members By: Ellen Waymire
surprised me. Before I attended my first meeting I was very apprehensive. I had no idea what to expect and I had a preconceived notion about what the meeting would be like. As I approached the door to the meeting location, the thought of running away and not attending the meeting definitely
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crossed my mind. All of my assumptions and stereotypes that I had began flooding through my mind. I just held my breath, put a smile on, and walked into the room. The first observation that I had made was that the members of the organization were all very religions, which was what I had previously assumed. Coincidentally, they were all Catholics. I came into the meeting thinking that they all were pro-life because that’s what the Bible says, which is in part true. As I got to know the group, and through my interview with the organization president, Linda Grijalba, I discovered that initially their pro-life beliefs came from their religion, but metamorphosed into wanted to research and find out more statistical information to support, and back up their beliefs. Linda explained to me that she was brought up in a Catholic family and her mother was very involved in the local pro-life community. Her mother actively volunteered at the Crisis Pregnancy Center in Ohio, which counseled women before and after their abortions. In addition, she was the Right to Life coordinator for her area, which later led to Linda becoming a board member of the Central Kentucky Right to Life, and participated in “…40 days of life [which included daily prayers] in front of local abortion clinics (Grijalba, 2013).” Her mother dragged Linda along to numerous pro-life events, which sparked her interest in getting involved. In high school, Linda was the pro-life speaker in Louisville and attended many lectures about the horrific nature of abortions. All of her experiences led to shaping and supporting the beliefs that she was brought up with. Secondly, I thought that the group members would be standoffish towards me due to my opposing beliefs. I was shocked to find out that they we very accepting of that fact. They were not trying to persuade or alter my beliefs in any way; they simply wanted to increase my knowledge and fact base on this topic so that I could make an educated decision on whichever side of this controversial issue I may choose. I was almost stunned that they were not trying to
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shove the Bible down my throat, and tell me that abortions are ungodly. They simply presented the facts that they had acquired through guest speakers and past research, and invited me to participate in their outreach events, which leads me to my next assumption. Lastly, I thought that this little organization of only a few members would have little to no impact on the community. I predicted that they would meet every so often to discuss their beliefs and the newest abortion news. I found this to be very wrong, very quickly. Many students do not know this, but the Students for Life Photo from: www.studentsforlife.org/plannedparenthood
organization was responsible for the pink
crosses in front of White Hall, formally known as the Planned Parenthood Project. They had 915 crosses, which represented the number of abortions that Planned Parenthood preforms everyday. That is, taking the number of abortions and dividing them by the number of days of the week, not including the days and hours that they are not in operation (Grijalba, 2013). Also, they wanted to spread awareness to the fact that abortions “…make up a significant amount of [Planned Parenthoods] …profits, and is a huge portion of their budget (Grijalba, 2013).” The other project that they participated in was the Genocide Awareness Project, which was orchestrated “…through the Center of Bio-Ethical Research (CBO).” Linda brought this project to campus because she, along with the CBO, “…believes that graphic images work [when trying to show the negative and darker side of abortion] (Grijalba, 2013).” They “…are comparing abortion to genocide because it is a systematic destruction of human life…. [even thought there is no one person or leader controlling the movement] (Grijalba, 2013).” In addition to the graphic
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images that they had displayed, they also had “…a separate table [allowing students the option] to talk to women [from Silent No More] who have had abortions and regret them (Grijalba, 2013).” This was the biggest and most impactful outreach activity that they participated in. This project definitely pulled on the heartstrings of the students and faculty, and got the public talking, which is what they had hoped to achieve. After meeting and participating in activities with the organization, I can now say that although aspects of my
Photo by: Ellen Waymire
assumptions were correct, most were wrong, which has helped me shed the predigest that I had against people with pro-life beliefs. Through my interview with Linda Grijalba, and my own personal research, I learned some alarming statistics that I had no previous knowledge of. The first price of information that I learned was that “1% of all abortions occur because of rape or incest (Abortion Facts, 2013).” I imagined that that number would have been much higher, but that statistics reaffirmed Linda’s belief that in those instances, abortions are still wrong. She also mentioned that “…punishing the child for what the father did does not makes any sense. They [the women] may not have chosen what happened to them, but they did choose whether or not to abort their baby (Grijalba, 2013).” Secondly, “…an unborn baby's heart begins to beat 18-21 days after fertilization (Abortion Information, 2013).” “[In addition,] the baby can experience pain at 40 weeks (Grijalba, 2013).” Another eye-opening statistic that Linda Grijalba mentioned was that “…every third child dies
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from an abortion.” I was extremely surprised that that many women choose to abort their babies on a daily bases. Also with regards to abortion, breast cancer has been found in some cases. If you have a later term abortion, … the cells in [a women’s] breasts that are developing to be able to breast feed, [may]… still remain [and] could become cancerous (Grijalba, 2013). A fact that I found to be very interesting is that “…an estimated 35% of all women will have at least 1 abortion by the time they are 45 years old. 47% of all abortions are performed on women who have had at least 1 previous abortion (Abortion Facts, 2013).” Another fact is that “…since 1973, there have been more than 55 million abortions in the United States (Abortion Information, 2013).” The last piece of information that Linda Grijalba shared with we was that …abortion clinics target college campuses. They put up a map of college campuses and within a one-mile radius; they had an abortion clinic within most of them. They abortion clinic closest to UK is just over a mile away (Grijalba, 2013). It seems plausible that young college women may have an unexpected pregnancy and may need those services, but I had no idea that abortion clinics were targeting female college students. All of the factual information that Linda presented to me, and all of the information that I uncovered through additional research definitely shocked me. I had no idea of any of this information, but I am glad that I know the harsh reality of abortions and the clinics that service the women. After going to numerous meetings and observing the Students for Life outreach projects, I now have a new understanding and outlook on this organization. As I previously shared, I had a few assumptions before I explored the club, but now that I can reflect on my experiences, I look at the club, and its members, very differently. I see the members of the Students for Life organization as passionate individuals. I respect that they were not trying to force their beliefs on me, and even though we have opposing views, I understand that it is their right to express their beliefs in any form or fashion they choose, as graphic as that my be. I appreciate that everyone in
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the group was very welcoming towards me, and even invited me to participate in local and national events with them. They personally invited me to take part in the “…March for Life [which] is held in Washington, D.C., drawing anywhere from thirty to fifty thousand pro-life supporters from around the country (Ginsburg, 1989).” This event brings awareness to “…the anniversary of the 1973 ruling legalizing abortion, [also known as Roe v. Wade] (Ginsburg, 1989).” I also applaud the members for bringing this issue to the forefront of peoples thinking. This is a very controversial issue, and most people do not like to talk about their stance on abortion, but they are making it hard not to talk about it. All of the members are very open about their beliefs and enjoyed the opportunity to share their knowledge with anyone who was willing to hear it. I greatly appreciated their willingness to inform not only me, but also the public on this issue, and whether I like to admit it or not, I did in fact learn a lot of important facts and statistics from them. After hearing all of the group member’s testimony about their beliefs, I decided to take a step back, apply what they taught me, and reevaluate my beliefs. Prior to meeting with the group, I thought that abortions were okay. I did not see a problem with them because I mainly focused my beliefs of being pro-choice on a women’s right to choose. Although I am pro-choice, that does not mean that I am in favor of or promote abortions. Personally, I could never have an abortion. I am pro-choice, not pro- abortion, and because of that, I realized that there are a few restrictions that I would now be in favor of implementing. I am in favor of placing a time limit as to when you can and cannot have an abortion. I think that having stricter procedure requirements and sterilization would be an important restriction that all clinics should promote and adhere to, but not to the extent of the law that Texas recently passed. I am against that law because their list of necessities that each clinic had
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to abide by was so particular that almost of the abortion clinics were required to closed. In addition, I do not think that a women should be forced into having an ultrasound prior to getting their abortion; I think it should be something that the women decides whether or not she would like to have preformed. Also, it was brought to my attention from spending time with this organization that counseling is an extremely necessary service for a women to have before and after her abortion, and I think that that service should be promoted much more. Reflection on my experience, I can now say that I am happy to have explored this community because it has caused me to reassess my beliefs and gave me the opportunity to arm myself with much more information, to allow me to be completely certain and satisfied with my decision on being prochoice. Unfortunately, I have decided that I will no longer be attending their meetings. As much as I value the information that they have provided me with, it has only reaffirmed by beliefs. I do agree that abortions are wrong, but I believe in the right to choose, and no amount of statistical information will change that. Also, I think that the emphasis that they placed on religion was a little more than I am comfortable with. I believe that everyone should choose which side of the argument they are on based on the information that they have gathered, not because their religion tells them to. I appreciate all of the knowledge that I have gained, but no amount of evidence will change what I think. Coming into this organization, I definitely had my guard up. I had no idea what to expect, and I came in with assumptions that were soon proven wrong. I learned a lot from going to the organization meetings and their community events, but my beliefs have still remained the same. I appreciate all of the information that I have learned, and the organization welcoming me with open arms even though I had opposing views. I will take the information that I learned with me,
MY PRO-LIFE EXPERIENCE and educate those around me on the issue of abortion, while still respectfully allowing them to choose which side of the issue they are on.
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MY PRO-LIFE EXPERIENCE
11 References
Abortion Facts. Abortionno.org. Retrieved November 13,2013, from http://www.abortionno.org Abortion Information. Nrlc.org. Retrieved November 13,2013, from http://www.nrlc.org Ginsburg, F.D. (1989). Contested Lives: The Abortion Debate in an American Community. London: University of California Press. Grijalba, L. (21 October 2013). Personal interview. Educating the community on the topic and beliefs behind the pro-life movement. Supporters: Our Mission statement. Studentsforlife.org. Retrieved November 13, 2013, from http://www.studentsforlife.org