Asahel Church grew up in a family of anti-abortion activists. He remembers family trips from his New Jersey home to rallies in Washington, DC, where he, along with his six brothers and sisters, held anti-abortion picket signs in temperatures so cold that icicles hung from them.
“My parents were always involved,” said Church, a Weinberg junior. “I grew up surrounded by activism and the ideas of civil disobedience. I was raised with the idea that we have to fight to preserve the sanctity of life.”
He brought that passion to Northwestern and joined the anti-abortion movement, Students for Life. The student group aims to educate the NU community about reproductive options and hosts speakers, roundtables and rallies. They advocate for adoption, foster care and motherhood; anything but abortion.
This job can be a particularly “tough sell” at NU where many students are for abortion rights.
It is the activists who shape the abortion dialogue abortion at NU. This week many of these groups are hosting events on the issue in memory of Roe v. Wade’s Sunday anniversary.
For this NU anti-abortion activist, it is a dialogue that is personal as well as political, drawing on past experiences and philosophies that mold one of the country’s most controversial debates.
Church has a head of curly blonde hair and blue eyes that do not waiver as he talks about his passion for preserving lives. His convictions are as earnest as they are deep-rooted. His father is a Presbyterian minister who imparted a profound belief in the magic of God’s creation.
“Life is sacred and this is why we work to defend it,” Church said.
Church acknowledges that activism is often idealistic. However, he said he thinks that if society learned to value a child’s life through the inconveniences brought on by unplanned pregnancy, abortion would not be debated.
He witnessed a success story when a friend in high school dealt with the shock of an unplanned pregnancy. She had the support of her parents and her boyfriend, who helped her raise the child.
“She was incredibly courageous and toughed it out,” Church said. “It has turned into a blessing.”
Church is not na
