Ryan Welty, one of the National Leaders Collective’s (NLC) leaders of the month, is a member of the Thaddeus Stevens Fellowship attending Newman Central Catholic High School in Illinois. Learn more about Welty’s activism, in his own words, below.  

I am Ryan Welty, a Thaddeus Stevens Fellow from Newman Central Catholic High School in Sterling, Illinois. Growing up in Illinois, I was disheartened many times at seeing the momentum for the legislative agenda in my state going farther and farther in the pro-abortion direction. Around the time Roe v. Wade was reversed and the nationwide pro-life movement was celebrating, the pro-life movement in my home state faced another devastating blow: children under 18 years old no longer needed to notify or get permission from a parent or legal guardian to get an abortion.   

This was my first time wanting to get involved in the pro-life movement. Fully grasping for the first time how radical and immoral my state government had become, this horrifying legislative reality stuck with me. When I heard about the Illinois Pro-Life March the following year, I convinced a small bus-full of students from my high school to attend. In August of 2023, my friend Elise and I ran the first meeting for Newman Central Catholic High School LIFE Club.   

For my first project, I wanted to better educate my group about pro-life apologetics so that they felt confident in defending their stance. The desired measurable outcome was that 75% of the group would be ready to have a conversation with a pro-choicer. This goal was not only met but exceeded. 

In April, Newman Central Catholic High School LIFE Club brought a minibus of students and faculty to the Illinois Pro-Life March. We were joined by the families of many of our students as well. We attended Mass with hundreds of other students and Catholics from across our state and then went to the rally and march at our Capitol. We met with our representative, a Newman Central Catholic High School graduate, and thanked him for his commitment to the pro-life movement. It was a beautiful day, and a powerful witness to the unwavering commitment of the pro-life movement in our perplexed state.  

Newman Central Catholic High School LIFE Club joined the Aurora, Illinois 40 Days for Life Campaign by having daily prayer in our school chapel for all of Lent. About 20% of our student body and 30% of our staff members participated. We had an average daily attendance of nine, with as many as 18 showing up to pray each morning. Many students came to pray over a dozen times during the prayer campaign. Nearly one-fourth of the students and staff who came were not group members and had not previously been involved in the pro-life movement! It was a great success and a reminder to our school community of the importance of prayer as a weapon in the fight for life.   

When I entered the fellowship, my group faced a crisis of not having enough members to function. With over half of our members graduating at the end of 2024, I had fears of my club fizzling out due to a lack of recruitment. Through the power of prayer and an effective recruitment tabling with our Regional Coordinator, we recruited 35 new members and completely revitalized our group! 

The Thaddeus Stevens Fellowship has helped me to grow tremendously as a leader. I’m a more effective president by delegating responsibilities and can reinvest time into planning additional projects. It has also helped me to build an extensive pro-life network of friends and professionals who support and inspire me to defend life every day. I have grown tremendously as a leader and improved my public speaking, pro-life apologetics, and recruitment efforts for my group.   

My favorite part of the Thaddeus Stevens Fellowship was networking with the other outstanding fellows and staff at Students for Life of America (SFLA). It has been an eye-opening experience seeing just how passionate my peers are, and it has inspired me to be more frequent and bolder in my activism.  

My belief that every human being has the dignity to be cared for and protected will be a massive part of my career, and no matter what field I choose, this belief cannot be separated from it. I plan to stay involved at Newman Central Catholic High School LIFE club during my senior year as the executive advisor and join the pro-life group at the college I will attend. 

READ NEXT: California Diaper Drive Day: A Statewide Effort to Collect Donations for Babies in Need