Dariel Aguilar, Emmanuel Estrada, Giancarlo Carreno, and Cruz Carreno pray for the unborn babies after standing for the unborn on Friday, October 27. (Submitted photo/Megan Narehood)

Students from of Our Lady Queen of Heaven Catholic Church’s youth group led by Dr. Melanio Villarosa held signs, prayed, and stood for the unborn on the corner of Hickpochee Avenue and South Main Street Friday, October 27 from 4-6 p.m..

“We are for life and defend it,” said Sarai Cabana, sixth grader at LaBelle Middle School and member of the youth group, “Unborn babies are small people. I want to create consciousness in people who see me holding the signs.”

Doreen McKenzie, Pro-life supporter, joined the students on Friday.

“Standing for the unborn helps for all going on in this world,” said McKenzie, “I like kids, I love kids. We want to stop abortion.”

“I’ve been blessed with these kids,” said Dr. Villarosa, organizer of the Stand for Life event and leader of the youth group.

“We stand for life twice a year,” said Dr. Villarosa, “We stand in October because it is Respect Life Month and we stand in January because it is the anniversary of the court’s ruling on Roe versus Wade.”

After the youth group finished standing for the unborn they returned to their church to pray for unborn babies. Dr. Villarosa led the students in prayer.

Dr. Villarosa gave the students two talks on abortion before the Stand for Life event so the students knew why they are participating.

“I want them to know why they should defend life,” said Dr. Villarosa, “We talk about the number of abortions per year in the United States and why abortions are performed.”

“We told them about scenarios,” said Dr. Villarosa, “We told them if they would have committed abortion they may have killed somebody who was famous like Thomas Edison.”

“Ave Maria University told me my talks are hard core,” said Dr. Villarosa.

Our Lady Queen of Heaven Catholic Church’s youth group meets on Mondays from 6-8 p.m.

“We feed them pizza, give them an exotic snack, play games, pray, and then have our talks,” said Dr. Villarosa.

Our Lady Queen of Heaven Catholic Church is located at 355 Bridge St, LaBelle, FL 33935.

Respect Life Month is an event the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. You can find more information about Respect for Life Month at http://www.usccb.org/about/pro-life-activities/index.cfm.