This is an article from my blog SaveLiveOnline.com

Activism is the heart of every social movement. It is essential to change the culture.  When speaking of human rights injustices, especially something as grave as abortion, activism is the natural and appropriate response to a deeper understanding of injustice.

I never thought I would be anything close to an activist. The term often engenders thoughts of people unreasonably screaming at each other and I, like many others, always wanted to be far, far away from that sort of activity.

In fact, when I first started learning about the injustice that is abortion, I resisted the urge to act. Being right was enough for me. Doing right was difficult, uncomfortable and quite frankly foreign to me. I started out by learning and researching about abortion and other life issues. I was immersing myself in reading and listening to talks and watching presentations to fill my brain with knowledge.

I was satisfied with just talking about it with my pro-life friends and learning about it in the safety of my dorm room. Among other reasons, I was turned off by the ‘crazy people’ caricature of activists to really do much.

True Activism

Fortunately, this caricature is not true activism. In fact, it is an unhelpful waste of time that most reasonable people don’t want to have anything to do with. Pretty much all pro-life activists that I’ve ever met don’t operate that way.

According to Webster’s, activism is “…taking positive, direct action to achieve an end, esp. a political or social end.” When we understand the injustice that is happening, if we are honest with ourselves, our hearts cry out for a more just society. If we take this reaction seriously, we must take positive, direct action. We must become activists.

Personal Activism

Often activism is thought to be a big and very impersonal thing. We hold signs, we protest, we write letters, we march, we hand out literature and occasionally engage someone whom we have never met. All of these things are generally (but not always) quite impersonal.  All of these things are examples of activism, but they are not the full picture.

Along with such means of impersonal activism I think we need to all cultivate a sense of “Personal Activism.” That is, we must take positive, direct action in our personal lives. This action can start very small as a conversation with a friend or family member. In fact, I think that’s where it must start.

Although signs and protests are scary to some, I think personal conversations with people close to you or with your peers can be much more scary. There you have to open yourself up in a more intimate way. Standing on the street, while requiring courage, is in many ways much easier than having a difficult but constructive conversation with someone who is close to you.

The Challenge

Today, I issue a challenge to myself and to all pro-life people: Become an activist. If you are truly pro-life then you understand the grave injustice happening over 3,500 times every single day. If you understand that, then let yourself be moved to positive, direct action on behalf of those who suffer at the hands of the abortionists.

Activism is especially important on college campuses. As a college student you have access to thousands of people who, once you graduate, will be much less accessible. It is also meant to be a place for the free expression of ideas and discussion. The workplace, for example is much less so.

So, I continue my challenge to you. Get involved in some way. Whether it’s through posting a pro-life status on facebook. Chalking the quad, organizing a protest or just having an honest constructive conversation with a friend about abortion.

How are you going to become more active in this crucial movement? Put your comments below.

Image by mlinksva

January 24, 2011 is the National Pro-Life Youth Rally.  It will take place at Washington D.C. featuring the Christian female trio, Barlow Girl.

Guest speakers will include Dr. Alveda King, niece of Dr. Martin Luther King; Abby Johnson, former Director of Planned Parenthood;David Bereit, 40 Days for Life; Kristan Hawkins, Students for Life of America; Erik Whittington, Rock For Life; Lila Rose, Live Action, and Ryan Bomberger, Radiance Foundation.

Best part of all, registration is free!  Register now and you can even get an awesome “Abolish Abortion” bracelet, that will guarantee you a place at the event.

The rally will take place after the March for Life from 2:00 to 3:20 pm and 3:30 to 5:00pm.

Here’s a link to the site http://nationalprolifeyouthrally.com/

The University of Wisconsin Hospitals and Clinics officially confirmed Tuesday that it has abandoned its plans to provide full-service, second-trimester abortion services in a jointly operated facility or in any other facility it controls. In May, the Alliance Defense Fund obtained a letter from the Wisconsin Department of Justice stating that the University of Wisconsin Hospitals and Clinics had stopped pursuing the plan, but UWHC then made public comments that indicated they weren’t fully giving up at that time, despite public pressure brought to bear by ADF and its allies.

“Christians and other pro-life medical students and staff shouldn’t be forced to compromise their beliefs to maintain their professions,” said ADF Legal Counsel Matt Bowman. “The UWHC and other medical facilities involved made the right decision to terminate this covert program, which threatened to require pro-life employees to participate, against their conscience, in the killing of preborn, developed babies. In addition, the program was in danger of violating state law, which prohibits state agencies from paying for abortions.”

Full story here.

Special Christmas Opportunity:

Support SFLI with a Christmas gift that will Double or even TRIPLE! Your dollars can go up to three times as far if you give before Jan 1st! Donate here.

The European court of Human rights is hearing the woman’s case in which she claims that having to travel outside the country to obtain an abortion is against her rights.  Does any of this sound familiar?  The European Court has traditionally ruled in favor of unborn rights in Ireland, however if the court rules in favor of a “right to an abortion”, then all legal protection for the unborn in Europe could be overturned.

Roger Kiska, a pro-life legal counselor for the Alliance Defense Fund has stated that this could be the “Roe v. Wade of Europe.”  Please pray for our unborn brothers and sisters in Ireland, and also as a way to grow in Pro-Life philosophy, how can we respond to a common argument asserted by pro-choicers that aborting children is a “right?”

The story: http://www.lifenews.com/2010/12/13/int-1713/

Special Christmas Opportunity:

Support SFLI with a Christmas gift that will Double or even TRIPLE! Your dollars can go up to three times as far if you give before Jan 1st! Donate here.

Carhart says that he will provide elective abortions up to 24 weeks.  This rightfully has caused an uproar in the Maryland Pro-Life community, since Carhart is meant to replace Steven C. Brigham,  whose medical license was revoked due to his performance of late term abortions on New Jersey patients when he had no license to do so.

Maryland activists are saying that they do not want their home state to become a late term abortion capital in America. Here’s hoping all the best for the brave protesters.

Now a question for the readers. There have been cases in the past where Pro-lifers have been able to form friendship with the staff  and even abortionists to win them over to our side.  This happened to be the case with Norma McCorvey (Jane Roe herself) .  Should Pro-lifers in Maryland also apply this method?  And why are such stories never covered by the mainstream media but the extremely small minority of clinic attackers are?

http://www.baltimoresun.com/health/bs-md-abortion-doc-coming-to-md-20101130,0,1592411.story

We want to invite you to come out to listen to John-Paul Deddens’s workshop and get energized and activated in your own pro-life efforts!  Enjoy an entire day of training given by national leaders in the pro-life movement such as Scott Klusendorf, Life Training Institute; David French, Alliance Defense Fund; Alveda King, Priests for Life; David  Bereit, 40 Days for Life; former Planned Parenthood Director turned Pro-Life activist, Abby Johnson and so many more.  You will also get a chance to network with people from your communities and across the nation as well as breakfast, lunch, and dinner!  All for $50.

Even though this conference is hosted by Students for Life it is not only for students but for adults as well.  Adult registration is $60 and also includes the same great training and meals.

You won’t want to miss such great speakers. To see the schedule, go to    http://studentsforlife.org/conference/conferenceschedule/

For more information about the conference go to http://studentsforlife.org/conference/

and to register, go to http://www.cvent.com/EVENTS/Info/Summary.aspx?e=525341b0-9616-42cd-95a4-b377c23c41b5

Well, we know that people certainly read it. The next day my group and I had looked at our masterpieces to see that they had been altered by a very concerned pro-choice student. The saying “Abortion hurts women” was suddenly changed to “Abortion saves Women” and Ronald Reagan’s famous quote was altered to say that “everyone who supports abortion has already been born [by choice].” I had heard some members of Students for life warning pro-life collegians to not be surprised if pro-choice groups
will pop up in reaction to us. I suppose I should have known what I was getting into.

I admit I was feeling a little disheartened, but the rest of my group wasn’t. Our group president gleefully assured us that this meant that someone read what we wrote and actually went to the trouble to take a trip to Wal-Mart to buy pink sidewalk chalk to react to it. It meant we were making an impact. While we can debate whether or not we had the last laugh in the end, the important thing to remember is to keep a positive attitude when being heckled. We are the only defense for the unborn and it would be foolish to let a little pink sidewalk chalk stop us.

- Nick Neal, Guest Blogger

This is where you get a chance to talk about and defend your pro-life convictions! You get the opportunity to personally open minds to the pro-life message! It’s great!

There are more details at WhyProLife.com, this is a quick rundown of how it will work for your campus.

1. Recruit your pro-life group and friends
2. Refresh your memory on pro-life facts
3. Pick some times to be out at a busy place on campus together while classes are changing
4. Pass out fliers and explain your pro-life convictions

If you haven’t done this before, don’t worry, it will be great! Just go with someone else and you can work together and support each other. You will likely mostly encounter apathy when talking with people. Let your passion and love for pre-born people to show through. That is the best way to break someone’s apathy.

Get started sharing the pro-life message, refreshing your memory on abortion facts and handing out pro-life fliers at WhyProLife.com now!

The SpeakOut Illinois 2011 conference is coming Saturday, January 29. This year’s featured speaker will be Ken Blackwell of the Family Research Council, and David Bereit of 40 Days for Life will receive the Henry Hyde Life Leadership award.

Breakout sessions will be directed by Eric Scheidler of the Pro-Life Action League, Bill Beckman of Illinois Right to Life, Carl Schroeder of Lutherans for Life, Rev. Doug Merkey of Churches for Life and State Representatives Patricia Bellock and Joseph Lyons.

SpeakOut Illinois and TeenSpeak are always great events that I personally benefit from every year. I hope I see you there! Click here for more.

Talk by Serrin Foster, Feminists for Life

Take a stand for life and for true feminism!  Come and hear Serrin Foster present “The Feminist Case Against Abortion” at Illinois Institute of Technology on Monday, November 8^th at 7p.m. in the MTCC auditorium.

The MTCC auditorium is located at the corner of 33rd St. and State St. in Chicago, and it is right off the C.T.A. Red Line.  Invite your college-aged friends and family to attend this presentation, which is co-sponsored by the Respect Life Office’s Chastity Education Initiative.  People of all ages are welcome, and there is no charge for the event!

For more information, call Emily Warpinski at (312) 534.5355.