Money Life Of America
Money Life Of America
Students for Life of America is a 501(c)(3) pro-life educational foundation that works with college students to end abortion. They sent out a field team to organize new campus pro-life groups on American college campuses in 2007. They have held an annual conference since 1988, claim contact with 10,000 campus activists and leaders across the country, and also claim to have doubled the "campus pro-life movement" since August 2006.
History
In 1988 students at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. formed “American Collegians for Life,” which became the predecessor of what is today known as “Students for Life of America.” Elizabeth Schmitz, Catherine Deeds, Michael Pauley, and Susan Meuller were among the founders of American Collegians for Life, who set up their organization as “a national coalition of college and university-based pro-life action groups.” Until 2006, the base of operations for American Collegians for Life (ACL) remained in Washington, D.C. with a new set of student officers being elected every year at the annual conference, the conference being held on the eve of the anniversary of the Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision. From 1988 to 2006, ACL's main activity was the annual conference. In 2006, a new executive director was elected, and the organization was renamed Students for Life of America. The organization had previously gone through a growth spurt in the mid-1990s but had declined shortly thereafter. Students for Life of America (SFLA) changed their focus from conferences to a more active role on college campuses. Though the organization still continues to hold the annual conference, its activities have greatly broadened to do more direct campus organizing work and direct action. Since 2006, they have been very dedicated to starting new college pro-life organizations across The United states. The SFLA has started 278 new pro-life campus organization. Not only that but there are Student Life groups in 43 states and the annual conference has doubled its membership.
Organization
In addition to student officers and staff, SFLA is also advised by a non-student board, some being former SFLA student officers.
SFLA has connects college students who are pro-life to each other using the annual conference and a national directory of college pro-life organizations on their website.
Historically there has been the chronic problem in the college pro-life movement of transient and unstable campus groups. Students for Life of America aims to provide stability and support to this particular sector of pro-life activity.
SFLA helps start groups and gives them specific pro-life assistance, training, and activism ideas. SFLA networks with existing groups, sending them activism packs and providing guides such as “How to Make a Cemetery of the Innocents” and “How to Start a Pro-Life Publication.” They also keep in touch with these groups during the year and have a national student conference every year the weekend prior to the National March for Life in Washington, DC. This year 485 students attended the conference, which hosted such speakers as Bobby Schindler, breast cancer expert Dr. Angela Lanfranchi, and Steven W. Mosher, president of the Population Research Institute.
SFLA encourages groups to volunteer with local Pregnancy Support Service Centers, engage the campus pro-choice movement in discussion and debate, and reach out to their fellow students with a pro-life message.
State federations
There are thirteen states that are involved with Students For Life of America. These organizations include Alabama Students For Life, Arizona Students For Life, California Students For Life, Colorado Students for Life, Georgia Students for Life, Students for Life of Kentucky, Louisiana Students for Life, Ohio Students for Life, Oregon Students for Life, Students for Life of Illinois, Students for Life of Michigan, Texas Students for Life, and Young Pro-Life Virginia
Campus campaigns
Graphic billboard campaign
In order to spread the pro-life message, Students for Life organizations on campuses nationwide hold billboard campaigns that reveal graphic photos and information pertaining to abortion. The controversial photos of aborted fetuses and genocide are meant to stir up conversation pertaining to abortion. Members of campus Students for Life groups are trained to talk about the issue of abortion and debate questions on whether a fetus should be considered alive, whether it is a moral issue and whether abortion should be legislated. The goal of the trainees is to have productive conversations with the students that pass by and change minds.
Campus De-Fund Planned Parenthood Campaign
This is a new project by Students for Life of American beginning in the spring of 2009. Students for Life are attempting to help pro-life organizations weaken the influence of Planned Parenthood around college campuses. It is the belief of SFLA that Planned Parenthood has engaged in corrupt and racist activities including forgery, fraud, doing illegal late-term abortions, and covering up statutory rape. Since Planned Parenthood performs the majority of abortions in the United States, and the majority of these abortions are performed on college-aged women, the SFLA has decided to “fight back”. The goal of the Campus De-Fund Planned Parenthood Campaign is to put Planned Parenthood on the defensive. The SFLA plans on taking two main strategies in their effort to hurt Planned Parenthood’s business. The first strategy is to take direct action against Planned Parenthood by getting the people in the media and campus community to pressure the Planned Parenthood to change. The second strategy is to take indirect action to reduce the community’s need for Planned Parenthood services.
The first step in the SFLA’s anti-Planned Parenthood campaign is to educate pro-choice groups on campus about Planned Parenthood practices. This includes getting hands on knowledge about the information that Planned Parenthood offers to women regarding unplanned pregnancies. The SFLA suggests that participants go undercover to the campus health center and pose as a pregnant student. This way the participants can gather inside information that wouldn’t be offered to them otherwise. Another undercover operative involves going to a local VOX (pro-choice group) chapter meeting and listening to their reasoning and lectures to recruits. Step one also suggests that campaign participants research where the universities money goes and what amount of that money might be going towards Planned Parent and other abortion costs. Knowing where campus funds are going will help pro-life organizations get an idea of how to help create a more “life-welcoming environment.”
Step two involves more direct action. In this part of the SFLA campaign, they seek to cut off Planned Parenthood’s business by stifling their funds and patients. According to the SFLA strategy this can be achieved by provoking pro-choice groups on campus to participate in public debates. Other direct action tactics suggests by the SFLA include… •Organizing sit-in protests •Having large conference style protests with speakers and information •Writing editors editorials fro local media outlets •Having faculty and administrators join the campaign •Getting pro-life advocates elected to Student Government •Doing attention grabbing events on campus to recruit more participants
Step two also involves in-direct action. In-direct action is meant to hurt Planned Parenthood as a business on campus, so they have less incentive to be there. Indirect action tactics include: •Having Crisis Pregnancy Center information readily available at campus health centers •Offering pro-life volunteers to Crisis Pregnancy Centers •Celebrating baby showers around campus to show support for women and families around campus •Donating resources to Crisis Pregnancy Centers •Discussing with the administration ways in which the campus can support pregnant and parenting woman •Offering counseling to expecting mother to reduce their reliance on Planned Parenthood
The final step of the campaign calls for participants to try to prevent backsliding on the progress that they make.
References
- ^ http://www.studentsforlife.org/index.php/about/history/
- ^ http://www.studentsforlife.org/index.php/about/history/
- ^ Morris , Cori. "Display creates lively debate." Daily Tarheel 29 March 2007, Print.
- ^ Campus De-fund Planned Parenthood Campaign. Student for Life of America, 2009. Web. 19 Nov. 2009 <http://www.studentsforlife.org/index.php/campusdefundppcampaign/>.
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