Life as Culture: BC’s Pro-Life Club and the March for Life

Boston College is presently home to over 100 clubs and organizations; one of the most noteworthy this past week has been the Pro-Life Club. The Pro-Life Club’s declared mission is to “represent the cause of life both on and off the BC campus.” The group represents this cause by hosting meetings in which members discuss the various issues associated with the Pro-Life movement. The group also contemplates what can be done to promote the “culture of life” on campus.

This culture of life is most widely known for its opposition to abortion and belief that it is an unjust act. However, the Pro-Life Club at BC also addresses issues of the death penalty and euthanasia. In this way, the culture of life encompasses all of life from conception until natural death.

The main activity of the club is traveling to the March for Life in Washington D.C. every year. Unfortunately, because of the snow this year, the booked bus company cancelled the trip. However, the March continued in the capital, as it has every year since 1973. The March serves as a national protest against the Supreme Court decision of Roe v. Wade which abortion legal in the United States on January 22, 1973. Hundreds of thousands of Americans gather annually on the anniversary of the decision to urge the government to reassess the verdict.

In addition to planning for the March, the club celebrated Cupcakes for Life this past fall by handing out over 100 cupcakes in McElroy to spread the joy of life to students. The club hosts activities like Cupcakes for Life as a way to raise awareness of the reality and importance of the Pro-Life movement. The club also holds Respect Life week every year, which is a week of Pro-Life talks and activities on campus. The club’s website asserts that they wish to provide educational opportunities and loving support to the dignity of human life.

When asked what being Pro-Life meant to her, a member of the club, Stacy Caprio, A&S ’14, said that it means “giving every conceived person a chance to live. It is part of my fundamental moral framework and completely separate from my religious beliefs.”

Caprio mentions a baby’s early signs of life to help support her pro-life views. “Having a beating heart, brain and spinal cord are signs of life that are hard to dismiss, and I cannot justify stopping someone’s beating heart or ending the life of someone who has a brain/organs, which is why being pro-life is an obvious moral value that I hold very deeply,” said Caprio.

The co-presidents of the club, Lauren Cody, A&S ’15, and Dana Cassidy, CSON ’16, have adopted the motto “Love, Courage, Life” for the club, which encompasses their wish of promoting the culture of life by showing respect to everyone.