A new club advocating for the legal right to an abortion has started at Pennridge High school. The Students for Life Club, a club that advocates against abortion, started at the school four years ago. While the clubs may have opposing views, they both are open to any and every student at Pennridge High School, regardless of their stance on abortion. Both clubs are also student-run, with a teacher advisor that hosts meetings. The Students for Life Club, or the Rams for Life Club, works to educate students about the pro-life movement. 

The advisor of this club is Mr. Barry and they meet in room 100 at Pennridge High School. The Pro-Choice Club works towards educating students about the pro-choice movement. The advisor of this club is Mrs. Bates and they meet in room 106. Meetings are held on RAMS days for both clubs. You do not have to be an official member of either club to attend these meetings. Julie Trautner, who is the student leader of the Students for Life Club, stated, “Our club is open to anyone and everyone, regardless of your stance on the abortion topic.”.  Both clubs were started by students who are passionate about this issue and wanted a way to promote and share their opinions. 

As it is still a relatively new club, the first few meetings for the Pro-Choice club have been centered around discussing the goals for the club. They started their first meeting by discussing what they wanted the club to look like and how they wanted it to run. Currently, meetings consist of educating members about abortion and discussing other issues surrounding it. In their upcoming meetings, they will continue to discuss legislation and laws, focusing specifically on Roe v. Wade. Mrs. Bates, the teacher advisor for the Pro-Choice club, said that “it is important to arm yourself with knowledge when discussing emotionally charged subjects”. The Pro-Life club has a very similar goal at its meetings; educating students. They are also starting to reach out to the community and get more people involved in the club. Currently, they are working on how to effectively start a pregnancy drive for Crossroads Pregnancy Care. They want to collect things like baby clothes and wipes to support mothers. In the future, they are looking to coordinate with guest speakers. Another thing they are discussing is making t-shirts for the club to raise awareness and get more students involved.

Because many people feel very strongly about the topic of abortion, both clubs worry about backlash. They both have a goal of making their clubs a safe place to talk about all aspects surrounding abortion. It is clear that neither club supports or tolerates any violent actions from its members or other students regarding the topic. Members of the clubs are expected to be appropriate and tolerant of those with different opinions. They are also expected to be able to respectfully share their own beliefs and debate topics. Being able to interact with people who have a different opinion is a skill that is expected of all members of both clubs.