A Huge Success at an Unlikely Place

By Michael New
Stanford Students for Life

Given the liberal, pro-abortion reputation of the student body, the faculty, and the surrounding area, Berkeley, California, would seem like a very unlikely location for a pro-life conference. On first thought, most people would be surprised if a critical mass of people could be found willing to devote time to promoting pro-life causes.

However, pro-lifers everywhere will be heartened to know that the University of California Berkeley (UC Berkeley) has a vibrant and active campus pro-life group. Even better, in April Berkeley was the site of the first Bay Area Celebrate Life Conference organized by pro-life students at UC Berkeley, Stanford University, the University of California San Francisco (UCSF), and the University of San Francisco (USF).

The conference began April 18 with a Thursday evening lecture by Siobhan Nash-Marshall, a philosophy professor at the University of St. Thomas in Minnesota. In her lecture Nash-Marshall described how America has gone from being a country that favors community rights to one that favors individual rights, citing several court decisions involving abortion and other issues.

Nash-Marshall then articulated a philosophical case for community rights, and went on to use this notion of community rights to construct a thoughtful, compelling argument against legalized abortion.

The conference continued on Friday afternoon at Sproul Plaza in the center of campus with what was widely considered to be the first pro-life rally held on the campus of UC Berkeley. Serrin Foster, president of Feminists for Life, outlined the feminist case against abortion. Foster talked about how many early feminist leaders, including Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony, were pro-life, and then offered practical suggestions for how to make college campuses more accepting of mothers and pregnant women.

Even though a sizeable number of pro-abortion students showed up to protest, the event went off smoothly. "The rally was a tremendous success," said Ryan Haslam, a recent UC Berkeley graduate who helped organize the conference.

On Saturday, April 20, over 60 Bay Area college and high school students were in attendance for the last day of the conference. After the welcome the students attended a series of workshops designed to give them the skills to more effectively promote the pro-life cause.

These included a workshop on fundraising led by the Leadership Institute's Michael Krempasky, a workshop on organizing a pro-life lecture by Michael New of Stanford Students for Life, a workshop by Monika Rodman from the Diocese of Oakland on pro-life responses to "pro-choice" arguments, and finally a workshop led by Jennie Youngblood of First Resort Pregnancy Consulting.

The conference concluded with an afternoon lecture by Brian Johnston, director of the California ProLife Council and NRLC Western regional director.

During the course of his talk, Johnston commented on a range of issues. He began by providing some information about the history about the pro-life movement. He talked about the efforts made by the American Medical Association in the mid-1800s to bring laws in line with new scientific discoveries and to protect innocent human life. (See related story, page 26.)

Johnston also spoke at great length about the societal importance of pro-life issues. "The issues that make our society just and good are at stake in these debates," he said. "Unless the innocent are protected by society, the law of the jungle is the law of the land, where having the strength to kill is all that matters. This is not what our country is built on."

During the course of his talk, Johnston commented on the pro-abortion record of California Democrat Gov. Gray Davis, identified by Mr. Johnston as "one of the most extreme pro-abortion proponents holding elected office in America today."

Johnston said that Gov. Davis has really become captive to the abortion lobby. Indeed, Davis has gone so far as to name the director of the California Abortion and Reproductive Rights Action League as his cabinet secretary. Davis will be opposed in the fall election by pro-life Republican William Simon.

Johnston concluded by reminding students that the sanctity of innocent human life is the most important principle for pro-lifers to remember.

Overall, the first-ever Bay Area Celebrate Life Conference was very successful, informing the broader community and providing training to local pro-lifers. Eva St. Clair, president of Stanford Students for Life, was very pleased with how the conference went.

"From the rave reviews I heard from students, I am completely confident that it was a worthwhile, informative, and necessary event for young people getting started in the pro life movement," she said. "I am extremely happy with the outcome and very proud of the hard work everyone put into it."

Molly Bowman, president of Berkeley Students for Life, agreed. "It was the biggest pro life event ever held at Cal!" she said. "We covered the intellectual, philosophical, emotional, and strategic elements of the pro-life movement. Not bad for our first conference."

Even better, the lectures and workshops should have an impact that is felt well beyond the conference weekend. A short video of conference highlights professionally produced by Darwin Sayo has been posted on the California Students for Life web site (www.castl.org).

Additionally, even though school has recessed for the summer, students at Stanford, Berkeley, UCSF, and USF are already making plans to hold the second annual Bay Area Celebrate Life Conference at Stanford in spring 2003.

Michael New is pursuing a Ph.D. in political science at Stanford University. More information about Berkeley Students for Life can be found at its web site: http://www.ocf.berkeley.edu/~bsl/. More information about Stanford Students for Life can be found at http://www.stanford.edu/group/ssfl.