The campus at the University of Maryland was stirring with movement on April 14. Every corner of the quad was filled with students lounging in hammocks, playing spike ball, and doing assignments. Birds chirped and fluttered in the breeze, and the sun was as bright as ever.
On that Tuesday morning, another kind of movement was stirring across campus. Students for Life founder and podcast host Kristan Hawkins visited the Terps as part of her nationwide Abortion is Human Sacrifice tour, which takes her to colleges across the country to engage in public pro-life discussions with students.
UMD’s Students for Life of America chapter sponsored the event in conjunction with Turning Point USA, though the group is a non-partisan club that is neither Republican nor Democrat, just purely pro-life.
For four hours, Hawkins joined fellow pro-life advocate Angela Harders in hosting a “change my mind” booth, encouraging students and passersby to debate topics like abortion, contraception and the sanctity of human life.
“There’s a group of people who have been deemed to be less than or eligible for the sacrifice. And then there’s a belief that making the sacrifice of that other human is gonna be for the greater good. When we look at the justifications for abortion today, that’s exactly how we justify abortion.”
Crowds of students grew as they traveled to and from class, from their dorms or just to participate in the discussion. One of the most asked questions students raised regarded women’s rights and bodily autonomy. Hawkins rebutted, saying that a child conceived in the womb does not get more rights; rather, they’re equal to any other life, and are exactly where they’re supposed to be.
“What we believe in the pro-life movement is philosophically and scientifically consistent, which is that all human beings begin when they begin, which is at conception,” Hawkins said. “That’s when your human right to exist, to not be killed violently, begins. So, I don’t believe human rights depend on your size. If you’re taller than me, that doesn’t give you more rights.”
Alexandra Matsumi Ciećwierz, a junior environmental science and technology major, was passing by when she decided to stop and listen. Ciećwierz said she admires Hopkins’ work as a pro-life advocate and appreciates the opportunity for UMD to hold public discourse.
“Such figures and conversations are beautiful and needed for our campus, but also for just our generation in general,” Ciećwierz said. “This grants the people, whether they’re faithful or not, Catholic or not, if they’re for or against pro-life, an open space to ask the questions that people are regularly not open to ask.”
The pro-life movement also hits close to home for Ciećwierz. She shared how doctors recommended that her mom terminate her pregnancy with her younger sister, Veronica Ciećwierz, for the risk of being born with Down syndrome.
“I was speaking about it to my mom while hiking in Poland, and she brought up how, while pregnant with me, the doctors told her that I was going to have Down syndrome and they encouraged her to abort,” Veronica recalled. “She was firm in her beliefs that I was her child nonetheless and that, whether I have Down syndrome or not, my value does not change. So my parents denied it, and I was born without Down syndrome.”
Now 17, Veronica Ciećwierz says she is an avid advocate against abortion and works to provide resources for expecting mothers in her free time.
Clara Pham. UMD’s Students for Life chapter president helped plan Hopkins’ visit. The junior general biology major works with peers on events like donating baby supplies to the university’s food pantry to support parenting students and volunteers at nearby pregnancy centers.
“As a pro-life person, and especially as a Catholic person, I understand that we must uphold the dignity of both the mother and the child together.”
For Mother’s Day, UMD’s Students for Life is hosting a fundraiser for the Pregnancy Aid Center in College Park and the diaper bank at the UMD Food Pantry. Those interested in donating can reach out to terpsstudentsforlife@gmail.com.
Elizabeth Polo is a student at the University of Maryland and is a contributing writer to the Catholic Standard.
