Dear Calvin College community,

The members of Calvin College Students for Life were saddened to hear that our “Save ALL the babies!” posters brought up painful feelings for a student who has personally experienced abortion.

Although it has been painful to hear that this student has felt that our group is judgmental, shaming and unloving towards women who have had an abortion, we are so grateful for this opportunity to clear the air regarding our intentions and continue the conversation about abortion on our campus.

We want to make it clear that our mission with regards to women who have had abortions is to facilitate healing. As humans, we are all uniquely broken. Our group does not condemn women who have had abortions, but rather hopes to share God’s grace with them.

We hope that they will extend the same grace to us. Through our local contacts and resources we are prepared to connect members of the Calvin community who have been affected by abortion with any support they may need to heal, in addition to showing them love on our campus.

We also want our campus to know that we are unapologetically pro-life. We understand that our belief in the value of unborn lives and our mission to protect them and their families from abortion will inevitably offend.

The abortion conversation is not easy to have, but that does not excuse us from the responsibility to share knowledge out of love and a desire for shared understanding.

We believe that God calls us to speak the truth in love, despite controversy, despite the possibility of causing offense. The fact that there are women in the Calvin community who have had abortions is not a surprise to us. This is why we exist.

This is why, since our founding just over a year ago, our group has cooked meals for young moms through Cradles of Grace ministries, provided literature to Calvin Health Services to inform students of pregnancy resources in the Grand Rapids area, volunteered and raised over $500 for the Grand Rapids Pregnancy Resource Center, and prayed—both on our campus and at our local abortion clinic—for changed hearts, for healing and for grace to all people, regardless of their perspective on abortion.

With an issue as important and present as abortion, we encourage everyone in the Calvin community to join the conversation and prayerfully consider our call to seek God’s will and share truth in love.