GUEST POST: As the Pro-Life Generation helps prepare Ohio voters for the extreme pro-abortion measure on the ballot this November, I’ve seen things on my campus that have left me both deeply concerned and highly optimistic for our future.
The main feeling about abortion on my campus has always been apathy, which is very frustrating, but many students I’ve had conversations with thankfully seem to agree that Ohio Issue 1 is far too radical to be passed. Unfortunately, there are also many students who have absolutely no idea what Issue 1 entails — and that’s a problem when something so devasting to our citizens is on the ballot.
For those who don’t do their research and see the actual wording of Issue 1 for the first time as they are voting, they’ll have no true idea of what the measure will do to Ohioans, specifically the preborn. Most will probably have been exposed to Issue 1 briefly through pro-abortion propaganda, however, and fall for the deceitful name “Reproductive Freedom Ballot Measure.”
This is exactly why the Pro-Life Generation is working so hard to truly educate Ohioans through call nights, social media campaigns, and tabling sessions.
For my part, tabling for Students for Life Action (SFLAction) and Students for Life of America (SFLA) has been very successful. We’ve had amazing conversations with many students, including recently when the “Abortion on the Ballot” Display Tour visited our campus. Through this display, we were able to convince more than 10 people to vote ‘no’ on Issue 1.
Not everyone we conversed with was pro-life, either. Some of these included individuals who supported abortion through all nine months but were shocked when they learned of the removal of parental rights. Issue 1 is incredibly extreme, even for a lot of abortion supporters.
Unfortunately, there were some who did not agree and chose to express their disapproval in uncivil ways. One example would be a young woman who came up to our group’s tabling display to say just how much she disliked it. When we engaged her on why that was, it sparked a 15-minute conversation on not only the problems with Issue 1 but the morality of abortion in general.
When her arguments continued to be easily unraveled by our scientific and ethical points, she told us something I never thought I’d hear. Before taking off in a huff, she said if she were to get pregnant and abortion was not available, she would rather kill herself rather than carry the child. This was shocking at the time, but it’s a brutal reminder of how the abortion lobby has brainwashed women that pregnancy will ruin their lives — that without abortion, they can never succeed.
Another instance occurred when an older man passed our display before walking back to us with a young woman I assume was his daughter. As he came near, he said in a loud, angry voice, “Even though most of Miami has great people, you will always run into a bunch of a**holes.” I politely asked him if he’d like to have a conversation, but he quickly stormed off.
These examples remind me that while there are many who will cover their ears or scream in response, the Pro-Life Generation is strong enough to endure such treatment — and that there are also many who will stop, listen, and learn. Don’t let fear hold you back. With the support of SFLA, we can keep going and stop Issue 1 together!
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