Tens of thousands of students on more than 4,000 campuses around the world are hoping that their silence on Tuesday will lend a voice to the unborn.
Over 200,000 students from Australia, Germany, the United Kingdom, the United States, and Canada, among others, will participate in Pro-life Day of Silent Solidarity to bring attention to what many pro-lifers are calling the “abortion holocaust”.A study published in the medical newspaper The Lancet earlier this month reported that one in five pregnancies will end in abortion and 90 per cent of women worldwide will have an abortion before the age of 45
In the United States, Bryan Kemper, founder and president of Stand True Ministries, the Christian pro-life group spearheading the Pro-life Day of Silent Solidarity, says the battle against abortion is one that belongs to the youth.
“This is their generation that is being killed off,” Kemper told Christian Today. “This is their fight and their battle.”
Students on Tuesday will remain silent throughout the day and pass out educational flyers to anyone who asks why they are silent. They also have the option of wearing red armbands or placing red duct tape with the word “LIFE” over their mouths – a protesting ritual borrowed from Bound for Life, another pro-life group.
Many homeschooled students have also registered to participate and will go to pass out material at local malls.
Kemper said the silent protest has previously gained huge attention.
“It really has been effective,” he said. “Everybody wants to know why they are doing it.”
The number of campuses participating this year has more than tripled since last year’s protest and has increased by more than ten times since the event was first observed in 2004. An average of 50 students per school lent their silence toward upholding the sanctity of life.
But while the silence is intended to raise abortion awareness, Kemper said students shouldn’t be “legalistic” about their silence, as it is through talking that most students considering abortion change their minds.
