CORRECTION: A page-one article in the Jan. 24 Chronicle about Friday's pro-life rally incorrectly represented the experiences of one of the speakers, Loretta Thompson. Her abortion occurred after the Supreme Court legalized the procedure in 1973.
A group of 40 students shivered on the main quad Friday afternoon as they listened to the story of Loretta Thompson, vice president and communications director for North Carolina Right to Life.
Called to mark the 27th anniversary of Roe vs. Wade, the solemn rally-sponsored by Duke Students for Life-focused on a Christian argument against abortion: "Every life is made by God and every life is precious...," Thompson said. "It doesn't matter the color of your skin, it doesn't matter if you have a disability. God was there when you were conceived."
In her speech, Thompson shared her own story to highlight the painful way many young women are drawn to abortion. When she found out she was pregnant at age 19, she said she could not go to her parents for advice.
"I didn't want to shame my parents. I didn't want to cause any more embarrassment to them," she said. "Instead of going to people who loved me.... I went to my friends, I went to my peers."
With the encouragement of her friends, Thompson decided to have an abortion-illegal at the time. She quickly regretted her decision, she said, especially after she lost two children due to miscarriages.
"We grew up with Planned Parenthood," she said. "It was so well camouflaged that we believed this was good, this was right."
Since Roe vs. Wade legalized the procedure, Thompson said, abortions have become all too common.
"If you were born after 1973, you are holocaust survivors. Thirty-six million babies have died through the legal act of abortion...," she said. "[Roe vs. Wade] is not something we want to celebrate. We mourn that."
After discussing her personal experiences, Thompson spoke more generally about students' responsibilities to each other.
"You are in the front lines," she told her audience. "Generally it's not going to be a parent a woman goes to when she finds herself pregnant. It's going to be you."
When Thompson stepped away from the microphone, Trinity sophomore and co-president of Duke Students for Life Steve Hong noted that part of the University's student health fee goes to pay for the morning-after pill, which many consider a form of abortion.
He asked the small crowd whether they knew anyone who had considered, or actually had, an abortion. More than half raised their hands.
"It isn't something that happens to the next guy," he said, suggesting that abortions must be common at the University. "Something's going on here. When was the last time you saw a pregnant Duke undergrad?"
The rally ended with a prayer and candle-lighting.
"Remember these children, remember the lives lost, remember the preciousness of these lives to Our Father in Heaven," said Rev. Joe Vetter of the University's Newman Catholic Student Center. "Let us pray for the babies who were aborted today on this campus, in Duke Hospital."
After the rally, Hong explained his decision to gear this rally-the first of its kind at Duke-toward Christian supporters of the pro-life movement: "I very much appreciate the pro-life support of those who are not Christian, but with this rally I wanted to tap into a potential resource of pro-life support that had been previously under-utilized by Duke Students for Life," he wrote in an e-mail.
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