Day of silent solidarity saves unborn

The red tape screamed life as the closed mouths silently mourned death and pleaded for hope.

Looks of confusion and curiosity followed the somber few at Liberty who took a silent stand for those who will never speak Tuesday, Oct. 19, on the national Day of Silent Solidarity.

“Sometimes silence is the best way to break through the apathy,” secretary of R.O.S.E. Ann Haldeman said.

R.O.S.E — Reclaiming Others Sacred Existence — is an on-campus organization that was created to give a voice to the voiceless in the fight against abortion.

Although the participators at Liberty were few in number — 15 to 20 people — members of R.O.S.E. were certain that they had had an impact.

The protest for life stands out not only because of the red tape which covers arms and mouths and reads in bold black print, “life,” but also because unlike other protests the voices of those taking a stand are not heightened, but relinquished.

“(Everyday) I am losing spiritual brothers and sisters to abortion,” Haldeman said. The day of Silent Solidarity is a movement that was founded by Bryan Kemper in 2004. The movement was created because of an overflow of desire, with no official outlet, explained Kemper on the Silent Solidarity website.

“It is a day of prayer and reflection for the participants, and a day of awareness for non-participating students,” R.O.S.E. President Sean Maguire said.

Since 2004 the movement has spread to cover a vast majority of the universities in the U.S. This year nearly 3,000 schools participated according to the registration roster provided on the organizations website.

“God has a plan for the end of abortion, and I’m just blessed that he wants me to be a part of it,” Haldeman said.

With simply a table, some red tape and a black marker members of R.O.S.E invited all students to make their stance known through silence for the cause of those who will never speak.

Asking participants to take a 24-hour stand against abortion by simply printing out a few cards to explain their lack of communication and not speaking, the day of Silent Solidarity had a unanimous impact on participators and bystanders alike, according to Maguire.

“I really wanted to scream towards the end of the day — to scream because I knew that yesterday there were over 3,000 surgical abortions performed in the United States,” Maguire said. “About 74 children in Virginia were aborted yesterday. It makes me so mad — but I couldn’t say anything. That is what is happening to thousands of children every day. Their voices are being silenced. And they can’t say anything about it.”

Bollinger is a news reporter.