Georgetown University’s Newspaper of Record since 1920

The Hoya

Georgetown University’s Newspaper of Record since 1920

The Hoya

Georgetown University’s Newspaper of Record since 1920

The Hoya

Georgetown Right to Life Kicks Off Annual Life Week

Georgetown Right to Life began its annual Life Week yesterday to raise awareness for issues concerning human life from conception to natural death through service projects and speaker events.

The planned events include a talk on the future of anti-abortion legislation and court cases and a diaper drive and bake sale to benefit the Northwest Center, a pregnancy resource center that serves the Washington, D.C. area founded by Georgetown alumni.

Mary Forr, director of the Department of Life Issues of the Catholic Archdiocese of Washington, is slated to speak Wednesday night to offer anti-abortion perspective on disability.

Right to Life Vice President MyLan Metzger (COL ’19) said she is particularly excited for this event, as it highlights a number of issues that Right to Life is concerned about besides abortion issues.

“I am excited for this event because it ties together a lot of complicated issues and discusses what we can do to serve people in need. This event is also important to me because that the Archdiocese highlights the dignity of all human life in a special way,” Metzger wrote in an email to The Hoya. “It frames abortion, the death penalty, and euthanasia as a human dignity issue, not just a political issue.”

While many of the events and speakers change from year to year, certain aspects of the week have remained the same since it was started. According to Right to Life President Amelia Irvine (COL ’19), one annual component of Life Week is Flag Day. Planned for Thursday, the event involves placing 3,562 small flags on Copley Lawn to represent the average number of abortions performed each day in the United States.

Today at 7 p.m., Right to Life will be screening the documentary “Hush,” a film that explores the relationship between abortion procedures and breast cancer.

H*yas for Choice released a statement condemning the planned screening of “Hush,” specifically due to its promotion of the claim that abortion increases the risk for breast cancer.

“Although all of Georgetown Right to Life’s Life Week events are appalling, the screening of the documentary, HUSH, is especially concerning in its direct opposition to proven medical science and facts,” the statement reads. “By hosting a screening of HUSH, Right to Life endorses non-scientific, factually inaccurate health information. Lying and promoting false information is not a Jesuit or Catholic value and Right to Life should be ashamed.”

Life Week comes on the heels of Choice Week, held by H*yas for Choice last week. Irvine said this timing was not planned. However, Metzger said the timing provides an opportunity for continued dialogue on campus.

Metzger, who attended some of the Choice Week events last week, said she hopes that a diverse group of Georgetown’s community will participate in the Life Week events and continue to foster a dialogue on campus.

“I felt like it was necessary to learn from the other side, and because I wanted to represent my opinions and beliefs in these discussions,” Metzger wrote. “I hope that some members of H*yas for Choice will attend our events, either to learn or even to push back against some of our ideas. I believe that this type of cooperation is important for either side to be successful and to promote civil discourse on campus.”

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  • A

    Alt Right HoyaApr 5, 2017 at 11:03 am

    Sounds like H*yas for Choice is anti-Science.

    Reply
  • M

    MaryApr 4, 2017 at 10:48 pm

    Having an abortion does indeed raise a woman’s risk of developing breast cancer. There are many studies that support this fact. In laymen’s terms the reason is that during pregnancy, breast tissue undergoes hormonal changes in preparation for lactation but the abrupt disruption of these natural changes due to abortion leaves the breast tissue in a state of vulnerability whereby cells can more easily become cancerous. A spontaneous abortion (natural) does not have this same risk because there are other hormones associated with the natural miscarriage that more gradually act on the breast tissue cell changes.

    Reply
  • S

    Sherman RobertsApr 4, 2017 at 6:28 pm

    GOD’S BLESSINGS TO GEORGETOWN’S RIGHT TO LIFE, AND ALL ITS FAITHFUL MEMBERS, WORKERS, & SUPPORTERS!

    “The truth is not concerned with how many it persuades.”

    The right to Life is what a Catholic University should support, teach, and reinforce always! Catholic Universities need to pursue the truth, & build solid foundations in faith and morals for all students, based on the infallible teachings of Jesus Christ, His written Word (Bible), & the Catholic Church He founded.

    The Jesuits. administrators, & faculty at GU (and other Catholic universities) have fallen far short of this, and someday will need to give an account to God of their actions & behavior! The Bible and the Church warn against giving scandal (in the Catholic sense), and causing others to sin grievously.

    Regardless of religious affiliation, a Catholic university’s purpose is the pursuit of truth as found in the natural moral law, and the objective, enlightened, divine law of God.

    GU’s failure to do this goes back to the unethical & immoral Land ‘O Lakes Conference in 1967, the Sexual Revolution of the late 1960’s, and attachment to earthly pleasures, possessions, political correctness, and human pride/prestige, instead of informing young consciences of being faithful and obedient to God, His Commandments, & His Church.

    The H*yas for Choice statement above is offensive, hypocritical, and false. Medical science has proven clearly that human life begins at conception. Ever heard of human DNA, the building blocks of life? Or, embryonic cells coming from two humans being human (ask any moral embryologist)?

    The Bible speaks of God knowing and knitting man (in His image) in the womb. St. John Paul II once said that even if there were any doubt, one needs to always err on the side of human dignity.

    But there is no doubt that abortion kills babies, and harms women physically and psychologically. For those who say to “judge not”, I’ve attached an article from Catholic Answers below.

    “To one who has faith, no explanation is necessary. To one without faith, no explanation is possible.” St. Thomas Aquinas

    https://www.catholic.com/magazine/online-edition/judge-not-doesnt-mean-ignore-evil

    Sherman Roberts, College ’65

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