GUEST POST: For many students, summer can often be a time of boredom and wasting away your hours, and it would be a shame if the months went by without pursuing a passion — more specifically, your passion for the pro-life movement. After all, the battle to end abortion doesn’t get a summer break. Whatever your summer schedule looks like, we have several ways for students to stay involved in the mission and stand up for life: 

One way students can improve their pro-life activism and leadership skills is by joining our annual Summer Leadership Academy, a special eight-week course designed to equip students to confront the major issues in this Post-Roe America. Members of the Students for Life of America (SFLA) team lead these sessions which cover how SFLA groups can affect real change on their campus and in their communities. It’s not too late to join, either — you can register by clicking HERE or by going to StudentsforLife.org/SummerLead. You may not have time to join on a weekly basis, and that’s alright! 

Another wonderful way to spread the supportive pro-life message within your community is through our Summer of Service with the Campaign for Abortion Free Cities (AFC). We serve our neighbors by going door-to-door with a wagon of free parenting and women’s care products made available to anyone who could use the supplies. It’s a fun way to show our communities that we truly care about everyone’s needs, including women, families, and preborn children – and it’s sure to be appreciated in this economy.

Everyone can find at least one day of their summer to devote to this service opportunity. You can reach out to your SFLA Regional Coordinator to see if you have an AFC-sponsored city near you or plan your own. 

Another twist on this idea is to ask your local pregnancy resource center (PRC) if they have supplies that they are ready to get rid of and offer to take it directly to people’s doors on their behalf. What better way to spread the message about the amazing services that your local PRC offers? If they don’t have supplies to spare, perhaps your pro-life group could do an item drive instead. Whether it’s with your Regional Coordinator or on your own, make sure to post about it and tag @StandingWithYou so we can share the amazing work that you are doing in your community!  

One thing I love about the pro-life movement is that we can get creative with the work we are doing. Who says you can’t have fun while saving babies? The president of Truman Students for Life, Alexa, and I would beg to differ. Here’s another idea based on a recent event we did: 

We turned a rainy start into an incredible pro-life activism day by adjusting our plans at the last minute and taking the Chemical Abortion Cemetery of the Innocents into the St. Louis Zoo! Sounds crazy, right? Sometimes, a little bit of crazy is just what you need to create an innovative way to share the pro-life message.  

We had planned on setting up the Cemetery of the Innocents display at a park. Despite having checked the forecast earlier in the week and thinking we were in the clear, we found ourselves standing in the pouring rain, trying to decide how we would pivot our plan for the day. We could have packed up and left, but we weren’t about to give up that easy. We loaded up all 670 crosses into my wagon and wheeled the display to the zoo, where we knew there would still be a good crowd of people, rain or shine. 

We confidently walked in, asked people if they knew about the dangers of Chemical Abortion Pills and handed out countless topic cards. We met many wonderful people and had great conversations, including with two St. Louis high school students that are both members of their school’s pro-life group. We were excited to find that we had lots of people approaching us and asking about what we were doing; two girls lugging around a wagon full of crosses throughout the zoo does draw some attention. 

While you may not be able to take a display into your local zoo, I challenge you to think outside the box and get creative with your activism this summer. You never know; you could start a new national movement or method of outreach with your innovation. Either way, you’ll be making a difference for the preborn, and that’s definitely worth some time.