March 22, 2021
West Virginia Nursing Student to Sen. Joe Manchin: “I am afraid for people in my chosen profession who could be forced to participate in abortions if the IN-Equality Act becomes law because it specifically wipes out legal protections – my conscience rights – and puts people like me at risk of losing my chosen profession and my freedom.”
CHARLESTON, W.V. (03-20-2021) – A Students for Life Action volunteer, West Virginia University nursing student Allison Richard, joined in an event Saturday hosted by Heritage Action and the West Virginia Family Policy Council, calling on Sen. Joe Manchin to save America by taking a stand for bipartisanship in continuing to defend the filibuster. The traditional requirement that major legislation has the support of 60 senators is all that stands between the country and two extremely radical pieces of legislation that risks free speech, free elections, and the freedom of pro-life people to act as their consciences dictate
West Virginia University Junior Allison Richard made the following remarks:
“Hi Everyone, my name is Allison Richard and I’m a West Virginia University Junior living in Morgantown here to represent Students for Life Action and the Pro-Life Generation, especially in West Virginia where 10 SFLA groups are among more than 1,250 SFLA groups in all 50 states.
“This year, we are standing with our peers in the Pro-Life generation nationwide, as IN ALL 50 STATES, Students for Life Action will provide opportunity for engagement for my generation on the human rights issue of our day – abortion.
“With that in mind, I and others in my generation are asking Senator Joe Manchin to please continue supporting the filibuster, as a way to stop an agenda that will silence groups like mine and force abortion even further into law and life, without our consent and further misusing our tax dollars to end the lives of the next generation.
“Specifically, we ask Sen. Manchin to join us in continuing to support the filibuster and to oppose TWO dangerous bills moving forward.
“First consider H.R.1, an attack on “We the People” with the deceptively named “For the People” Act. It deconstructs elections by taking down the Constitutional delegation of elections to the state to federalize it, allowing control of elections to become a fill-in-the-blank power grab in Washington D.C.
“In particular, I was really struck by the idea of getting rid of IDs to vote. An ID is something my peers have to produce to buy a drink or rent a car, but somehow, an ID isn’t needed to vote? These changes make no sense.
“Just as important, HR 1 would silence groups like Students for Life Action, making it illegal for us to speak on issues like abortion or the politicians pushing them. Limiting those who can talk about key issues to powerful mainstream media and politicians will make all of us less safe.
“That’s an attack on our freedom of speech. That’s un-American and that’s unconstitutional.
“Second Consider HR 5, wrongly called “The Equality Act.” It should be called the IN-Equality Act, because it would strip the equality from preborn babies and people of faith.
“One of the great lies of this new attack in HR 5 against children in the womb is that they must die to empower their mothers, and that somehow it is an act of discrimination to protect pre-born life. Pregnancy is not a disease cured by abortion, which makes groups like Planned Parenthood rich while selling women the loss of family. Our focus should be on helping women succeed a home and work, not in forcing taxpayer funded abortion to keep them on the job without children.
“As a nursing student working toward becoming a midwife, I care deeply about whether we are caring for mothers and their children, born and preborn. We sell women short when we tell them that they need to end their children’s lives to be ‘equal.’ And I am afraid for people in my chosen profession who could be forced to participate in abortions if the IN-Equality Act becomes law because it specifically wipes out legal protections – my conscience rights – and puts people like me at risk of losing my chosen profession and my freedom.
“HR 1 wants to silence people about the human rights atrocity of abortion and send more power to Washington D.C.
“HR 5 wants to force us all to participate in abortions – or else, defining “discrimination” so broadly that many will suffer for valuing babies and their mothers.
“People like me did not vote for this kind of radical change, and as a West Virginia student who wants to spend my life bringing new life into the world, I ask Sen. Joe Manchin to please support the filibuster and work against HR 1 and HR 5.”
Students for Life Action President Kristan Hawkins, a West Virginia native, has been active across the state in a number of events as people have thanked Sen. Manchin for his leadership and asked him to defend pre-born life in law. Some events here, here and here.
To read Students for Life Action statements on HR 1 CLICK HERE, to read SFLAction’s statement on HR 5, CLICK HERE.
Stay up to date on the Pro-Life Generation’s engagement in state legislation at https://studentsforlifeaction.org
For interviews, e-mail Kristi Hamrick at [email protected]
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Students for Life Action (SFLAction) is the 501c4 sister organization of Students for Life of America (SFLA), the nation’s largest, pro-life, student organization with more than 1,240 groups on middle, high school, and university campuses in all 50 states. Students for Life has more conversations with those most targeted by the abortion industry every day, week, and year than any other pro-life outreach in the world and mobilizes the Pro-Life Generation to confront abortion at the local, state and national levels daily. Every week, Students for Life entities reach more than 2 million people across social media platforms to have nearly 200,000 digital conversations with the most engaged pro-life online audience in the world.
Students for Life of America (SFLA) is the nation’s largest, pro-life, youth organization. Headquartered in Fredericksburg, VA, SFLA serves more than 1,240 groups on college and university, middle and high school, medical and law school campuses in all 50 states. Student pro-life organizations work to confront policies on their campuses to support pregnant and parenting students, to end Planned Parenthood’s relationships with schools and communities, and to change minds of their peers about abortion. SFLA has more conversations with those most targeted by the abortion industry every day, week, and year than any other pro-life outreach in the world and mobilizes the Pro-Life Generation to confront abortion at the local, state and national levels daily. Every week, Students for Life entities reach more than 2 million people across social media platforms to have nearly 200,000 digital conversations with the most engaged pro-life online audience in the world.