To the Editors:

Last Tuesday, April 20, I had the distinct honor of meeting Norma McCorvey, better known as Jane Roe, the former plaintiff of the widely known, extremely controversial Supreme Court Case Roe v. Wade.

Now, wait a minute, why on earth would the co-founder of OPLUS, the Oberlin Pro-Life Union of Students, be honored to meet the woman whose case started the abortion-on-demand policy in the United States?

Well, a little known fact is that Norma McCorvey jumped the fence a few years ago. Yes, after battling the courts to have an abortion (although the case ended after she had already given birth and made an adoption plan, so the Roe v. Wade baby may still be floating around somewhere all grown up), after working at an abortion clinic, after writing an autobiography about the importance of reproductive choice, Norma joined with us in the pro-life movement.

I can go more into the specifics of her conversion, but the point of this letter is that stranger things have happened than what I am requesting.
A pro-life club at Oberlin, what? I know that many of y’all were astonished, downright appalled to learn that a pro-life student organization had formed at Oberlin College.

But getting it started was not the hard part; keeping it alive is the extremely difficult task. How ironic it would be if the pro-life club died. I think it would also be tragic because many, although not agreeing with our mission, have praised us for opening up dialogue and creating more diversity of opinion at Oberlin.

So I lay myself at your feet,
begging for your commitment to keeping OPLUS going and going strong. Even though Lorna and I, co-founders of OPLUS, are not graduating until next academic year, we need new energized students to take the lead. Seniors in student organizations ideally should sit back and advise their senior year to avoid such a drastic turnover when they graduate.

So, in short, run for an officer position! E-mail us at oplus@oberlin.edu. Norma faces verbal attacks all the time for switching sides, but she still continues to speak out for the pro-life cause. How about you?

–Rick Hoffman
College junior