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Pro-Life Works: Youth in Revolt February 12, 2010 Youth in Revolt This past January, Texas was host for two important Pro-Life demonstrations: The Houston Planned Parenthood protest on January 18 and the annual Rally for Life on January 23. With each passing year that abortion has been legal, the generations born after 1973 have been most affected by the abortion genocide. Yet they are currently making the most impact in the Pro-Life movement, as was evidenced at these two events. The Planned Parenthood protest was unique. The new Houston facility is the largest in the Western Hemisphere, second only in the world to the Planned Parenthood Beijing facility. The massive event happened through the collaboration of several Pro-Life groups - and thousands from across Texas and the United States came to protest the opening of Houston’s largest abortion mill.
The parking lot used for the pre-protest rally was a little larger than a football field, and was filled almost to capacity. Protesters marched from this parking lot the Planned Parenthood site. Estimates from various local news agencies put the attendance between 2,000 and 3,500. A major factor in the attendance rate was the Martin Luther King holiday, and the vacationing students drastically increased the crowd. It was a diverse crowd of students, with many Hispanics, Asians, and African-Americans attending to continue Dr. King’s fight against discrimination. According to the Guttmacher Institute, the African-American abortion rates are 49 per 1,000, while Caucasian abortion rates are 13 per 1,000.
Bishop Henry Johnson of Hope Christian Church, one of the protest organizers, gave testimony against the racism of Planned Parenthood at the event’s press conference. “Sixty-five percent of Planned Parenthood clinics are in minority neighborhoods. Statistically speaking, that is two out of three clinics,” Bishop Johnson said. “Sanger is the word ‘danger’ with an ‘S,’ and the organization she founded, Planned Parenthood, is a danger to all unborn African-Americans babies!” Young women in attendance also gave testimony for their Pro-Life convictions. Nadia, aged 16, stated her reason for being there: “I want to try and let them know that it’s a baby and a Life. It’s your actions and you need to take responsibility for them, and that’s why we’re all here, to protect that Life-and that women’s rights should not include the right to kill her baby.” Shane, age 17, had a more pragmatic view, but still a hopeful one. “My presence here doesn’t mean Planned Parenthood will close, but personally I’m hoping my prayers will help this generation of women not to consider abortions.”
Later that week, the Rally for Life took place in Austin. As is typical of this annual state-wide rally, close to 4,000 Texans traveled to the Capitol. In spite of this younger generation electing President Obama by an overwhelming amount, youth and young people still came in the hundreds to show their opposition to his abortion agenda.
Eva Dedow, a Texas Right to Life Generation Now Scholar, helped bring her fellow students to the Rally for Life. “I took my student group, Crusaders for Life. The rally was an interesting experience for our group, as many had never been to a Pro-Life event that included so many different types of supporters. The rally inspired and revitalized our group, because sometimes it seems like we are too small to make a difference, but at the rally it was obvious that the small groups and individuals were the reason for the large crowd.”
Senator Dan Patrick, a speaker at the rally, also talked about the importance of young people’s involvement in the Pro-Life movement: “What I notice is how many young people are here, and I believe that hearts will be changed in this nation to end what is a great sin in our history. This generation knows that there is no guarantee that they could have been born post Roe vs. Wade.” But perhaps the most inspiring speech came from Elizabeth McClung, a young woman in her twenties who helped begin the 40 Days for Life movement in College Station. 40 Days is a grassroots movement whose chief ministry is prayerful, round-the-clock vigil that is kept outside abortion facilities, and manned by volunteers who give up hours of their time to stand vigil outside the facilities. A new 40 Days Vigil will begin February 17-March 28. “We look at our state now and we are leading the way in ending abortion, especially through 40 Days for Life,” McClung stated as she spoke from the podium. “Abortion is a justice issue and it is a human rights issue. In 2004, College Station conducted the first 40 Days for Life ever. Their abortion rates dropped by 28 percent!”
According to the Pew Research Center, support for abortion among the college and high school ages has fallen marginally. In a 2007 study, 63% of college-aged students and 47% of high school students professed their support for legal abortion. Yet a more recent 2009 study shows those same age groups support abortion at 57% and 40%, respectively. With each passing year, the eyes of the young become more and more opened to the atrocity of abortion, and it is through rallies like this that they become educated. Some anti-Life activists have noted the recent momentum among young people involved in the Pro-Life movement. Anti-Life journalist Robert McCartney wrote about the Washington D.C. March for Life. “The antiabortion movement feels its gaining strength, even if it’s not yet ready to predict ultimate triumph, and Roe supporters (including me) are justifiably nervous,” McCartney wrote. “I was especially struck by the large number of young people among the tens of thousands at the March. It suggests that the battle over abortion will endure for a long time to come.” Unless noted, all photography courtesy of Stephanie M. Hernandez. Stephanie M. Hernandez College Intern |
