text: “I always remember her as being really tragic,” she said. “She told me that she was set on her decision, and she was going to get the abortion. After two months of not talking to her, I received a text from her telling me that she changed her mind, that talking to me helped change her mind.”
  “It’s humbling to be able to affect someone by doing such a small thing,” she said. “It’s the women themselves who actually do all the work.”
  Her summer internship made Lape realize and appreciate the effects of letting pregnant women know they do have someone to talk to and somewhere to turn for support.
  “You hear it all the time,” Lape said. “I saw that women don’t want abortions. Women are forced to get abortions due to situations. If you support these women, you can save the life of the child, but also of the mother.”
  This is the message that has translated into the current Right to Life campaign that is represented by cutouts of pregnant women on Saint Mary’s campus with signs that state “Pregnant? We support you.”
  “In terms of supporting pregnant women, being a supportive friend and classmate to a pregnant peer can make a difference in their lives. There are so many things you can do.
  “For me, my concept has become maybe more different than other peoples,” Lape said. “When I think about the pro-life movement, I think about the well-being of the mother and the well-being of the child as two sides of the same coin.”
  Lape is glad for all of the attention — positive and negative — people have been paying to the current Right to Life campaign.
  “I think it is great people are talking about it,” Lape said. “A lot of people approach pro-life from the same angle. One of the best things we can do is to challenge what the pro-life movement is really about and how we can live out these pro-life values.”