Nora Hopf, the club's president, said this year the group has been gathering a list of resources that Ball State offers to mothers and expectant mothers and have been taking note of the gaps.
"Along with Muncie First Choice for Women, our one big resource, we looked into the university's policies to provide for parenting mothers on campus," the sophomore telecommunications major said. "There's lactation rooms in the Health Center, Bracken Library, the Student Center, … but most people don't really know that. Next year, we're hoping to have a booklet for students to hand out to anyone who may find themselves in a difficult situation and create more resources where necessary."
Hopf said that club members often volunteer at Muncie First Choice for Women and donate resources, too. On April 18, Students for Life held their final meeting for the semester and gathered items to donate as well.
The meeting was a "baby shower," celebrating the lives of babies. The club played baby trivia, baby word games, taste tested baby food and raced to see who could drink from a bottle the fastest.
Hopf said that one of her biggest challenges as president of the club is the opposition she faces from other students. She said many people ignore their efforts to talk about their beliefs, but she said that won't stop her.
"I just think that the main reason that I wake up and do this — despite the obstacles that this movement has given me — is because I want everyone here on Ball State's campus to feel loved, feel like they belong," Hopf said.
Hopf said Students for Life is neither politically nor religiously affiliated. Personally, Hopf said she supports Indiana's latest abortion law.
"The bill is very, very complicated, there's a lot of different aspects to the bill. But what we're really happy about is the non-discriminating part of it," she said. "Race, gender, disability, those things."
Another member of the club, Elizabeth Wehren, a sophomore cell and molecular biology major, said that her mother was told she should abort her because of an abnormal result from a test. Wehren said she is pro-life because if her mother hadn't have been, she wouldn't exist.
Hopf said that, like in Wehren's case, sometimes doctors may say a child will have Down syndrome, but the child could turn out fine. But whether the diagnosis is true or not, she said she believes that all children have a purpose to fulfill on earth.
"I don't think as a person you should be able to say 'I have more value than you because I am older than you; I am more developed than you,'" Hopf said. "Who's to say that a person who is inside the womb doesn’t deserve the same rights as someone who is outside the womb?"
William Connelly, a freshman social studies education major, said he joined Students for Life because before he was born, his mother had an abortion. But later, she became pregnant again, while in college, and "she made it work" while also working full-time.
"Her family didn't stand by her and support her," Connelly said. "We want to make sure that doesn't happen to students here, make sure they know they aren't alone."
Hopf said that she loves all women, whether they've chosen to have an abortion or not and said Students for Life stands up for women, too.
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