Abortion culture is everywhere, and behind it are pro-abortion organizations fueling the message. College campuses are the perfect place for organizations like Planned Parenthood to send their resources and speakers because they know young people are vulnerable to their message. One thing we can do to have an impact in this area is to make sure our voices are heard during such events.
SFLA Resources to Request from your Regional Coordinator:
- Info cards specific to the protest. Cards such as We Don’t Need Planned Parenthood, Planned Parenthood’s Plan for You, “We Need Legal Abortion” (the back explains why this is false), or ask your Regional Coordinator which other info cards might work best for your event.
- Protest in a Box
- SFLA’s Rapid Response Training
Steps (number steps):
- Start researching!
- If you don’t already know of a pro-choice event on campus or in your community, it is a good practice to monitor pro-choice organizations in the area. Your state may have a NARAL or Planned Parenthood Action group advertising events in the community or on a campus.
- You can sign-up for alerts from those abortion organizations to know when they’re coming to your town.
- Follow like-minded clubs at your school (College Democrats, Feminist clubs, Vox, etc.) to see if they have upcoming abortion-related events.
- Call Your Regional Coordinator
- When an event is found and your group is ready to do something, make sure your RC is aware of the details so we can help you plan the most effective outreach for the day.
- Network
- Protest attendees can go beyond just your pro-life club. Reach out to other organizations or friends who are also pro-life. (Conservative groups on campus, Christian groups, local youth groups or churches, other supportive friends and family, pro-life clubs at nearby schools.)
- If you have time, create a secret Facebook event to organize everyone involved and post updates.
- Ask those who you’ve invited to also take on the task of inviting others. Other attendees should be adding to the guest list on the Facebook event and recruiting their friends as well.
- Your Regional Coordinator will also have connections in the community and with neighboring schools.
- Be Strategic
- A successful protest does not always mean you have a large crowd of people. A great message can be communicated even with just one person! It’s all about how you share the message.
- Students for Life can help you think of a creative way you can share the message and have the biggest impact.
- Consider how to be the most effective around the actual event:
- Visible and high-traffic location
- Stationing people around campus or entry points to the event to reach the most people, not all clumped together depending on the situation.
- Wearing the same color or pro-life T-shirt
- Easily seen signs and clear messaging so people walking by will understand.
- Consider how to be the most effective on social media:
- Assign someone to take pictures of the protest.
- Ask volunteers to take pictures of themselves at the protest and share.
- If you can get one or two members into the pro-choice event to ask a question during Q&A, film or take pictures, or even live tweet any surprising statements made by the presenter. SFLA can help share from your Twitter page as well.
- Write a review for the school paper. If you have students attend the event, you can write a review for the school paper to counter messages shared at the presentation or call for the school to host a pro-life speaker.
After the event…
Congratulate the team! Mobilizing quickly is no small effort – you did it!
Debrief. Talk to your team about what went well and what you can improve for next time.
Continue to watch for future pro-choice events.
Questions? Contact your Regional Coordinator for more helpful information.
