BY TIM BULLARD

NORTH MYRTLE BEACH — Grand Strand Citizens for Life members absorbed a lot of information at their annual conference held at Our Lady Star of the Sea Church in November.

John Kost of Myrtle Beach, GSCL president, welcomed the speakers. Dr. Paul Schenck, executive director of Priests for Life in Washington, D.C., gave the keynote address.

“There is still the misunderstanding of Roe that it only allows abortion the first nine weeks,” Schenck said. Most people do not know that Roe v. Wade allows abortion up until delivery, he said.

He told the audience that the power to overthrow Roe v. Wade does not “rest with five justices on the Supreme Court. It rests with you.”

Jo Tolck and Joe Langfeld of the Human Life Alliance (HLA) spoke about “Educating Our Youth on Life Issues.” The HLA was founded as a non-profit, non-denominational group in 1977 to raise awareness of the unborn, oppose euthanasia and promote chastity and abstinence until marriage. The alliance is headquartered in St. Paul, Minn., and offered assistance in the Terri Schiavo case.

Tolck gave the audience some interesting facts to think about. He said that the younger generation is more pro-life than its baby boomer parents, immigrant women are targets of the abortion movement, and the African-American community is no longer the largest minority in America because of abortion.

Tolck added that 80 percent of babies with Down Syndrome are aborted.

Michael Ridgill of Trinity Episcopal Church enjoyed the conference.

“When I reflect on Scripture and the history of the church, life has always been valuable to God,” he said. “In Isaiah we are told 'He knew us in our mother's womb.' There is infinite value to every human being.”