NTL Celebrates 20th Anniversary.(National Teens for Life)

What do chickens with large talons, guys with pies in their faces, and Dr. Seuss have in common?

Well ... unless you were at the 20th annual National Teens for Life (NTL) convention in Bloomington, Minnesota, June 16-18, your answer is probably "not much." However, if you were among the approximately 100 teens and college students in attendance, you know that the three are inextricably linked. Okay, sort of.

The voice of pro-life teenage America, NTL this June celebrated its 20th birthday. Having lost nearly one-third of its members to this holocaust, the "abortion generation" is fighting back against the abortion apologists. NTLers are energetic, active, and passionate about the cause of life.

But until this year, abortion was their primary focus. After all, it was affecting them most directly. Euthanasia seemed like an issue that mostly impacted the elderly--not their friends in the prime of their lives.

That all changed this spring as the terrible saga of Terri Schindler-Schiavo culminated in Florida. Suddenly they were discussing euthanasia in classrooms and with friends. When the abortion generation arrived at the Sheraton Hotel, it was primed to learn more about end-of-life issues.

Enter guys with pies in their faces. During the session entitled "You Survived Abortion ... Will You Survive This Holocaust?" attendees learned about different types of euthanasia. "Voluntary, nonvoluntary, and involuntary" made a lot more sense when they were demonstrated with pies in the faces of volunteers. There is a big difference between someone who wants a pie in their face (voluntary), someone who doesn't say whether they want a pie in the face (nonvoluntary), and someone who emphatically states that they can't think of anything they would like less than a pie in the face, but gets a pie in the face anyway (involuntary).

In clear, concise language, NTLers were taken through a history of euthanasia in the U.S. It began with a discussion of Karen Ann Quinlan, whose respirator was removed, and ended with Terri, whose feeding tube was taken away from her.