Students tune in to pro-life call with Trump

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Last Thursday, Feb. 14, Crusaders for Life officers Kateri Remmes and Kimberly Diwa participated in a call for pro-life leaders with President Donald Trump through the nonprofit Students for Life in America (SFLA).

While Remmes was disappointed by the structure of the call, she said was encouraged by Trump’s reaffirmation of his pro-life stance.

Remmes, a sophomore and Prayerful Presence Officer for the Crusaders for LIfe (CFL) club, was invited to tune in to the call by the SLFA, which she is involved with as a William Wilberforce fellow. She was joined by Diwa, a freshman and Politics Officer for CFL.

About 1,000 participants tuned in and some pro-life leaders, including Melissa Ohden, were present in the oval office as part of a conference, Remmes said. Trump spoke for about five minutes in a “conversational” tone.

Remmes was unable to relate what the president said because the call was not for press purposes and off the record. Remmes guessed this could be because Trump’s style was less guarded, as he related to those in the room and responded to conversation starters.

“I don’t think he said anything that stuck out as something that wouldn’t be allowed to be publicized or something that he hasn’t said in the past,” Remmes said.

Crusaders for Life is affiliated with the national nonprofit SFLA, club president Andrew Collart said. The club plans some events in conjunction with SFLA and other events independently.

Last October, Crusaders for Life hosted the SFLA regional workshop on campus, welcoming about 30 students from Faustina Academy in Irving and major universities such as A&M and Texas Tech University, Collart wrote in an email.

Remmes was inspired to become a pro-life leader by her family’s experience. Her sister had a crisis pregnancy while in college and chose to keep the baby, now Remmes’ six-year-old nephew. Remmes said that her sister was the perfect target for pro-abortion rhetoric because the pregnancy occurred at such an inopportune time in her life.

“In another life, he could have not made it, you know,” Remmes said. “And so when I see all the goodness he’s brought to our family and just the joy he’s brought us, it makes me sick to think that other children are being denied that ability to live up to that potential and bring such goodness to this world.”

Remmes admitted that the call with Trump was “a little bit of a let-down” in that she wasn’t able to ask a question she had prepared. Remmes would have asked how Trump plans to care for the children of mothers in crisis situations in the event of abolishing abortion.

“But for the most part… he was very encouraging and just very sweet about the whole thing,” Remmes said. “It was nice to hear him take time to make it a more intimate call” and “be candid … especially because it wasn’t press-oriented.”

As a fellow with SFLA, Remmes is training to work in the pro-life movement after college. Taking into account current trends, she is optimistic about the future of the pro-life movement in America.

“I think he [Trump] is making really good strides,” Remmes added.

Diwa is similarly optimistic.

“Even though the call was shorter than expected, hearing the president address a select group of pro-life activists such as Kateri gives me hope that abortion is going to be abolished in our generation,” Diwa wrote in a message. “I am so glad that the president is calling out abortion for what it truly is.”

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