Ripon College Days

The lively debate between pro-choice and pro-life camps doesn't promise to die down anytime in the near future. In an effort to perpetuate the pro-life movement, students from Ripon Right to Life traveled to Washington, D.C., to participate in the 33rd annual March for Life.

The campus activists joined with a group of Wisconsin Right to Life members to attend the march and related activities held this Monday in the nation's capital. Thanks to Student Senate approval, the campus Right to Life group was granted funds to make their first trip to the event. In addition to attending a pro-life rally, the group also had the opportunity to take a guided tour of the District of Columbia.

Right to Life president junior SinŽad Devlin is hopeful this is a step in the right direction for her group. "The people at the march will see the effect we have on those around us and what an impact we can make if we work together as a group. I really want us to harness that mindset, bring it home and go to work," Devlin says. "We hope to kindle a few pro-life flames in the hearts of students here and then work hard to spread it like brushfire," she says.

The group's mission mirrors that of Monday's march. Promoted as a grassroots pro-life movement, the anticipated 100,000 participants will walk with the unified aim of assuring protection to every human's right to life. Their ultimate goal is the adoption of mandatory human rights amendments at both the federal and state level, a measure that would define life's inception at fertilization. The yearly march intentionally coincides with the anniversary of Roe vs. Wade-a landmark Supreme Court case from 1973 that overturned all state laws restricting or outlawing abortion.

One of Ripon's attendees, sophomore Chris Holtorf, is especially passionate about the pro-life message, dubbing abortion the "ultimate exploitation of women." Holtorf's disdain for abortion is two-fold: he feels it an insult to the value of human life and a disservice to women who aren't given sufficient information regarding the procedure. Acting under what he believes to be an ordination from God, Holtorf plans to dedicate his life to this fight, including the authorship of two books he's begun to write on the subject.

"I'm really excited for the march," he says. "I enjoy being a part of the process, and it's going to be a huge sense of satisfaction to see young people from all over the world and to be in communion with them."

Ripon's Right to Life group started in September of 2004. Past activities have included church fundraisers and promotion of the Day of Silence.

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