NRL News
Page 17
July/August 2009
Volume 36
Issue 7-8

Exhibitors at NRLC ’09 Reach Out to Youth
By Lisa Andrusko

This June’s 37th annual NRL Convention saw the typical large influx of young people. However, this year, more than ever, young people were not only attending the workshops, they were also themselves leading them.

Ironically, the same week, the pro-abortion organization NOW was meeting in Indianapolis to hold an election for its presidency where one of the issues was how to attract more youthful members. In its June 15, 2009, article “NOW Voters to Decide Future of Feminism,” the Washington Times noted that NOW has a “mostly white and over-40 membership.” Outgoing NOW president Kim Gandy stated, “It’s hard to ignore the fact that there’s been a generational shift in the country, and an organization that doesn’t recognize that is living in the past.” (The members of NOW, by the way, rejected Gandy’s candidate and went with the older one.)

For years National Right to Life has placed great emphasis on helping this growing and naturally pro-life constituency learn to put its pro-life views into effective action. This year not only marked the 24th anniversary of the National Teens for Life convention, with its array of workshops geared specifically to teens, but state NRL affiliates hold programs for teens throughout the year.

NRL also reaches out to college students through its summer internship program and its six-week NRL Academy program. These students, who were also attending the convention, brought their enthusiasm and perspective to pro-life issues as well as providing much-needed manpower to keep the convention running smoothly.

In light of this, and much more, NOW and other pro-abortion groups have good reason to be concerned about losing the young. Even members of the mainstream media have noted that the younger generation, the survivors of Roe, is moving more and more into the pro-life column.

A Los Angeles Times article by Stephanie Simon in 2008 stated, “Today’s students and young adults have grown up in a time when abortion was widely accessible and acceptable, and a striking number are determined to end that era.” Simon continued, “A decade of Pew Research Center polls shows that 18- to 29-year-olds are consistently more likely than the general adult population to favor strict limits on abortion.”

The 2009 convention also saw new exhibitors geared directly to this young pro-life generation.

The Abort73.com booth, overflowing with attention-grabbing pamphlets and t-shirts, was easily one of the most colorful booths there. The t-shirts, emblazoned with bright slogans such as “Educate Yourself Educate Your World,” “Better Off Alive,” “Given A Choice They’d Like A Chance,” and “Love the Least,” were all designed to start a conversation. Exhibitor Jeff Jones said the Abort73 Web site was begun in 2005 by Michael Spielman, who was seeking to design a site that would specifically appeal to young people. The name was chosen because it’s easy to remember and a way to reach people who may not necessarily consider themselves pro-life. The site not only sells t-shirts but offers short videos and educational articles.

Jones said the site works to show that the “case against abortion can appeal to anyone, whether they are religious or not.” Abort73.com is increasingly successful at reaching its target audience, getting 40,000 to 60,000 new visitors a month.

Teens and college-aged women make up the largest group of those having abortions, usually because they feel forced to choose between their unborn child and their education and career. But demonstrating NRL’s and the pro-life movement’s commitment to helping both the mother and her unborn child was the exhibitor Room at the Inn, which was begun in Charlotte, North Carolina, in 1994.

Executive Director Jeannie Ray said the Inn offers both a residential and outreach program for women over the age of 18 with an unplanned pregnancy, with free services to provide women a “bridge from fear to joy.” The outreach program offers material assistance, such as nursery supplies, but also those all-important life skills in areas such as parenting, nutrition, and budgeting. A residential program provides housing and assistance for women and their newborns for up to 24 months following birth. The women must be enrolled in a post-high school educational program. All supplies and services are provided free to help these women and their children.

Room at the Inn is currently working on building a residential maternity and aftercare facility adjacent to Belmont Abbey College, the first facility of its kind in the nation designed to meet the needs of the college student. The Inn will work with different regional colleges to get referrals to this program. Laura Kutner helped staff the booth and is also a trained professional counselor at the Inn.

Indicative of the diversity of the women helped, Laura says she spends at least two days a week speaking only Spanish as she works with her clients. The Inn has been able to serve over 3,000 women through their outreach and residential programs.