Bulldogs4Life brings pro-life students to marches in D.C., Lincoln

Concordia students at the March for Life in Washington, D.C. in January.

Photo credit: Julia Hitz

By Dylan Buechler

Concordia’s Bulldogs4Life group sent 68 students to this year’s national March for Life in Washington, D.C., followed by a statewide event during freezing temperatures at the state capitol in Lincoln.

Students who attended the D.C. event heard from speakers associated with the Y4Life organization on topics such as abortion and support for mothers who might want an abortion. Junior Grace Drews said it was incredible to be around so many like-minded people.

Concordia students sing hymns near the end of the Walk for Life in Lincoln, Neb. Photo: Nora Betts.

“My favorite part every year is going on the March and being with all of the people in the crowd there,” Drews said. “At the march there are thousands of people there. And you’re always surrounded by people. It’s very overstimulating, however, it’s really cool because all of the people there are all there for the same reason, which is to support life.”

Sophomore Madalyn Kohlmeyer is secretary for Bulldogs4Life at Concordia and said it is part of the Lutherans for Life Youth Division.

“We are a gospel-motivated voice for life. So, we are pro-life, but that doesn’t mean that we are just against abortion,” Kohlmeyer said. “A gospel-motivated voice is showing what the Bible says about issues in a loving way. We are like, how can we support mothers, so that they feel like they are able to keep their child, so that they are raising their child, so that they are giving their child up for adoption instead of aborting them.”

Kohlmeyer said the group always is open for new members who want to be actively involved.

“Just agreeing with us and being pro-life isn’t enough. You need to not be cold to this issue,” she said. “Because just agreeing and not doing anything about it is not going to stop the atrocities from happening.”

Pro-choice protestors at the Walk for Life. Photo: Nora Betts.

The state Walk for Life event in Lincoln included both pro-life and pro-choice attendees. The pro-choice group was there to protest the pro-life walk. The Nebraska Walk for Life was sponsored by Nebraska Right to Life, a pro-life organization.

“Nebraska Right to Life was started in 1974 as a response to the Roe vs. Wade U.S. Supreme Court decision,” said Executive Director Sandy Danek. “And our work is non-partisan, interdenominational, and we work with our grassroots support to educate on policy, education, and political activity to protect all human life.”

The 1973 Roe vs. Wade decision legalized abortion across the United States.

Jackson Meredith of Lincoln was among the small crowd of pro-choice protesters. He said he has been organizing protests against the Walk for Life for 15 years.

Meredith noted the struggles the pro-choice movement faces in Nebraska.

“I am out here because I believe, I mean, it’s not even my belief. It’s factual. Sixty percent of the state is pro-choice,” Meredith said. “They want to march down the middle of the street and pretend, and they have the momentum right now, but it’s not because they outnumber us. It’s because they’ve got us outorganized for now.”

Meredith added that his group is “just as committed to our morality, to our politics” as the pro-life supporters. “We’re just still trying to get all on the same page so we can push back and retake the rights.”

Donovan Reese, a student at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, attended the Walk for Life with the goal of gathering signatures to put together an initiative on the Nebraska ballot.

“I’m representing a political initiative here in Nebraska called Choose Life Now,” Reese said.

The group’s goal, he said, is to “gather enough signatures to sort of bypass the Legislature in a sense” and put on the ballot a change to the state constitution that makes the term “person,” anywhere in the law, include an unborn child.

Mattie Quick was a participant in the Walk and was excited to see many people at the event. She explained her story and her support for Nebraska Right to Life.

“I’m a mother of seven kids, and I’m one of eight kids and I’ve always been around children. I’m a teacher right now. I teach pre–K, so I love children very much. I also had a miscarriage several years ago, so the unborn are very special to me,” she said. “I would like to see it [abortion] completely abolished. I’m not from Nebraska originally. I’m from Louisiana, so it’s just really awesome to see how pro-life Nebraska is. I’m proud of it.”