Blogs

Erin Cvengros is the New York/ New Jersey Field Agent for Students for Life and recently wrote this post on the myth of overpopulation after talking with pro-life students during an Earth Day event last week.

What do Earth Day, Overpopulation, and Abortion have in common? Read Erin’s blog below. Be sure to follow her blog at erin.studentsforlife.org.

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One third of my generation is missing due to abortion. That’s over 50 million people missing since Roe v. Wade in 1973.

Initially when I heard that fact, rather than feeling sadness for the loss of those individuals, I subconsciously questioned whether it was best for the world. I, as I’m sure many others, couldn’t fathom a world with 50 million more people. Where would they live? How would they be fed? Who would care for all of them? It didn’t seem possible for this planet and society to sustain more people. The theory of overpopulation resided in my mind.

Most of us are so stuck on our own existence and wellbeing that we selfishly worry about only ourselves. If there were 50 million more people in the world, they would surely take away from our comfortable state. We would make less money and have to decrease our standard of living; or the commute to work would be longer due to more traffic; or our neighborhoods would be overcrowded; or there would be an increase in poverty. In our minds, an increase in the population would destroy the world as we know it.

Or would it?

Last week, Christine, who hosted me in Syracuse, responded to a comment I made regarding overpopulation. She said it was a myth. A myth? How could an increase in population possibly be beneficial to the world? She continued explaining her view. She said God had in mind each and every one of us before we were created and only God knows what new ideas and innovations each aborted child would have brought to the world. Until then, I had never connected the unborn children with their potential and what they could offer to the world. I had considered those children a significant loss to a family, but not a loss to society. These humans could bring about new innovative ideas and change the world. The world would be unrecognizable from the world today if they were here.

Overpopulation is indeed a myth that plagues minds. It is even more present today when the pro-earth mindset is trendy among the youth. Many of us just accept that more people on earth would bring about a decline to our standard of living, and when we think about it that way, it would. But if we think about the distinctive contributions each of those 50 million individuals could have made, the world would probably be unrecognizable. We may have eliminated someone who could have painted the next Mona Lisa, remedied cancer, broken the 100m world record, or been your best friend.

Many people don’t understand this. I was one. Even with my economics background where we studied that human beings are the most important resource for the advancement of society here on earth, I gave into the myth.

It all comes back to education. The more people we can educate with truth, the more quickly we can shift the disposition of our culture. This is the importance of reaching out to students.

Last week, the Students for Life group at Broome Community College conquered the school’s “Earth Fest” with a pro-life table that explained the myth of overpopulation. They endeavored to educate the student body on this fallacy, while also linking over- population myths to the eugenics movement. Kate Peterson, one of the founders of the BCC Students for Life group commented that the tie with the eugenics movement “really hit nerves with the liberal environmentalists” and lead to some interesting conversations.

Stirring up these misconceptions of overpopulation and bringing attention to the eugenics movement, is needed everywhere. Any discussion regarding these issue, might mean one more opinion changed. BCC Students for Life brought the issue to center stage and challenged the opposition. They may have not changed the minds of headstrong environmentalist students, but just their presence may affected a silent spectator.

The education and facts are essential. When we fail to be educated ourselves and fail to inform others, so many people are left with a misguided view. Yes, 50 million more people here today, could be disastrous, but 50 million more people with potential to affect the world, that could be brilliant.