July 21, 2022
Students for Life Action (SFLAction) works with some incredible students, and those students all go on to do wonderful things for life. We want to highlight a student who is currently working for life in an amazing way: Kaitlyn Ruch from Montana!
Ruch is a SFLAction Captain (one of SFLAction’s top public policy student leaders) and has received mentorship from Students for Life America (SFLA), as well.
Following Ruch’s high school graduation this June, she won her Republican primary for MT State Representative in District 84 at only 18 years old. Her campaign was focused on family values and pro-life ideals, and the SFLAction Montana Political Action Committee (PAC) was proud to endorse her in this race.
In preparation for the primary election, the SFLAction Montana PAC door-knocked at 1,144 homes, made 1,376 phone calls, and sent 1,264 text messages to targeted voters in support of Ruch’s election. Ruch’s victory in her primary gained the attention of media such as The College Fix who reported, “An incoming freshman at Carroll College is focused on more than just her first semester this summer – she’s also working to get elected in November. Kaitlyn Ruch is running for House District 84 in Montana while preparing to start school in the fall semester at the Catholic college in Helena. Ruch defeated two other Republicans in the primary.”
The College Fix also noted that Ruch is running in a district that has leaned Democrat for several previous cycles. SFLAction President Kristan Hawkins previously said, “Kaitlyn’s unique and powerful story of adoption after surviving the impact of drug use while in the womb paired with her passion for protecting the sanctity of life is the exact reason we need her in the Montana legislature.”
Although Ruch has not faced her general election yet, she is already working to change pro-life policy to be more principled as a proud member of the Post-Roe Generation. Ruch and SFLAction leaders across the country believe that while the reversal of Roe v. Wade is a victory, our pro-life work isn’t finished until every child has Protection at Conception.
Montana has a Republican majority in both the state House and Senate. However, the Montana GOP’s current pro-life policy unfortunately is very vague. Although it acknowledges that life begins at conception, it is not clear that the Montana GOP is committed to fully ending abortion. Adding clarity is important as abortion is still legal up until viability in Montana, which allows for more than 95% of abortions in the state to take place.
Ruch has been selected to be on the Montana Republican Party committee that is working on updating their pro-life position in a Post-Roe America, and she has filed an amendment to clarify the pro-life commitments of the Montana GOP. Ruch’s new amendments are written as:
“We assert the U.S. Constitution guarantees no one can “be deprived of life, liberty or property” without due process. Accordingly, we maintain the sanctity of human life and affirm the preborn child has a fundamental right to life which cannot be infringed.
We support a complete ban on elective abortion. We oppose using public revenues to promote or perform elective abortion, or fund organizations which perform or advocate abortion.”
SFLAction is proud to work with leaders like Kaitlyn Ruch who will protect life in law. Legislatures should expect future shake-ups in a Post-Roe America from students trained by SFLAction and SFLA who know that life begins at conception and are committed to fighting for all children from the earliest stages of development.