Sophomore Reagan Nielsen said she wanted to give a voice for the silent.

“I was appalled to see that there were no pro-life organizations on a campus as big as Mizzou,” said Nielsen, founder and president of Mizzou Students for Life. “Unfortunately the victims of abortion cannot speak for themselves, so it is up to us to take a stand and do something about the genocide ongoing in our country today.”

Mizzou Students for Life is a non-denominational anti-abortion-rights group on campus that became officially recognized as an organization in March.

The main mission of the organization is to end abortion by educating students about the issues of abortion, euthanasia and infanticide, according to the Students For Life of America website.

“I wanted to be involved with something that I was passionate about and was familiar with,” Nielsen said. “When I learned about the national organization, I thought it would be awesome to get a branch to Mizzou.”

Mizzou SFL originally came to campus in 2006 but was never officially considered a campus organization. Students such as Nielsen worked to start the organization again and have it officially recognized by MU last semester.

The club had its first meeting last Wednesday and will meet biweekly for the rest of the semester. At the first meeting, members discussed the national organization’s mission, upcoming events, how to get involved in the organization and some statistics and facts on abortion.

“I was so excited with the turnout (at the first meeting),” Nielsen said. “This isn’t a silent issue or something people can just brush off. Those who want to fight for the rights of unborn children are motivated and eager to start saving lives. We already have around 60 members, just by word of mouth.”

Nielsen said her main goal to bringing the club to campus was to increase awareness about abortion.

“Whether you are pro-life or not, people need to be educated on what really happens due to an abortion to not only the innocent baby but also the traumatized mother, father and family of those effected,” she said. “Then, maybe people will think twice when in that situation and counsel others to do the same. With this awareness we can recruit more pro-lifers and build a strong army to help us in our fight for the one-third of our generation that is missing.”