Six members of SFU’s Respect Life Club and one FOCUS missionary attended the national March for Life in Washington, D.C. on Jan. 23.
The SFU group that made the trip to the nation’s capital last week included Rachel Gemperline, Simon Greene, Natalie Himes, Anamaria Newgent, Natalie Shaffer, Breena Sollenberger and Delaney Urban.
In the case of Roe v. Wade (1973), the Supreme Court ruled that abortion was a constitutional right. Pro-life Americans soon joined together to oppose this decision.
The first March for Life was held in Washington, D.C. on Jan. 22, 1974, the one-year anniversary of the court’s decision. The march has been held every year since then on the Friday closest to Jan. 22.
Several states, including Pennsylvania, also organize annual marches in their capital cities.
Urban serves as president of SFU’s Respect Life Club.
“It is extremely important to defend life in the womb, since science has proven that life begins at conception,” said Urban.
The Respect Life Club makes donations to local pregnancy centers that support mothers and babies in need. The club also hosts guest speakers who promote the pro-life movement.
Vice President J.D. Vance and Speaker of the House Mike Johnson spoke at this year’s march in Washington.
It marked the second consecutive year that the vice president spoke at the event.
“We’re marching for life because we want our fellow Americans … to know that life is worthy of protection,” Vance told those in attendance.
“That is why we march today.”
Students from Franciscan University in Steubenville, Ohio – SFU’s sister school – also attended last week’s March for Life.
Fr. Stephen Waruszewski, Director of Campus Ministry, last traveled with students to the national March for Life in 2019. He said he was proud of the SFU students who attended this year’s rally.
“It’s standing up for the dignity of the human person,” said Waruszewski. “The most vulnerable: the unborn.
“You can be pro-life without being religious,” he said. “Pro-life is pro-science.”
Waruszewski noted that one of the Goals of Franciscan Higher Education is titled “reverence for all life and care for creation.”
“We have to make sure that we’re treating the human person with the dignity that they are afforded,” he said.
Urban was inspired by the large number of college students who attended this year’s March for Life.
“The opportunity to live is a fundamental right that every person should be given,” she said.
