Cancer does not discriminate – it affects everyone. Because of this, the fight against cancer has the power to bring people of diverse backgrounds together. On Saturday, this will be on full display as our university community unites to end cancer in our annual Relay for Life.
But the relay is about much more than finding a cure for cancer. Yeah, the American Cancer Society uses the proceeds to fund research for a cure, but it also runs programs to drive cancer patients to treatment, house patients and their families during treatment and provide everyone with information about cancer. Furthermore, our relay is much more than a fundraiser; it will also include the commemorative luminaria ceremony, not to mention some awesome performances and games. The relay is simultaneously a fight against cancer, a memorial for those whose lives the disease has claimed and a celebration of life.
I hadn’t heard of the relay before coming to the university, so when I saw some of my Catholic Terps friends wearing Relay for Life T-shirts, I assumed it was a pro-life event, similar to the March for Life or the Youth Rally and Mass for Life. Later on, I was asked to help organize our relay team due to my involvement in our “Culture of Life” committee, which also helps coordinate things such as praying outside abortion clinics, assisting crisis pregnancy centers and holding other events geared toward ending abortion.
Now, to someone outside of the pro-life movement, this might seem strange: What does a cancer fundraiser have to do with controversial anti-abortion activities? But to someone who firmly believes that all humans, from conception to natural death, are equal, there is no difference. Wherever people’s lives are threatened – by disease, abortion, capital punishment, embryonic stem cell research, euthanasia, assisted suicide or war – we are obligated to defend human life.
Yes, legal action is part of pro-life, but so is facilitating adoption, providing free diapers and support to single mothers, caring for disabled people and visiting the elderly. Although people like to talk about equality, they don’t always believe it when it comes to inconvenient and dependent groups. The pro-life movement defends the lives of those that our society will not.
But being pro-life is not only about protecting life, it is about loving it. At the annual Youth Rally and Mass for Life, thousands of young people from around the country come together, united by our love for life. Yes, we prepare to fight against threats to life in the following March for Life, but we also cry, remember our fellow humans who have been killed and cheer as we celebrate the infinite gift of life.
The Relay for Life is a pro-life event. It doesn’t have anything to do with abortion or capital punishment, but it is pro-life nonetheless. The relay is about loving life and achieving “a world with more birthdays.” How much more pro-life can you get? While there are disagreements about most of the pro-life issues, humanity unites in its hatred of cancer. Until we have the same unity for love of life at all stages, the work of the pro-life movement remains unfinished.
Matt Rice is a freshman materials science major. He can be reached at rice@umdbk.com.
