Photo by AK Alilonu ’16 – Broncos for Life members discuss the morality of abortion with students in the Graham Plaza, Feb. 25. They promote the pro-life position on campus by organizing events such as this.

By AK Alilonu ’16
THE ROUNDUP

The death penalty and abortion may be divisive subjects, but Broncos for Life offers students a forum for discussing their views on these and other topics.

Brophy has represented the pro-life movement in some form for the last 30 years.

The Office of Faith and Justice’s Social Action Committee once had a pro-life branch, which split off into the Right to Life Club a decade ago.

Today, the group is known as Broncos for Life.

The club has the mission of raising awareness about “the issues and truths of life from conception to natural death,” said member Matt Borlongan ’15.

“We believe,” he said, laying out those truths, “that from the moment of conception when the father’s sperm and mother’s egg fuse, they form a human being with the innate dignity of a human being. There is no double standard when it comes to human beings at all stages of life.”

What follows from that principle, according to Borlongan, is a different way of seeing euthanasia, pregnancy, and, most famously, abortion.

“If a human embryo is indeed a human person,” he said, “then there is a mass genocide going on.”

Broncos for Life members congregate in Mr. Joe Stickney’s room on the second floor of Eller every Wednesday at lunch.
They talk about world events and problems that fall into their domain, like bioethics and capital punishment.

There isn’t exactly fierce debate, but students do share diverse ideas about their understanding of issues and how to fight them.
Together, they plan ways to reach out to the school community outside the classroom doors.

The club invites speakers like Dale Baich and Michael Kiefer, who came to Brophy to talk about the death penalty last semester.

Other times, it speaks for itself by having members openly discuss abortion with students in the Graham Plaza, like it did last month.

But Broncos for Life also has a presence off campus.

The club collaborates with other pro-life groups, including Xavier’s Right to Life and Notre Dame’s Saints for Life.

It regularly takes field trips to ASU to do large-scale public advocacy with the pro-life organization, Justice For All.

And members volunteer at Maggie’s Place, a Phoenix shelter for women and young children.

Cooperating with more national organizations, Broncos for Life hosts yearly trips to participate in either Washington D.C.’s March for Life or San Francisco’s Walk for Life.

Cesar Castro Banaga ’16 is the club president.

He said that he enjoys the experience of participating in the club, which he said is pretty “lax.”

“We come in, we chill and eat lunch in here,” he explained. “Nothing is forced in discussion.”

Lennon Audrain ’17, another member, said that Broncos for Life has changed his views on the death penalty, among other things.

“I don’t think I would have grown in my ability to defend human life as much just by myself,” he said.