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NRL News
A Hugely
Productive Summer for Youth Pro-Life Training Traditionally, summer is a time when youth gather on beaches and work at summer jobs in the local Dairy Queen. While this may still be true for most teenagers and college students, there is a growing trend among pro-life youth that has them doing something quite unusual with their vacation time: studying and learning more about the pro-life issues. In Washington, D.C., the first class of students at the National Right to Life Academy graduated on August 10, from an intensive six-week academic program entirely dedicated to pro-life issues. In addition to regular courses taught by Burke Balch, J.D., director of NRLC’s Robert Powell Center for Medical Ethics, Academy students attended independent lectures by experts in all areas of the pro-life movement. This inventive new program plans to continue to provide a quality college-level education on the spectrum of pro-life issues for years to come. (See story, page one.) At the same time, NRLC hosted this summer’s class of interns who spent six to eight weeks working in the office in various departments, gaining valuable work experience. The interns also joined Academy students for some of the educational seminars and special guest speakers throughout the duration of the Academy. A thousand miles to the west, Wisconsin Right to Life conducted two weeks of summer leadership camps, bringing together young people ranging in age from 12 to 21 (with a few cool adults thrown in for good measure) for intensive pro-life education and training. These camps, now in their fifth summer, combine education on issues ranging from abortion and stem cell research to euthanasia and health-care rationing with recreational activities like “The Human Race” and games like Pro-Life Clue and Pro-Life Taboo. The focus of the entire camp experience is to equip young people to carry the truth about abortion and euthanasia back to their schools and communities and to have some fun in the process of learning. Judging from some of the responses of students reprinted below, the camp program has been a real success! “This camp really inspired me to be active in the pro-life movement. It was great to be surrounded by others who feel the same way. I am going to get involved in the local Right to Life chapter in my area.” -- Girl, 17 “I think I will be able to fight more intelligently because of how this camp has helped me get the right information. I will probably be way more involved now.” -- Girl, 13 “I really feel as though I needed to be here and it is more than coincidence that I’m here now. I am joining the pro-life group at my college and I will inform pretty much all of the people I ever see.” -- Guy, 19 Whether it is educating college students in our nation’s capital or spending a week at camp in Wisconsin, pro-life veterans are training a new generation of pro-lifers to fight the good fight in defense of life. As a result, the pool of pro-life talent is ever expanding, and it is happening just in time. The lives of the unborn and the fate of the medically dependent and vulnerable will soon rest in the hands of these young people. It is critical to ensure that they are well-trained, passionately dedicated to the cause of life and ready to take on leadership roles in decades to come. And from all accounts, they are more than up to that task. For more information on upcoming pro-life youth events sponsored by National Right to Life or its affiliates, please contact us at jlittle@wrtl.org or djones@nrlc.org. Stay tuned for more information on our upcoming NTL Summit in Washington, D.C., in January 2008. |