Students for Life, once a thriving anti-abortion club on Loyola’s campus, is currently on the rise again. It is an organization being resurrected this fall by Alex Lucas, freshman vocal performance and history double major.

Walking onto Loyola’s campus and admiring the accessible resources, Lucas realized that something was missing. He saw clubs focused on life issues such as clean water and sex trafficking, but not one that encompassed it all.

“I wanted a club that would address abortion, but not just focus on that, but address the entire array of issues like suicide and euthanasia. I wanted an overarching organization that addresses all of these things,” Lucas said. So he started it.

Another of Lucas’ goals in the upcoming school year is to remove the stigma around anti-abortion groups. Lucas said that students sometimes take it personally when the topic comes up.

“We don’t look at it as a personal attack; we look at it as trying to protect life at all stages, from womb to tomb,” Lucas said.

To be an anti-abortion activist doesn’t always mean that club members fall on the conservative side of politics. In cases where life ethics conflict with government policy, such as on gun control, the death penalty and war, the majority of club members say they are more liberal.

No matter their political views, Students for Life say their overall goal is to show love, not just a feeling of deep affection, but an act of reaching out a hand and educating the community around them.

“We approach life in a loving perspective because that’s the only way you will get to people. It’s very important to not divide people and yourself and to be completely understanding,” Lucas said.

By showing love, Lucas plans to incorporate Loyola’s Jesuit ideals, such as development of personal potential and appreciation of things both great and small, to give people a purpose to live and a life to love.

Even though Students for Life has their goals and ideals set in place, they still have a long road ahead. The organization has yet to solidify their constitution as well as schedule their weekly meetings and time.

Kris Bradley, biology pre-med freshman, has played a major role into shaping Loyola’s Students for Life Club in it’s own, unique way. “In the beginning, Alex and I did a lot of collaborating with Tulane’s Students for Life club by attending their meetings and pointing out things that worked and that didn’t,” Bradley explains.

“One thing for sure is, instead of having one president and one vice president, we plan on having it be a (joint) position, preferably one male and one female,” Bradley said.

The club also showcases that men are not always the advocates when it comes to anti-abortion issues. Among anti-abortion organizations, their major ideology is that life begins at conception, which shares the responsibility between both parties, Bradley and Lucas entailed.

While they’re still in their transitional stage of making the club a vital aspect of Loyola’s community, they’re always open to accepting new members. For students who are hesitant on joining because of their stances on abortion, Lucas suggests viewing the mutual aspects that anti-abortion and pro-abortion rights organizations have to offer.

Taking abortion out of the equation, all one has left is a group of individuals with a passion for change, whether it’s supplying clean water, limiting gun violence or aiding in the war against slavery.

“Our plans as an organization are simply to provide support in all stages of life,” Bradley said.