Pro-life club forms on campus with five members

By Tyler Shultz

Staff Writer

This semester, Students For Life of America (SFL) partnered with a group of Cal State Dominguez Hills students and staff to create what it calls this campus’ first student, pro-life/anti-abortion organization.

Consisting of five members, SFL at CSUDH is one of the smaller chapters of Students For Life of America, a national, non-profit organization that has established over 1,100 student organizations nationwide.

Advisor Brent Stenhouse, who has been a part of the Dominguez Hills family for over 20 years, as both a student and staff member, said he has always wanted to bring a pro-life organization to the campus.

“Our organization is all about giving a voice to the voiceless,” Stenhouse said.

With the help from student and current club president, Bagni Maldonado, the organization was able to come to fruition this semester.

The club presented at this year’s Community Engagement Symposium, using the event as a “coming out party” to introduce students and staff.

Stenhouse said most of the members will move on from CSUDH after this semester. The organization plans to lay down the groundwork this spring, hoping for it to  continue into Fall 2017 semester.

The organization said it expects some backlash because of the controversial subject matter, but the mission is to inform and educate students about what it views as the various risks related to abortion.

“This is a way for us to open the dialogue without any animosity,” said Treasurer, Cindy Madrigal.

SFL at CSUDH plans a variety of community engagements. The first event is the Walk For Life, South Bay, at 9 a.m. May 20 at Veterans Park in Redondo Beach.

SFL members also hope to have a booth available at the upcoming Labor, Social, & Environmental Justice Fair.