BY CHRISTIAN ANDZEL Photo provided by Christian Andzel. Groundbreaking. If there was one other word besides "resilient" that describes the University at Buffalo Students for Life, groundbreaking would certainly be the word. Never before on the liberal campus of the University at Buffalo has the topic of abortion been raised, debated, and argued and stirred up controversy as it has over the last two years. Although abortion is the main topic we focus on, we do, as it states

BY ROB ARNER When measured against the standard of the ancient Christian church, contemporary American Christianity is in a moral mess. When it comes to what have been called the "life issues," Christians are today no less sharply divided than are members of secular society. Some Christians, who have been called "conservative" by the conventional narratives, believe that abortion is a grave moral evil. Yet often these same Christians will readily fall in line to support th

BY ANTHONY BEDOY It seems a bit off to consider where the United States stands in comparison to most other countries in civil and human rights. The U.S. has recognized the right of women to vote, the right of all citizens to speak freely, and the right to a just trial under the law and taken many other significant leaps forward that other countries have imitated in their policies. What appalls the mind is the inherent disregard for the lives of those who commit crimes, howe

BY CAROLINE PILGRIM A eulogy upon hearing of a friend-of-a-friend's choice to abort I never met you, unformed face, Never met the three of you. Three driving in the damp drizzle across the bridges, Across the tall-treed tundra of trepidations. Two with great cups of suffering Bitter cups they chose to buy, Chose to drink, lying in accidental lies, The laying conceived you, The Third. Third faceless face, voiceless voice, Uniquely ignored, delivered to deliverlessness, And des

BY JOHN WHITEHEAD Photo by Debra Sweet; some rights reserved. The US government policy of killing suspected terrorists, whether by means of pilotless drones or Special Forces strikes, is now at least 10 years old. Estimates of how many have died because of this policy vary, but a conservative estimate is that roughly 2,000 people have been killed to date. Most of these targeted killings have taken place in Pakistan, but they have also occurred in Yemen and Somalia. The kil

BY NATE WILL SHEETS Immediately following the tragic shootings in Newtown, Connecticut, my Facebook was filled with friends and various organizations voicing their condolences and shock, as well as their political views and self-righteousness. Before any of the facts came out, people already knew the problem: lack of gun control, not enough guns, mental health care not being accessible, and on and on. This was before we knew who the shooter was and what connection, if any,

The pro-life movement has been affected by tragic loss. Lifelong pro-life activist Mary Krane Derr passed away suddenly on November 30, 2012. An accomplished poet, Krane Derr had been invited to the Kritya International Poetry Festival in India to do a reading, where she fell ill. She was 49 years old. Krane Derr was the co-editor of the book Pro-Life Feminism: Yesterday and Today, a compilation of feminist writing on the issue of abortion from the 19th century to the pres

BY MARY E. SASSO You captured my heart from the moment I knew My face always glowing, suspicions they grew Your beautiful body bonded to mine My womb is warm and I'm feeling fine Your presence is true, timing is perfect I'm growing outside while you grow under the surface Swimming about, you're sewn by God's love A crescendo of adoration for this gift from above It struck me down, the pit in my stomach A Season of Sorrow in our lives did it plummet I curled up covered, my bod

BY CAMILLE AUBREY MICA I am Lost. Taken. Bound. Broken. Sold. Day after day, Until I am dead. Touched, but so alone. Screaming with no voice. No one hears No one hears me. But somehow A whisper echoes through my soul Something beats in my chest Do I still have a heart? And You breathe, You breathe Suddenly I can breathe . . . A hand stretches out, opens Bleeds . . . You bleed for me A hand reaches out, touches me Holds me . . . You hold me Rescued Safe Restored Made new Lov

BY MARY STROKA Apart from debates about the presidential election, several individual states' voters faced other controversies on ballots. Massachusetts voters rejected a physician-assisted suicide measure 51-to-49 percent on Election Day 2012, for example. The ballot initiative would have allowed a Massachusetts-licensed physician to prescribe lethal medication if the patient met certain criteria. The patient had to be an adult "medically determined to be mentally capable

BY JOSEPH ANTONIELLO There is so little to say about the recent Lincoln film that has not already been said. One could go on and on about the intimate portrait director Steven Spielberg has put together. One could go on and on about the wonderful portrayals of President Lincoln and his wife by Daniel Day-Lewis and Sally Field, respectively. One could go on and on about whether or not the film was presented in a way that is entirely historically accurate. However, I would

BY ANONYMOUS In the United States, one in four adults will suffer from a mental health disorder in any given year. [1] With suicide as one of the leading causes of death in this country, you would think that our culture would pay attention to the fact that over 90 percent of all those individuals who die by suicide have a diagnosable mental health disorder. [2] But our society muffles the cries for help under masks of success and feigned smiles and by brushing off depressio

BY AIMEE MURPHY Photo provided by Michael Brooke. Michael Brooke is a wavemaker. His dream is peace and his heart is in the work; he lives out his dream by continually working daily for a culture of peace in the world. But he lives the message in a quite different way than you might expect: he is a longboard skateboarder whose mission for peace has been realized in what he loves to do most. Though the dominant paradigm surrounding skateboarding is that of the hoodlum and

BY NICHOLAS NEAL After the Obama victory in the 2012 election, commentators and political strategists have been discussing what, if any, changes the GOP will have to make in order to broaden its base and successfully win elections the way it did back in the 1980s. One of the biggest issues that the Republican Party is expected to cave on is abortion. The Democratic Party used the war-on-women rhetoric triumphantly to energize their feminist base to deliver a 2012 victory.

BY MARY KRANE DERR The right to access the full range of voluntary family planning methods is often neglected or actively undermined in the name of prolife, especially but not exclusively in the United States. Yet there are nine good reasons -- at least -- why fostering this right is essential to respect in practical deed for all human lives, already born and unborn. 1. Family planning freedom prevents millions of human deaths every year. Voluntary access to modern methods o

BY LILIANNA SERBICKI Swollen, a dream on its way to fruition; Nothing romantic. Lense (soft-focus) gone. Real fruit bruises; a real fruit stays the motion We make ourselves. Our unkempt pieces drawn Into alignment; some beings are too real To smudge with soft words. Some beings delight In waking up the small pith in the chest With beating limbs. It is a sudden sleight Of soul, not hand; the itch will soon persuade Myself to love my stippled skin far more Than when it held jus

BY AIMEE BEDOY I am writing this ten years to the day that those towers fell. And ten years later, I want us to discuss what we have learned from September 11, 2001, and where we as a nation must continue to grow. I am speaking as someone who grew up in this culture, immersed in it wholly from the time I was 12 years old. Perhaps I am not the wisest, or the most sage member of society to speak on these points, but this is what I have learned from my childhood to the present

BY NICHOLAS NEAL The abolition of the death penalty in Illinois began when Governor George Ryan placed a moratorium on capital punishment in the state in 2000, after seeing an alarming number of death row inmates being exonerated. Eleven years later, the Illinois General Assembly passed a bill officially abolishing capital punishment in Illinois. It was then up to Pat Quinn to sign it. Now, although Governor Quinn is a Democrat, he had previously spoken in favor of capital

BY AIMEE BEDOY & STEVEN OETJEN A quandary of major proportions faces our nation in this day and age. It could be a matter of life and death for countless persons -- we cannot truly be sure. This paper seeks to examine abortion through the lens of Constitutional law, science, and justice, and lastly to apply these faculties to the Pain Capable Unborn Child Protection Act recently passed in Nebraska. In brief, our recommendation is always to stand for justice and ultimately

BY NICHOLAS NEAL & AIMEE BEDOY On Tuesday, August 23rd, the rebel forces in Libya stormed Gadhafi's capital of Tripoli, thus declaring victory over the tyrannical leader who had once imposed unjust and inhumane purification laws against his own people. After 42 years in power as an autocratic dictator in Libya, Muammar Gadhafi has been removed from power by rebels within his own borders. Gadhafi is currently out of power and in hiding from NATO forces, but in an effort to k