Thousands of students, adults and children gathered outside the State Capitol Saturday morning to protest abortion in a “Walk for Life.”
For a small group of those students from the Newman Center Catholic Church, it was the second such protest in a week, following a massive demonstration at the nation’s capitol.
A group of 90 University of Nebraska-Lincoln students attended the event in Washington, D.C. last week, and several from the group gathered at the Newman Center before the local one Saturday.
“We pray that we may change some hearts,” Father Ben Holdren said before to the crowd of students. “Be with those who don’t believe in life at conception and change their hearts so that we may fully respect all life.”
After the prayer, Josh Santo, a sophomore finance and business administration major at UNL, gave a speech of encouragement.
“Let’s keep this a prayerful time and remember what this is all about,” he said.
With that, the group started out on 16th Street toward the State Capitol with a large, red “Huskers for Life” banner.
The sun was shining on the surprisingly warm winter morning as the Newman group meshed with the sea of people outside the Capitol. Round, white stickers that read “Support LB 675 – Mother’s right to see her unborn child” were distributed.
The bill, if passed, would make it mandatory for abortion doctors to show pregnant women an ultrasound image of their fetus before performing the abortion.
Bishop Fabian Bruskewitz of the Catholic Diocese of Lincoln, wearing a black hat and coat, along with his sticker, was spotted in the middle of the crowd.
Anti-abortion signs freckled the crowd.
“Stop Abortion Now” was printed on a red octagonal poster.
“Stop the Obama Abortion Agenda.”
“Pro-Life, Just like God.”
“Take my hand, not my Life.”
Samuel Krause – a brown-haired, brown-eyed smiley toddler – held a sign in his stroller: “A person is a person, no matter how small.”
His mother, Anne Krause, said he is her fourth child.
“It’s a really important issue,” she said. “It’s really exciting to see so many people here to support pro-life.”
Gov. Dave Heineman and Attorney General Jon Bruning, as well as Sen. Tony Fulton, the introducer of LB 675, showed up to support the Walk for Life event.
“I’m proud to be the governor of this pro-life state,” Heineman said in his speech. “We need to get LB 675 to my desk so I can sign it into law.”
After speeches outside the Capitol, there was a somber releasing of blue and pink balloons to represent past abortions. A slow march to the Nebraska Union followed, as the Lord’s Prayer and a rosary was recited in unison by the Roman Catholic students and adults.
On O Street, a line of cars stretched out of sight.
Once the group reached the Union, Michael Clancy, an anti-abortion photographer, gave the keynote speech.
Clancy took a famous photograph of a small hand reaching out of its womb and grabbing a doctor’s finger during fetal surgery and has since dedicated his life to campaigning for anti-abortion issues.
“They called me a hero,” Clancy said, “but I don’t deserve any of the credit – God does.”
Listening to the speech was Nikki Shasserre, assistant director of annual giving at the Newman Center, who accompanied the students to Washington.
She said the base of the anti-abortion movement is increasingly younger, because those generations have been affected more personally.
“We have a real feeling of ‘We survived’ and we want to be the voice for the members of our generation who aren’t here,” she said.
Santo and Katie Gottschalk, a sophomore education and human sciences major, were two of the 90 UNL students who rode for 26 hours on a bus to the nation’s capital.
“My mom had three miscarriages when I was little, so I really found respect for life when I was little,” Santo said. “When I go to pray at the abortion clinic, to see women drive into the clinic makes me think of how much we wanted to have a bigger family and how it didn’t work. It’s hard to see life being disregarded like that. It’s morally unacceptable.”
Gottschalk also feels strongly about the issue.
“As a woman, I don’t understand how anybody could make that decision to ruin their bodies like that and ruin a human life like that,” she said. “It’s your baby. Destroying it just seems ridiculous to me.”
The Walk for Life is a protest against abortion and inspires those who unite together for the cause.
“You see 300,000 people who believe in the same things you do and are fighting for the same things you are,” Gottschalk said. “It gives you a lot of hope.”
Protesters have faith that they can set an example for the world, Santo said.
“It might not be today; it might not be tomorrow, but somewhere down the road, it’s going to make a difference,” he said. “Even if 300,000 people getting together changed one woman’s mind on having an abortion, then it was worth it.”
ellenhirst@dailynebraskan.com
Students protest abortion in 'Walk For Life'
Published: Sunday, February 1, 2009
Updated: Sunday, February 1, 2009
 "Photo: Hilary Stohs-Krause")
Hilary Stohs-Krause
Participants in the march walked from the capitol through downtown Lincoln to the Nebraska Union.
 "Photo: Hilary Stohs-Krause")
Hilary Stohs-Krause
Alaytra and Amber Wendt, 13 and 11, respectively, watch balloons launch Saturday at the Right to Life march in downtown Lincoln. "I think it's really important," Alyatra said of the march. "We're saving lives."
 "Photo: Hilary Stohs-Krause")
Hilary Stohs-Krause
Five-year-old Nikolas Barger holds a model of a baby Saturday in the Nebraska Union. The models were sponsored by Birthright of Lincoln.
8 comments
chris
The "Murder the children so they aren't born into an imperfect life" argument is always predictable. It's almost as common as the "If you won't pay women to have their children, it's okay to murder the baby" argument. Fact is the pro-life crowd does a lot to support children and their mothers financially both during pregnancy and once the child has been born. If you don't see it, you don't care to look. . As for the "lobsters are the same as babies" lobby, I have yet to see one of these same people, who think that even a worm has rights, agree that an unborn child has any rights (some might). Google "Tammy Skinner" sometime and see how insane the "choice" arguments have gotten.
John Danielson
I'd love to see a system where anyone against abortion would sign up for a list. Whenever a woman became pregnant and wouldn't be able to properly care for the child, it would be placed up for adoption - if adopted, the adopting family would qualify for child support-like aid, otherwise it would be placed in an orphanage that would be paid for from the same pool of money used for the aid to adopting families. At the end of whatever billing period would work best, everyone on the anti-abortion list would get an equal share in dollar amount of the bill, less any donations to the fund anyone specific might give. These would be collected like any other debt to the government, including garnishing wages or imprisonment for non-payment. If at any time the list was emptied of names or the system "went bankrupt", abortion would be legalized.I sympathize with the idea of the pro-life side, and if I made someone pregnant before getting married, I would do everything I could to convince her not to abort the child (although it would still be entirely her choice as far as I'm concerned.) I am not so naive, however, to think that all conception should be forced to be carried to term and be born into a horrible life with a family that doesn't care for them or can't afford to raise them properly. I shudder to think what type of monsters some of these protesters are that they might be aware of this fact and would still wish that sort of life on an unborn child.
if you can't trust a woman with a choice how can you trust her with a baby?
To be so ignorant to say that people "support abortion" is truly disheartening. Not a single person who stood there for women's reproductive rights and for choice support nor promote abortion, they support the right of choice. You are right it isn't all about a single person or the "you" that you mention, it is about fundamental human rights for all. Thus YOU don't nor does anyone have the right to say what a woman can to with her own body in her private life. Everyone has the right to have a voice and the University promotes free-thinking thus it would seem logical to include other viewpoints and others involved in the protest. No matter how small the group was--the 22 of us--we represent a viewpoint just as significant as yours. It just happens to be different--it also happens to adhere to and recognize the law.
m.s.
Thank you for writing this. :)
Respect for More than Human Life
I am aching to meet just one person who is "anti-abortion" who also protests animal experimentation and works for humane treatment of animals. There aren't any! So much for "respecting all life".
Julia J
The article was about the Walk for Life...not the 8 people standing there supporting abortion. There is no doubt that the DN has done numerous articles about those supporting abortion - since they had no input into the Walk for Life event, why should they get mentioned? By the way...it's NOT all about you - even though that's the philosphy you promote!!!
Pro-Choice
It's too bad you didn't decide to talk to about or talk to anyone who was participating in the counter-protest--"the pro-choice" group.
Pro-Choice
It's too bad you didn't decide to talk to about or talk to anyone who was participating in the counter-protest--"the pro-choice" group.
