For the first time on campus, UNM Students for Life hosted the New Mexico Leadership Summit on Saturday.
The summit was designed for college and high school students interested in learning more about what it means to be pro-life and how to be involved with pro-life endeavours, said Bethany Janzen, the Rocky Mountain regional coordinator for Students for Life of America.
The organization encompasses over 1,100 student groups nationwide at age levels ranging from middle school to higher education, Janzen said.
“We organize regional leadership summits in different states across the nation, and I hosted one in Colorado last fall. This is only the second leadership summit in New Mexico to my knowledge,” she said.
The event was open to the public, and event speakers included UNM alumna Sade Patterson, who used to work for Students for Life of America, and Anthony Levatino, a medical provider who used to perform abortions.
“We’re really excited to have a former abortionist share his perspective on why he was for abortion and why he decided to change, and really what abortion is. Because New Mexico is the late-term abortion capital of the nation, if not of the world,” Janzen said.
Literature covering natural family planning and hormonal contraceptives was handed out at the summit, and additional literature was available near the entrance.
Patterson spoke on her time at UNM as a pro-life advocate and a pregnant UNM student who continued her education after the birth of her child.
In her speech, Patterson encouraged individuals to not just provide resources to pregnant women but to encourage and empower these women, forming friendships with them as individuals.
Patterson said that although people are often not willing to change their pro-life or pro-choice opinions, she has spoken to individuals on campus, which may create common ground.
In the past, the Women’s Resource Center was not willing to advertise any of her organization’s resources, she said. However, when the two groups recognized that they both care about the success of pregnant and parenting students, the resources could unite to help students in the long run.
“They have the lactation stations. They have the scholarship for single moms that I just saw three moms get awarded last night at the award ceremony. They do amazing things,” Patterson said, noting that she is a single mother herself, who uses the lactation stations and could apply for the scholarship.
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Despite the center’s beliefs that differ from her own, Patterson said she was going recognize that the organization loves and aims to empower women.
Levatino’s presentation focused on late-term abortion and the procedures that a doctor goes through in performing an abortion.
“A lot of people identify themselves as pro-life or pro-choice, but for most people, it really doesn’t mean much; I’m sad to say it doesn’t even effect on the polls,” Levatino said.
During his speech, Levatano discussed his choice to perform abortions and the circumstances in his life that led him to stop.
“We would love to have people hear about how they can get involved and really make a difference and we want to say, ‘hey if you’re pregnant in college, you can do it. It doesn’t need to end your education, your goals; adoption can be a great option for you or parenting, whichever is the best for your situation,’” Janzen said.
Nichole Harwood is a reporter at the Daily Lobo. She can be reached at news@dailylobo.com or on Twitter @Nolidoli1.
