It might have looked like a protest along Grand River Avenue on Sunday when groups of students and community members lined the roadway with white signs, but a closer look showed that the “protesters” were praying quietly for life.
The groups were participating in the Life Chain, a national non-denominational movement on the first Sunday of October to promote pro-life thinking.
“We’re not a political group, we’re a prayer group,” said Marty Johnson, an East Lansing resident who helped plan the event. “We could all be individually praying in our homes about something, but this is a time of prayer and speaking to the Lord on something.”
The Life Chain began in 1987 in California. More than 800 cities in the U.S. and 200 cities in Canada participate in the movement.
Participants hold white signs which say “Abortion Kills Children,” while religious leaders hold signs saying “Jesus Forgives and Heals.”
“It’s just a silent time of prayer,” said international relations sophomore Kathy Savard, a member of the MSU group Students for Life. “That’s why we have the signs, so people can think about it as they drive past.”
But psychology senior Alexa Pittman, a member of VOX, an MSU group sponsored by Planned Parenthood, said the movement is probably not an effective way to convince people of pro-life views.
“It’s very rarely that you convert someone,” she said. “A lot of people already had their ideas formed before they come up here. I don’t think it’s going to change anybody’s mind.”
Pittman said pro-choice does not necessarily mean pro-abortion.
“There are people who are pro-choice who would not have an abortion,” she said. “I believe it should be a woman’s choice and she should not be judged by society for her choice. Nobody knows how she feels except for her.”
Nicole Sheehy, a youth minister at St. Thomas Aquinas, 955 Alton Road, said she hoped the event would make people realize life begins at conception.
“I think it opens people’s eyes,” she said. “We’re here to support men, women and children in all stages of life.”
