Yotes for Life celebrates Protect Life Month this October
Every October, the USD sidewalks are chalked by the Yotes of Life group as a way to promote Respect Life Month and educate USD students about their pro-life movements.
Yotes for Life, the pro-life group at USD, hopes this month will spread awareness for their message.
Rachel Edwards, Yotes for Life vice president, said this month is an opportunity for them to present another side of an argument, aside she said many people choose to overlook.
“(Students) don’t see pro-life as a valid option, so the purpose of this month isn’t to shove our opinion down their throats, it’s just more to raise awareness for an issue and show both sides of the issue,” Edwards said “It’s not necessarily a political issue, it’s just an issue of life and it’s just trying to raise awareness.”
Yotes for Life is planning on tabling throughout this month and the rest of the semester to start a conversation about their club. Karleen Murtha, Yotes for Life president, said the table will have a fetal model display so students can see the stages of development in the womb.
“We just want to get the conversation going because it is a controversial issue and there’s not a lot of conversation,” Murtha said. “We just want to give them the facts so they have enough information so they can make an educated decision.”
Besides tabling, Yotes for Life also made a trip to Sioux Falls on Oct. 7 to participate in the annual Life Chain event.
This event took place on the street outside Planned Parenthood in Sioux Falls. Murtha said the group held signs to get the attention of drivers and hopefully get people to think about this issue.
“It is very interesting to see the dynamic of Sioux Falls,” Murtha said. “It’s a big city and we stand on the sidewalk holding signs that say things like ‘fathers regret lost fatherhood, pray for the end of abortion.’ Kind of just getting the public thinking.”
Murtha said she has gone to this event every year since she started at USD and still thinks it is interesting to see how many different reactions they receive from people driving by.
“Some drivers will honk, some of them will give a thumbs up or a thumbs down and different things, but it doesn’t matter how they react because you know that they saw it. It’s nice and assuring when people honk instead of other people who refuse to look at it. There is a lot of people so it’s impossible to ignore and you have to think about the pro-life issue.
Both Edwards and Murtha said the purpose of this club is not to pressure others to believe the same things, but they allow students to see a different side of an argument.
“Our goal is not to again shove our ideas down people’s throats,” Edwards said. “We are simply here to present the viewpoint and let people decide from themselves.”
Edwards said it can be hard to reach a large group of students because many students have the misconception that they are a political group. Edwards said this is not the purpose of the club.
“People think of pro-life as a political issue, when that’s not our intent of the club at all,” Edwards said. “They think that’s what our intent is when all we want to do is educate students with options they need so they can make the best decision for them.”
Although Yotes for Life does not consider themselves a political group, through Student Government (SGA) regulation policies they are considered a political group and do not receive funding currently. The pro-choice group at USD, Students for Reproductive Rights, is also considered a political group by SGA and does not receive funding.
Josh Sorbe, SGA president, said right now the Board of Regents is currently working on a free speech policy revision to allow SGA to fund political or religious groups for operational expenses.
“Right now if something is constituted as a religious practice or a political action we can’t use student dollars to fund it because we are state actors but with this revision in the policy we would be able to cover the operational cost,” Sorbe said. “If an organization wanted to put on an event and wanted food at their event we would be able to fund that as an operational expense but we still wouldn’t be able to fund advocacy efforts in the capital. We would be able to find just what they need to maintain an organization.”
According to Yotes for Life official statement regarding SGA funding, they do not feel by not funding the club will be “denying university students the option to find some of the resources they need to be successful in their personal lives.”
Murtha said she believes it can be challenging to reach students on a liberal campus because of peoples strong viewpoints on pro-life issues.
“I hope we can see a change of people being more open to having a conversation with us about the topic,” Murtha said. “I think that that’s the hardest part. A lot of people have very strong views that they are not willing to talk to the other side. I have my views but I would like to form more of a conversation with other viewpoints to share the knowledge we have with each other.”
Edwards said part of growing up in college is learning how to hear other people’s beliefs and respect them even if they differ from an individual’s personal beliefs.
“Part of growing as an individual is being exposed to other viewpoints,” Edwards said. “Even if you don’t necessarily agree with them you still need to be able to have conversations with people.”
