Citing the need to recognize and support Democrats who oppose abortion, the Democrats for Life of Wisconsin and Marquette hosted national and local speakers Saturday morning in the Alumni Memorial Union.

Kristen Day, executive director of Democrats for Life of America, gave the keynote address.

"Pro-life Democrats should feel at home in the Democratic Party," she said. "There is a consistency to it. It's not an oxymoron like many people have said before."

Day, who has worked on Capitol Hill for 11 years, said she "gladly accepted" Democrats for Life of Wisconsin's invitation to speak at the event.

The group's "95-10 Initiative," which is "a comprehensive package of federal legislation and policy proposals that will reduce the number of abortions by 95 percent in the next 10 years," according to a brochure given out at the event, was one topic discussed at the event.

"It is a huge issue that we are going to be talking about for a long time," Day said.

Day's presence at the event helped bolster support for the Wisconsin and Marquette affiliate groups, said College of Arts & Sciences sophomore Patrick Whitty, co-president of Democrats for Life of Marquette.

"The fact that she made the trip from Washington, D.C., was a great show of support for us here in Wisconsin, and the fact that she came to Marquette is great for the student group as well," he said. "It puts us on the map as the first college affiliate of (Democrats for Life of America) in the country."

According to Whitty, Democrats within the party need to start recognizing the importance of abortion and issues surrounding it.

"It's time for the individuals within the party to recognize that abortion is an issue that Democrats need to address and speak out on," he said.

Whitty said he was happy with the event's turnout as well as the range of viewpoints expressed during the roundtable discussion following Day's keynote address.

The small number of students who attended "shows our opportunity for growth," Whitty said, "but I think it's important to keep in mind that this is the state chapter. We want to draw from a broad base since this is for the state and not just for Marquette."

Democrats for Life of Marquette was formed at the end of last semester, he said.

Whitty said working with both political parties is important when discussing abortion.

"There is a lot of talk on the Republican side of making abortion illegal; there is a lot of talk on the Democratic side of keeping the right to choose," Whitty said. "The issue should really be how do we create a situation where the fewest number of women are seeking abortions.

"We need to put aside the theoretical or philosophical talk and we need to address how to save the most lives on the issue of abortion," he said.

Other speakers at the event included political activist Nina Kohl, state Sen. Jeff Plale (D-South Milwaukee) and Erick Shambarger, interim president of Democrats for Life of Wisconsin.

Shambarger, a 2000 alumnus of Marquette, said there is winning strategy in Wisconsin for giving a voice to Democrats who oppose abortion.

"We want to make sure that the Democratic Party will listen to diverse viewpoints on topics of not only abortion but capital punishment" and will strive for a consistent ethic of life, Shambarger said.,”James A. Molnar”

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