Pro-life students urge activists to be "creative extremists"

San Francisco (Catholic San Francisco) - Lila Rose, founder of the pro-life group Live Action and keynote speaker at the 8th annual California Students for Life Celebrate Life Conference, encouraged participants to take concrete action against abortion.

"Together we all have a place in this battle," said Rose, a 20-year-old history major at UCLA. "We are given such a time as this to do great things."

Live Action has become known for its undercover investigations into abortion counseling practices at Planned Parenthood clinics. Rose maintains that the investigations at clinics in California, Arizona and Indiana have shown that clinic workers failed to report the sexual abuse of minors.

Rose said Planned Parenthood has threatened legal action against her for infringing on the privacy rights of its employees. She said she has since seen her picture posted in clinics around the country and has had to go to clinics in disguise.

Laurie Rubiner, vice president for public policy and advocacy for Planned Parenthood Federation of America, quoted in an April 2009 Los Angeles Times report, said its patients are of primary concern. "That means making sure that we are complying with minor-abuse reporting requirements," she said.

The conference, held at the University of California at Berkeley and sponsored by Live Action and Berkeley Students for Life, drew 140 mostly college-age people.

Lois Cunningham, director of crisis pregnancy outreach at the Center for Bio-Ethical Reform, showcased the work of the center's Genocide Awareness Project.

Touring college campuses around the country, the group displays billboard-sized pictures of historical genocide next to pictures of aborted babies. Cunningham said abortion has become abstract in the minds of many Americans and only graphic depictions of its consequences will end the practice.

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The San Francisco Archdiocese encompasses the California Counties of San Francisco, San Mateo and Marin.This article is used with permission. This article is reprinted with permission.