LU’s pro-life club made 5,000 phone calls to Virginians encouraging them to vote

In response to Delegate Kathy Tran’s Repeal Act, the Students for Life club at Liberty University responded by making over 5,000 phone calls to mobilize pro-life supporters to vote in upcoming state senate and delegate elections in Virginia. Every Thursday evening from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. the Students for Life club makes phone calls to pro-life Virginia voters to encourage them to go the polls.

 “The political science behind it is identifying the voters and whether or not they are pro-life,” Virginia State Director of Students for Life Titus Folks  said. “Then you mobilize the voters and get them to the polls. Since there isn’t a presidential race in 2019, a lot of people don’t think about voting in local races such as the state senate and delegate elections. We have to make sure we keep the majority so Kathy Tran’s legislation does not go into effect.”    

The speaker coordinator for Students for Life Liberty and president of Catholic Campus Ministry, Anna Lulis, also supported voting in local elections. 

“It’s extremely important that we win the minor elections, because if we lose the majority, we could be wiping away approximately 10 years’ work of pro-life legislation,” Lulis said.

The Repeal Act, also known as H.B. 2491, was a bill proposed by Tran on Jan. 9, 2019. This bill would have repealed some of the state’s restrictions on abortion, including allowing women to get an abortion in the third trimester. 

 “I thought that it was corrosive to Virginia legislation in redefining when it is appropriate to have an abortion,” Lulis said.

When asked about predictions for the upcoming local Virginia elections, Matt Lamb, the executive director for Students for Life, had good prospects. 

“I feel pretty confident that pro-life voters will turn out in November,” Lamb said. “We already had a pro-choice candidate who walked back her support for the Repeal Act. I think it is forcing pro-choice politicians to rethink their extremism.”

Students for Life has chapters all over the United States, and Lamb explains the organization’s goal for 2019. 

“Our goal is to make 250,000 (calls) across the country,” Lamb said. “Even though there’s no presidential election in 2019, the votes still matter.” 

Along with phone banking, Students for Life has more upcoming events leading into 2020. 

“We have phone banking until the November elections,” Lulis said. “Then we have the March for Life in D.C. (on Jan. 24), then the Virginia March for Life. We are hoping to get more people to attend the March for Life in 2020.” 

The Students for Life will continue to make phone calls to mobilize Virginia voters to go to the polls. They hope to see results and voter turnout in the local elections.