story by Meredith Mulhern, photos by Christina Elias

STA students held a pro-life prayer vigil outside of the Center for Women’s Health abortion clinic in Overland Park March 7.

Local organizers for Forty Days for Life, an international pro-life organization, originally approached campus ministry director Meredith Snyder about STA being involved in the service.

“I reached out to the girls in campus ministry to ask if they thought that there would be interest in sending something out to the whole school about [the prayer service],” Snyder said. “They responded saying that they thought there would be a lot of people that would want to be a part of it.”

According to Snyder, participating in the prayer service was a “local, low-time investment way to get involved and participate [in pro-life efforts].”

[nggallery id=1045]

Snyder asked sophomore Allison Nagle to help organize the prayer service.

“We tried to think about how to announce it respectfully and how to go about it so it wasn’t seen as a protest [but rather as] a vigil,” Nagle said.

According to Nagle, four STA girls attended the service, including herself, as well as non-STA people who had signed up through Forty Days for Life.

The service was from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Girls were supposed to take one-hour praying shifts, but because not as many girls signed up, some had to take two hours shifts, according to Nagle.

“I think [the service benefitted STA] in general because it opened [the topic of abortion] up,” Nagle said. “Even if the student body as a whole doesn’t have the same views, it opened it up and allowed for discussion.”

However, many students were “uncomfortable” with the service, according to junior Annie Bolin.

“I think the way this service was advertised made me really uncomfortable,” Bolin said. “[Students] were told that it wasn’t representing the school, but when you’re advertising it to the faculty and the student body, it makes it a school thing, even though it’s not facilitated by the school.”

Bolin, along with juniors Audrey Carroll and Violet Cowdin, approached Snyder and discussed their concerns about the service with her.

“I just don’t want other people to think that that small group of people going to the prayer service represents the views of the entire school,” Bolin said. “Not everybody is pro-life, not everybody is Catholic, not everybody is even Christian. I just don’t want people to think that that represents STA because I don’t want STA to have a reputation like that.”

Both Snyder and Nagle understand why the service wasn’t supported by all.

“I really am proud of our STA students for standing up for something [they believed in],” Snyder said. “And I do think that [pro-life beliefs] represent the views of the school itself as a Catholic institution. I am very aware of the fact that there are individuals who are here that don’t agree with the church’s teachings on life and when life begins and specifically about the issue of abortion being something that’s immoral, but as a Catholic school I do think that the supporting the ending of abortion is a value of this school.”

Although Bolin understands the mission of the school, she does not personally agree.

“I get that we’re a Catholic school and that we’re supposed to follow Catholic values,” Bolin said. “But we’re also an all girls school. It’s my understanding that part of the mission for the school is empowering young women, and for me that means letting young women make their own choices and decisions to make a better life for themselves. I don’t think it’s right to judge and ostracize other women for what they choose and believe in regardless of your religion.”

As for future efforts to increase pro-life awareness at STA, Nagle is planning on beginning a pro-life club in the near future.