Cora Wack and her father saw something
unexpected one summer morning while strolling through the Annandale Farmers Market
at Mason District Park. As they perused through the selection of tomatoes,
peaches and peppers, they spotted a booth run by pro-choice advocates.
“We were just shocked,” said Wack, a
student of the University of Virginia in Charlottesville who works at Queen of
Apostle Church in Alexandria over the summer. “We were thinking, why don’t we
just set up a pro-life table? How hard can it be to get it approved?”
So she talked to the organizer of the
famers market, who told her that nonprofits such as Queen of Apostles can man
booths for free. She asked her pastor and boss if she could take Thursday
mornings off. Their response was, “Go for it,” said Wack. Her father helped her
set up the tent, table and chairs.
Just a few weeks after having the
initial idea, Wack and her friends were sitting under a tent decorated with
signs that proclaimed “We are the pro-life generation.” Pro-life literature
littered the table. For whatever reason, she hasn’t seen the pro-abortion advocates
set up a booth in weeks.
As shoppers passed by, the young pro-lifers
wished them good morning and offered them a homemade cupcake laden with
sprinkles. Some encouraged the young people — one man showed off a photo of his
“four-legged baby” and several kids snagged the sweets. Others walked on by.
“We’ve been hoping that they’ll just
come in and have a discussion with us, no matter what side they are,” said
Wack. But sometimes, the conversations have derailed. “People want to twist the
issue, like, ‘Oh what are you doing for the kids at the border? Do you feed the
hungry?’ ” she said. “People just don’t want to face the reality of
(abortion).”
Thankfully, Wack has experience talking
about pro-life issues. She first became involved in the movement when she
attended Bishop O’Connell High School in Arlington. She’s now the social media
coordinator for Hoos for Life, the pro-life club at the University of Virginia.
“Abortion is the silent holocaust,” said Wack. “We just have to be vocal about
it. (It feels like) the media and the pro-choice side overwhelm us (but) there
are a lot of us, and we have the facts on our side.”
That day, Wack was joined by three
friends: Natalie Archer, a rising senior at O’Connell, Deion Sanchez-Viafara
and Nora Beatty, two friends she met while on a mission trip in Banica in the
Dominican Republic. Beatty said she was grateful to have the opportunity to be
a witness for the pro-life message. “People call us old-fashioned (because) we
want abortion gone. It’s not,” she said. “We have so many young (people) who
believe in the dignity of human life.”
As the young adults chatted amongst
themselves, one woman asked if her teenage daughter could man the table with
them one Thursday. Wack and the woman happily exchanged information. “You guys
really are the pro-life generation,” said the woman. “We’re going to see the
end of this.”