Life Week is a somber, yet celebratory series of events and displays put on by Augustana Right to Life. We seek to raise awareness for the pro-life movement and what it stands for, namely the idea that life is much too valuable for us to choose which members of the human family get the right to live.
Our group recognizes that students within the Augustana community hold a variety of views on the issue of abortion, and it has been important to us from the beginning that everything we do as part of Life Week, and as a group in general, remain peaceful and respectful.
Our goal is not to make people uncomfortable, but this is, unfortunately, an inevitable result when talking about a social justice issue that is prevalent in our culture. Many issues of our time make people uncomfortable, such as inequalities surrounding race and gender, but that only means they must be talked about more.
The life display in the lower quad serves as a remembrance for the one third of our generation that is not with us due to abortion. We are missing peers, friends, siblings, and other valuable lives because we live in a culture that ends human lives in the name of choice.
A major challenge with the debate between those who call themselves “pro-life” and “pro-choice” is that the two groups are fighting for different causes. The pro-life movement does not aim to strip people of their rights, but to protect life as the most fundamental right we have as humans.
One thing I think we can all agree on is that we, as a culture, need to work together to create a more welcoming and supportive environment for people who find themselves in crisis pregnancies.
As stated by Jeannie W. French, “The answer to a crisis pregnancy is to eliminate the crisis, not the child.” It is important to get to the heart of the problem and make sure no one feels their only option is abortion.
Every human life has value, no matter the ability, stage in development, sex, race, size, or any other factor. We need to create a culture of life in this nation, and it is exciting to see that the number of people identifying as pro-life is on the increase. “Life offers no guarantees, but abortion offers no chances.”
– Leah Baumgart, President of Right to Life
