Posted on 02/02/2003 1:47:20 AM PST by JohnHuang2
"Put it on for a day. Wear it for LIFE!"
That's the theme of the first annual National Pro-Life T-shirt Day, Monday, April 28. I recently learned of this pro-life day and became very excited about it because it will give pro-life students around the country the opportunity to unite in one voice for life.
The National Pro-Life T-shirt Day is sponsored by Rock For Life, an organization that utilizes pro-life rock bands to unify young people in the pro-life cause. This is certainly not my kind of music, but I fully endorse their effort. Rock For Life is reaching kids with the pro-life message that an old fogey like me could never reach. They are encouraging every pro-life student in America to get proactive by donning pro-life T-shirts on April 28.
It's a great campaign that I believe will be very powerful.
"Our goal is to have every pro-life student in America wear a pro-life T-shirt to school on April 28," said Rock For Life Director Bryan Kemper.
Asked how he hopes this event impacts young people, Bryan said, "Positive results occur when tragedies are brought to the forefront; we are trying to stimulate people into realizing that more than 4,400 unborn children are going to die on April 28 and every other day."
Noting that more than 43 million babies have been aborted in the last 30 years, he said, "It's like 9-11 happens every day in the abortion clinics of America."
Rock For Life will attempt to motivate a new generation of pro-life activists by shining a light on this American holocaust during the National T-shirt Day.
"We believe that the greatest way to reach change in this country is through our youth," Bryan said. "We need a revolution of young people who will rise up against abortion. Unborn children have no voice. They are unable to cry out for help. The National T-shirt Day gives young people across America the chance to be the voice of these children."
In recent years, some young people have faced persecution by school officials because they wore pro-life apparel to school. Rock for Life's T-shirt that reads, "Abortion is Murder," has been at the center of a few school controversies. Panicky school officials have ordered students either to remove or reverse the T-shirts or go home. Just this week, WorldNetDaily.com reported on a high-school official who, after banning one of these shirts (he compared the message to a swastika), decided to reverse his order under threat of legal action.
The fact is students have a constitutional right to free speech in their public schools. They have an absolute right to express their pro-life views.
In fact, the Ann Arbor, Mich.-based Thomas More Law Center has produced a letter explaining the rights of students to wear pro-life T-shirts to their schools.
The letter reads, in part, "… you may wear the Rock For Life T-shirts and pass out Rock For Life literature while in public school so long as you do not materially and substantially interfere with the general operation of the school or with the rights of others."
My National Liberty Journal newspaper will be printing the Thomas More letter in its entirety in the March issue so that students across the country may carry it with them to school on April 28. I want to do everything I can to lend a hand in helping this generation of young people understand that abortion is wiping out one-third of their members.
Young people interested in participating in the April 28 National Pro-Life T-shirt Day should visit the Rock For Life website to learn more about this exciting event. ("Abortion is Murder" T-shirts may also be purchased there.)
I urge all pro-life Americans to pray for the thousands of kids who will be wearing pro-life attire to their schools on April 28. May this event literally be a first step in altering the course of a generation in terms of abortion.
Other pro-life t-shirts can be found at VictoryWon.org and ChristianBook.com.
Q. Should a Chardon (OH) student have received Saturday detention for wearing an anti-abortion sweatshirt?
Latest Poll Results:
Yes. 69.6%
No. 27.4%
Don't know 3.0%
Vote at www.cleveland.com
The Associated Press
2/4/03 2:33 AM
CHARDON, Ohio (AP) -- A high school junior in suburban Cleveland has been given Saturday detention for wearing a sweatshirt with an anti-abortion message.
Bill Noyes, 17, was given detention Monday after he was ordered to take off the sweatshirt or turn it inside out. Two students said they were offended by the "Abortion Is Homicide" message.
The back of the sweatshirt reads: "You will not silence my message. You will not mock my God. You will stop the killing of my generation. Rock For Life."
With his mother's permission, Noyes left Chardon High School following the afternoon confrontation.
"I should not have to take off a shirt that explains my morals," he said.
Principal Doug DeLong said the shirt became a disruption for at least two students out of more than 1,200. The school forbids clothing items that interfere with the educational environment, DeLong said.
Lawyers with Rock For Life, a pro-life organization that targets youth, are reviewing the situation, said spokesman Eric Whittington.
Noyes bought the sweatshirt from the Stafford, Va.-based group, which encourages students to wear clothing with pro-life messages.
The most remarkable thing about this story probably isn't the school's capitulation; it's that a newspaper actually used the media-banished term pro-life.
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