Christopher Newport University’s (CNU) Students For Life (SFL) held a demonstration on York Lawn on Fri. April 5th 2024. “The demonstration consists of 670 crosses on the lawn to represent the 670 chemical abortions happening every day, according to the CDC Statistic from 2020,” says Jenna Gibson ‘26 President of SFL.
“Chemical abortions are more prevalent right now because a lot of laws and pharmacies are fighting to sell it over-the-counter,” Gibson said. “We decide to focus on more narrow topics because it is overwhelming to bring up all issues in regards to Pro-life discourse.”
Gibson believes that there are not enough people talking about chemical abortions and said that the SFL demonstration was a way for them to attract people’s attention.
She noted that the organization had been publicly confronted in past demonstrations and a demonstration was vandalized.
The Captain’s Log covered last year’s demonstration in an article titled “Double Protest on York Lawn.” This Feb. 21, 2023 SFL demonstration included pink flags representing the “7,300 lives lost to abortion,” the article states. This same demonstration had signs stolen.
Later that afternoon, the Planned Parenthood Generation Action club held a counter-protest by peacefully sitting with pro-choice signs next to the SFL demonstration.
This year’s chemical abortion demonstration shows that this remains an active conversation being had on campus.
