I'm the President of the Pro-Life club at my school - Jesuit College Preparatory in Dallas, Texas. Below is a speech that I gave to my fellow students after I returned from last year's March for Life in Washington, D.C.
This January marked the thirty fifth anniversary of the Supreme Court decision that made abortion legal throughout the United States. This January also marked the first year that students from Dallas Jesuit attended the thirty fourth March for Life. Two other Jesuit students, two Jesuit Scholastics and myself traveled to Washington D.C. and stood in solidarity with the powerless, those who cannot represent themselves, the unborn.
The profile of the graduate at graduation states that a Jesuit student has been able to recognize that basic human needs and rights have been denied to certain peoples. Maybe this explains why at the march we joined over six hundred Jesuit students from high schools and Universities across the Nation. We slept in the gym of Gonzaga High School. We attended a conference on life at Georgetown University. And we marched in the cold rain alongside our brothers from Jesuit New Orleans, Regis Denver, Strake Jesuit and other Jesuit High Schools. They recognized that as students who are committed to working for social justice they have the responsibility to stand up against abortion. I learned in Washington D.C. that abortion is not only the social justice issue of our time but also an issue inherently tied into the fabric of Jesuit.
As part of our trip, we visited the National Holocaust Museum. If you ever get the chance to go, take it because it will change your perspective on everything. For me, it came when we were walking out of the museum and I noticed a sign on the side of the museum that said “whenever you hear about genocide, whenever you hear about injustice, think about what you saw here today”. The entire trip, why I was there, and our mission became so clear.
The Pro-Life movement is based on love. Love for all human life. Love for women who have had abortions and Love for even those who perform them. Pope John Paul the Second said “in firmly rejecting ‘pro-choice’ it is necessary to become courageously ‘prowoman”. Explaining that Pro-Life is a choice that is truly in the woman’s favor. Or as the official leadership of the Jesuits in America, The Jesuit Conference says it, “To be pro-life is to be pro-woman. Because we support women, we oppose abortion. ” As Pro-Lifers, we do not wish to convince, but to inform. We hope and pray that with time those who cannot defend themselves will be granted their right to life. Our common calling is to stand in solidarity with the unborn, the “least of our brothers and sisters”, through prayer and political activism.
Mahatma Gandhi famously said “be the change you want to see in the world”. So I challenge you, Jesuit, to join us, join your Jesuit brothers, join the Jesuit community this January in Washington D.C. Come with us, stand with us, and march with us for life.
