Almost one year after an anti-abortion awareness event sparked controversy both on campus and in the blogosphere, one of Biola’s newest clubs is hosting an event on May 14 to continue the conversation on abortion and the Christian response.
SPACE FOR CONVERSATION
The Sanctity of Life Club, which launched in January of this year, originally planned to hold the event May 6 at the Fireplace Pavilion as a panel discussion among four professors. However, they had to switch the date due to scheduling conflicts with a Student Missionary Union workshop. Now the event will take place in the Andrews Banquet Room while still retaining its conversational structure.
“There should be a space where Biola students can get together and talk about the sanctity of life and be better equipped to learn how to defend it and just be educated about the legislation,” said Jessica Schildt, a junior English secondary instruction major and president of the Sanctity of Life Club.
The panel will feature professors Natasha Duquette, Susan Elliott, Janelle Aijian and Scott Waller, the club’s adviser. Each panel member will answer audience questions about abortion as well as providing instruction for navigating healthy conversations on the topic.
“Each of the distinct professors who are going to be a part of the panel have their own area of expertise, and I feel that that really adds to the discussion. I’m all about dialogue and conversation,” said junior philosophy major Gabriella Vehrs, a member of the Sanctity of Life Club.
USING DISCRETION
Vehrs joined the Pro-Life Club after transferring to Biola in January. She has a longstanding work history with anti-abortion nonprofit organizations, starting as a volunteer with Justice For All in 2008 and interning there last summer. Additionally, she worked as an outreach intern at Right to Life of Central California from 2012 to 2014.
In response to the demonstration last spring, which used graphic images of aborted fetuses in its message, Vehrs said if she uses images she always pairs them with dialogue.
“I think that graphic images can do very specific things. I do not think that graphic images make an argument for the pro-life position,” she said. “You have to talk to people, you have to listen to where they’re coming from. … Graphic pictures are effective in certain settings, under certain conditions.”
A VARIETY OF TOPICS
While the focus of the discussion is on how to have discussions on abortion, Schildt said that will not be the full scope of the panel topics.
“They’re discussing mainly abortion … but then they’re going to talk about the Christian’s role in defending life,” Schildt said. “I purposely didn’t call it the Pro-Life Club or something with abortion in the name, because personally, I think when you have an outlook that respects life, it’s all life, it’s not just the unborn child. But it’s the elderly or the disabled or anyone whom society thinks isn’t contributing the way that you and I can.”
Aijian, a professor for Torrey Honors Institute, said her role in the discussion will reflect her desire to make Biola a safe place for girls who find themselves unexpectedly pregnant.
“My main entree into this whole discussion has been a question of how to care for at-risk gals, so gals on campus who find themselves in a position where they’re having to make a hard decision about whether to keep a child or not,” Aijian said. “Sometimes, Christian universities can be an unwelcoming place for a young woman who’s deciding [whether to keep a child].”
The panel and subsequent Q and A will be held at 7:30 p.m. next Wednesday, May 14 in the lower level of Talbot East.
