I’m writing in response to John Speer’s “Organizations foster chaos, not potential” with student leaders. Mr. Speer wrote, “Uninformed groups such as the Bama Students for Life, who create high-profile disasters for an entire campus, should be monitored” and that we are “embarrassingly ignorant.”
Bama Students for Life attends the annual Students for Life of America conference every year, where members learn about abortion, pro-life apologetics and campus activism. This training is one of the reasons why our members were so comfortable debating abortion for two days in front of the Genocide Awareness Project, which, contrary to what Mr. Speer wrote, was not a “high-profile disaster.” We showed thousands of people the reality of abortion – that its result is a tiny, developing human being in bloody pieces.
Mr. Speer wrote that groups like Bama Students for Life “require advisors who can teach them judicious principles and a voice of reason that can craft savvy, and not horridly offensive, goals.” Thankfully, Bama Students for Life has both a phenomenal faculty advisor and a team of full-time activists at our national chapter, Students for Life of America, to teach us judicious principles and help us craft savvy, not horridly offensive, goals.
I agree with Mr. Speer that photos of abortion are “horridly offensive.” This is why we show them. If abortion is so repulsive to look at, then perhaps this violence isn’t something we should tolerate as a civilized society. Our mentors helped us plan and execute the Genocide Awareness Project, which sparked weeks of campus debate and inspired close to 1,000 pro-life students to join our mailing list.
Our team of advisors and supporters has also helped us craft programs like our Pregnant on Campus Initiative, which provides resources and support to pregnant and parenting students so no mother is forced to choose between her child and her education.
Mr. Speer wrote, “Students should become learners who pursue their goals and knowledge with self-determination.” Members of Bama Students for Life are educated about abortion, euthanasia, the death penalty and other issues related to human life. Last semester, we pursued our goal of showing campus the reality of the modern genocide of abortion, which has ended the lives of 55 million pre-born children since Roe v. Wade and Doe v. Bolton. This semester, we are pursuing our goal of equipping student parents with the resources they need to continue their education.
Mr. Speer wrote, “Good intentions cannot cure stupidity; the only remedy for such a problem is strong guidance.” Mr. Speer certainly could use some strong guidance in his attempts to lambaste Bama Students for Life. After all, he was only able to criticize us personally and claim that we’re ignorant – he couldn’t criticize our pro-life position at all.
If Mr. Speer had done his research, he would have realized that organizations like Bama Students for Life foster direction, student leadership and civic engagement. Furthermore, we encourage diversity in thought on a campus infested with liberal professors and columnists whose best argument against pro-life students is that we need to be “monitored” because we’re “ignorant.”
Claire Chretien is a junior majoring in public relations and American studies and is the president of Bama Students for Life. Her column runs biweekly on Tuesdays.
