DU’s Catholic Student Fellowship (CSF) is participating in 40 Days for Life, an international event sponsored by pro-life advocates, until this Sunday, Nov. 6.
The 40 Days for Life event began on Sept. 28.
“The message of the 40 Days for Life is to save the unborn babies,” said Brian Kelsch, a member of the campus ministry. “It is to stop abortion, to show that a person is a person no matter how small.”
CSF decided to participate in a more visible way this year, most notably through the quotes written in chalk all over campus.
“The sidewalk chalk was to raise awareness that one-third of our generation has been aborted, that people are being aborted each and every day,” said Kelsch.
CSF students are offering extra prayers and have prayed outside of Denver Planned Parenthood locations, an action that 40 Days for Life promotes.
“This particular movement has a strong emphasis on peaceful protests and words and actions of kindness and love, never being harsh or hateful,” said Jenna Pettinger, president of CSF. “We believe that children, women and families deserve better than abortion.”
Freshman Marin Klostermeier said she is uncomfortable with the protests.
“I respect the right people have to express their views, but I am very uncomfortable with people interfering with other people’s lives because they could be going through a hard time,” Klostermeier said. “I also don’t like that they don’t understand that only 3 percent of what Planned Parenthood does is abortion.”
The 40 Days event overlapped with the Pro Life Day of Silent Solidarity on Oct. 16.
Though not affiliated directly with the university, in the past, some DU students – mostly associated with the CSF – have participated in a day of not speaking to honor babies that never had a voice, according to Pettinger.
This usually involves wearing red duct tape over the mouth and handing out fliers to explain what they are doing.
“Participants choose not to speak in order to be in solidarity with the babies whose lives are taken every day through abortion,” said Pettinger.
According to Kelsch, the amount of deaths due to abortion is vastly underestimated,
“The National Health and Human Services Department has stopped counting the number of abortions each year, so we don’t know truly how many babies are killed,” he said.
Both Kelsch and Pettinger said they are hopeful that the worldwide reach of the 40 Days event will eventually contribute to the end of abortion.
“We believe in starting peaceful, respectful and loving conversations about this issue so that others may form more informed opinions, and that public discourse about the issue may continue in the most caring and dignified way possible,” said Pettinger. “We have great hope that we will live to see the end of this legalized taking of life in our country.”
Ultimately, the 40 Days are about the power of prayer, he said.
“Amazing things happen when people pray for life,” said Kelsch. “It is intense but it is also beautiful.”
