There are more than 1200 pro-life student groups in the US now

Students for Life – a non-profit aimed at educating students against abortion, euthanasia and infanticide – now has more than 1200 chapters in the US.

Students interviewed by conservative news site Campus Reform spoke of a movement that’s doing all the right things on one of the biggest “atrocities” of our time – abortion.

“There are people out there that are really concerned about this atrocity, because I do think it’s the biggest civil rights issue of our day,” says Matt Lamb, chief communications officer of Students for Life.

Pro-life student group surpasses 1200 chapters nationwide https://t.co/I8KeHVIzA9

— Campus Reform (@campusreform) January 30, 2018

Kristen Wood, president of the University of Missouri’s chapter describes her group’s “undeniable” positive impact on campus, growing from just six active members to more than 30 in one semester.

“This organization has allowed me to devote myself to a cause that is truly meaningful and even has introduced me to my closest friends,” she continued.

“The pro-life generation will be on the right side of history, and I’m so excited for the future of our movement.”

Founded in the late 1970s, the student-run volunteer organisation American Collegians for Life (ACL) only hosted events on an annual basis. As their pro-choice counterpart Planned Parenthood gained popularity, ACL rebranded itself as Students for Life of America (SFLA) or Students for Life, for short, in 2005.

Now with professional, full-time staff, the movement grew from around 100 campus pro-life organizations in 2006 to more than 1,200 today, according to its website.

Its mission statement reads:

“Students for Life exists to transform culture by helping young people make abortion unthinkable and obsolete on their campus, in their community, and in our nation.”The generation that will put an end to legal abortion in the United States? Source: Twitter/@Students4LifeHQ

PJ Media reports Planned Parenthood now has more than 300 clubs in American universities.

Its Generation Action chapters recruit students in universities to”educate and mobilize students and youth in support of reproductive health and rights”. Top priorities include “inclusivity, abortion stigma, trans inclusion, elections, and movement/power building,” according to its website.

“We advocate for our health centres to provide crucial health services, including abortion care,” it adds.

Both Students for Life and Planned Parenthood have clashed on campuses, bringing in school administrators, protests and even lawsuits.

Whitworth University’s Students for Life chapter has challenged the Christian education institution for listing Planned Parenthood as one of its “community partners”, thus allowing the organisation to recruit students at the school’s annual Volunteer Fair and offer accredited internships.

“Whitworth trustees, administration, and applicable faculty have a responsibility to take a stand on the issue of abortion and Planned Parenthood,” chapter vice president James Silberman wrote in an October 2016 op-ed. To partner with it is just unambiguously wrong, Silberman added.

In April 2017, Whitworth officially cut ties with Planned Parenthood.

Last November, Cornell’s Planned Parenthood protested a debate on the morality and legality of abortion. Planned Parenthood Generation Action (PPGA) had protested not as a “confrontation” but to show a “strong presence” for reproductive rights.

The Facebook event page noted that the debate “may be a traumatizing event for many people to hear their rights and bodily autonomy being questioned and judged”.

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