The number of students who have signed up to travel to Washington D.C. for the annual “March for Life”, a pro-life event, has doubled from nine to 17 since last year, the first year Fairfield attended the event.
The 32nd annual “March for Life” will take place on Jan. 24, 2005. It has drawn people, especially students, from all over the country to fight for the adoption of an amendment known as the “Human Life Amendment.”
According to the supporters of the Human Life Amendment, life begins at conception and should be given all the rights and protections of a human being already born.
This belief opposes the well-known Supreme Court decisions of Roe v. Wade and Doe v. Bolton, which created a constitutional right to abortion at any time during pregnancy,
Talia Pettini ’06 is the head of the new Fairfield University program “Students for Life.”
“We want to encourage students to go [to the March] and be activists for their beliefs,” said Pettini.
Students attending will travel by bus to the nation’s capitol, where they will begin their journey at the Catholic University of America.
According to Pettini, schools like Boston College send several busloads of students, and she hopes that eventually Fairfield activism will rise to a similar point and more than one bus will be needed to transport students wishing to attend.
This trip to the “March for Life” will be funded by donations. Students for Lifeencouraged everyone wishing to attend to write letters to their family, friends and parishioners to ask for support.
According to Pettini, “The point of this [writing letters] is not just to raise money. It is to raise awareness and let people know what we’re doing.”
“Some students have pro-life beliefs, but are afraid, for some reason, to express what they feel,” said Pettini.
“I am going to the march because I like seeing pro-life people standing up for their beliefs,” said Ashlee Downing ’08.
Brianna Bundenthal ’08 is also attending the March.
“This will be my first march and I’m going because I think it’s really nice to see such youth involvement in a good cause,” she said.
According to Pettini, “The future is up to us and we’re here now, so we need to stand up for the things we want to change.”
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