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JOHNSTON — One of the most important elements in ensuring progress in the fight for justice is to inspire the next generation to remain devoted to the cause. This is of particular importance for one of the most contentious issues of our time—the right to life debate surrounding abortion.
For his support of pro-life issues, Joshua Kline, 18, of Johnston, was recently awarded first place at the annual National Right to Life Oratory Contest, held in Kansas City, Kansas. This is the third time in the past ten years that a young person from Rhode Island has won the prestigious award.
As one event within the broader annual National Right to Life Conference, one of the largest pro-life organizations in the country, the oratory contest is designed to encourage the up-and-coming generation to express the pro-life position in an intelligent, systematic and inspiring manner.
A recent graduate of Bishop Hendricken High School, Joshua, the son of Keith Kline, principal of St. Philip’s Catholic School in Greenville, and Lisa Kline (who, together with her husband, also serves as a coordinator of the Serra Club, an organization dedicated to raising awareness of vocations to the priesthood), was raised in a devoutly Catholic family.
It was this setting that fostered within him from a young age the desire to stand up for Catholic truth in the social realm.
“We have to remember that life is a gift from God,” Joshua Kline said. “God is the sole Giver of life, and in the moment when someone unfortunately decides to have an abortion, they are taking that place of God. They are playing God.”
Joshua recalls how, as a child, he and his family would regularly meet at his grandmother’s house to pray the rosary. One prayer they would frequently say during recitation was for the protection of the unborn and an end to abortion.
Though at that time his understanding of abortion was limited, this served as his first exposure to the seriousness of the issue of abortion and the close connection that existed between his Catholic faith and the duty to stand up for the most vulnerable.
Yet, it was certain elements of his parish life that particularly reinforced his commitment to the pro-life movement.
For most of his early life, Joshua attended St. Philip’s Parish in Greenville. One of the charisms of this parish was its commitment to pro-life activism.
Over the years, Joshua became more involved in the various pro-life activities organized by the parish, and starting at the age of 14 he began to volunteer with the Mother of Life Center in Providence, a pro-life organization that provides medical help, counselling and material assistance to women who become pregnant in situations that made it more challenging for them to raise a child.
His time at Bishop Hendricken only solidified this trend. For three out of his four years at Hendricken, he served as the president of the Pro-Life Club, helping to raise money for pro-life organizations and helping to revive Pro-Life week, a series of events at the school in which they would raise awareness of the Church’s position on the topic of abortion and raise goods for pregnant women.
One of the biggest lessons that Joshua learned from his involvement with the pro-life movement is how the consequences of abortion have broader impacts on every part of society.
“People say, ‘Well, it’s my issue,’ or ‘It’s my body,’ or ‘It’s a women’s issue,’ but it’s not that,” Kline said. “It’s an everyone issue. It’s a family issue. We’re all brothers and sisters in the Lord, and without each other we cannot succeed.”
“I am going to fight for this cause,” Kline continued. “That’s something that I’ve committed to. Our Lord has placed this on my heart.”
Kline is currently attending Ave Maria University in Florida, where he will be majoring in politics with the hopes of one day pursuing a path in law.
