Second National Right to Life Academy Hones Students'Debate Skills.

On a recent Friday morning in August, the National Right to Life conference room was the setting for a debate about abortion. Except this time the pro-abortion position was presented by staff members of NRLC. Skillfully playing the role of pro-abortionists, they used the arguments they so frequently come up against in their work to pass pro-life legislation.

The pro-life side was comprised of students from this summer's National Right to Life Academy. The academy students made a strong case for women's right to know and ultrasound legislation as laws that truly respected women. In their rebuttal they illustrated the hypocrisy of the self-proclaimed "pro-choice" position in opposing laws that empowered women to make a more informed choice.

The academy's academic director, Burke Balch, awarded the debate to the hardworking students for their factual as well as persuasive rebuttals. Mr. Balch and Olivia Gans, director of American Victims of Abortion, then offered their final suggestions and critiques, and minutes later the students were packing up and heading out of class for the last time. Faster than the staff and students could have believed possible, the second National Right to Life Academy had come to a close.

The academy class of 2008 was made up of students from all over the country: South Dakota, South Carolina, Rhode Island, Pennsylvania, and Ohio. For six weeks they lived, ate, studied, and played together in downtown Washington, D.C. Daily classes at NRLC kept them busy from 95, but afterwards they regularly took part in the opportunities the nation's capital offered them.

From free Navy band concerts at the nearby memorial, to browsing the Smithsonian museums and National Archives, and playing frisbee on the Mall, the academy students kept busy in their limited free time and made the most of their summer in the city.

This summer's students enjoyed the special advantage of attending the 36th annual National Right to Life Convention, held locally in Crystal City, Virginia, over the Fourth of July weekend. Participating in the convention in the first week of the academy was an inspiring and exciting introduction to many themes and issues that would be explored in greater depth over the following weeks.

The students met former U.S. Senator Fred Thompson and were especially touched by the presentation given by photojournalist Michael Clancy. They attended the ...