Oklahoma faith leaders discuss abortion

He and other adult advisers are taking their largest youth group ever — 220 high school and college-age individuals — to participate in the national March for Life set for Friday in Washington

He said the youth trip has grown each year since the Tulsa Diocese began organizing it in 2007.

Keiser said he's not surprised at the youths' desire to participate in the march because many of them are passionate in their belief that Roe v. Wade, the 1973 Supreme Court ruling legalizing abortion, is morally wrong.

“This is the generation that survived it. They have faced the reality that there are people who should be in their classroom but aren't,” Keiser said. “They feel this is a tragedy.”

Keiser said the four decades that have gone by since the ruling have not diminished the concern by many Christian faith community members.

“Despite the fact that abortion has been legal in all 50 states for 40 years, there are still people who believe that was a wrong decision,” he said.

Standing together

The young people who will participate in the annual March for Life have joined with many Oklahoman who feel their faith beliefs require them to denounce abortion.

Many in the state's faith community have been vigilant and vocal in their battle over abortion — a procedure they say is a sin.

The fight against abortion has led many faith groups across the state — two in particular — to come together to decry what they consider an attack on humanity's most vulnerable members.