Pro-life college students toured the country last week advocating the confirmation of Judge Brett Kavanaugh, President Donald Trump’s pick to replace Justice Anthony Kennedy on the Supreme Court.

As part of Students for Life’s #Justice4Life tour, more than 20 students piled into vans and visited North Dakota, Alaska, Indiana, Missouri and West Virginia. These are the states where senators’ votes will be “key” in determining whether Kavanagh is confirmed, said Matt Lamb. Lamb is the Director of Communications for Students for Life (SFL). He spoke with The Stream about the #Justice4Life tour and SFL’s political activism.

Kavanaugh is “more open to allowing states to regulate abortion, to pass pro-life laws than anyone Hillary would have picked,” Lamb said.

Senate Staffer Meetings and Sidewalk Counseling

Students met with staff of several senators in both parties, including Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., Marco Rubio, R-Fla., Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill., and Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska. They also met with other politicians, like Rep. Ann Wagner, R-Mo., and Gov. Mike Parson of Missouri.

Even though some of the senators are expected to vote “no” on Kavanaugh’s confirmation, Lamb said students had productive conversations with their staffers.

For instance, Duckworth’s staff was “very interested” in SFL’s Pregnant on Campus Initiative. The program works to make campuses more welcoming to pregnant students. A Democrat, Duckworth typically backs the abortion lobby. The 50-year-old became the first sitting senator to give birth while in office earlier this year.

Students also visited local pregnancy resource centers. Some took the opportunity to offer sidewalk counseling outside abortion facilities.

It was an opportunity to train the next generation to be “great, effective pro-life leaders,” Lamb said.

In over 20 cities, local students and pro-life groups joined members of the tour for peaceful rallies throughout the week.

Counter-Protesters: ‘They Just Wanted to Yell’

At one rally, things got particularly intense. Pro-lifers gathered Saturday outside Sen. Susan Collins’ office in Portland, Maine to encourage her to support Kavanaugh’s confirmation.

The two-dozen pro-lifers who gathered included families with young children. But they were met by a comparable number of counter-protesters, made up of Antifa and International Socialist Organization members.

“We just wish they were open to dialogue,” SFL representative Abigail Young told WABI News during the event. “Lots of our people here for the rally have been offering to discuss with them and they’ve just been yelling in our faces.”

Eventually the counter-protesters began circling the pro-life group, continuing to yell and causing young children to cry. Lamb said the police were called to make sure things didn’t get out of hand.

“They didn’t want to talk, they just wanted to yell,” he said.

Looking Ahead

Kavanaugh’s confirmation would make it more likely that the landmark Roe v. Wade is overturned. But, Lamb pointed out, that outcome depends on other justices as well

Still, it’s important to SFL that Kavanaugh is confirmed. He “has a strong record on religious freedom, free speech, as well as ruling in favor of the pro-life side in the Garza v. Hargan case,” he said.

That’s why SFL will continue advocating Kavanaugh’s confirmation till his hearing on September 4. The organization is encouraging their network of activists to stay busy with tasks like calling senators and writing letters to the editor.

If Kavanaugh is confirmed?

SFL won’t stop. There will still be work to do at the local, state and federal levels, Lamb said. “Politics will always be part of what we do,” as well as training students to be strong advocates for life.

Find Students for Life on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and Snapchat. Follow SFL’s efforts to get Kavanaugh confirmed at Justice4Life.org.