Central Catholic Ambassadors for Life Attend Ohio March for Life
COLUMBUS, OH - Several Central Catholic students who are members of the Ambassadors for Life Club recently traveled to the Ohio March for Life in Columbus. They attended Mass at St. Joseph's Cathedral and gathered at Capitol Square with other representatives from the Diocese of Toledo to hear from guest speakers and begin the march with prayer. The march began and ended at the statehouse.
The first Ohio March for Life took place in October of 2022. It was initiated after that year’s overturning of Roe vs. Wade, which moved the issue's legislation from the federal to the state level. This year marks Central Catholic’s fourth annual support for the march. Representatives have attended the march three times and hosted an on-campus adoration and rosary once.
This is the fifth year that Central Catholic’s Ambassadors for Life Club has been formally moderated on campus. The club belongs to a national organization, Students for Life, and its mission is “to provide a source of support on campus and in our community for the sanctity of all life." Mrs. Whitney McHaffie, a CCHS theology teacher, is the club moderator, and several additional staff and faculty members actively support the club's mission, including the theology department and campus ministry, as well as social studies teacher Ms. Mallory Lenhart, science teacher Mrs. Lyanna Buser, and guidance department administrative assistant and registrar Mrs. Carol Reyes.
The club currently has 21 members who participate in a variety of activities throughout the school year, including:
Fundraisers for local ministries that provide support for families in crisis, such as Mom's House
Ohio and Washington D.C. March for Life
Movie nights: Gosnell and The Sound of Freedom
Helping other ministries that support the sanctity of life: Daughter Project (human trafficking safe house), Sisters of St. Francis' Bethany House (human trafficking and domestic violence safe haven), and immigration services
Making kindness cards to support Operation Surprise Attack, Mom's House, and Project Rachael and Joseph
Education on campus: fundraising to purchase a life size fetal development model for our science and theology classrooms, arranging guest speakers for classrooms and school assemblies, witness talks and leading the rosary at all-school adoration, intentional encounters with other students to discuss the dignity of life
“I attended the March for Life because I believe in the right to life for every living person,” said senior Samantha Reagan. “Life is a gift, a privilege. Abortion is a crisis in the U.S. and I believe we should all be voices for the voiceless. While rain water dripped down my arms, and I watched people record from their apartment windows, I knew I was on the right side of history. I know that I am fighting for something worth fighting for.”
“I think it’s important for young people to attend the Ohio March for Life because the question of human dignity endures across time,” said McHaffie. “Human rights are not simply something we study about the past; they continue today in the story of every person, including our students and staff. Due to the magnitude of this specific issue in our day today, many of our own students and staff have been affected by it. For students especially, this experience helps them see how the principles they learn in the classroom - human dignity, justice, compassion, and the value of every human life - connect to the real world.
“As a Catholic school, it is also an opportunity to live out our Catholic identity by recognizing that every person is created in the image and likeness of God and possesses inherent dignity. Ultimately, we cannot get justice, human rights, or the common good right if we do not understand when human life begins and recognize its intrinsic sanctity in all circumstances. I hope students leave with a deeper appreciation for human dignity, a stronger sense of their Catholic identity, and a greater commitment to building a culture of life.”
