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Student Essay Contest 2024

All students in grades 7 through 12 are invited to compete. Essays should be submitted or postmarked no later than April 29, 2024.

Contestants will research and write an original essay on a topic related to abortion, assisted suicide, euthanasia, or a related topic.

Word limits are 500 for grades 7-9 and 750 for grades 10-12.


Prizes
both levels
$125First
$100Second
$75Third



Essays may range in tone from polemical (argumentative) to purely informational, from inspirational to provocative. Topics can be chosen from a wide range of basic human life issues related to abortion, euthanasia (including assisted suicide), denial of life-saving medical treatment, exploitation of human embryos, human cloning, and the harvesting of tissues and organs from aborted babies.

Contestants may address the sad or unpleasant that go along with these topics, but there are many upbeat topics to consider as well: adoption, motherhood, pregnancy, fetal development, personal experiences with pro-life activities (e.g., the March for Life, volunteering), and the blessings of knowing people with mental or physical challenges (e.g., Down Syndrome), to name a few. We are happy to advise contestants who are unsure about what topic they should choose and to suggest places to look for accurate information.

For more information contact People for Life at office@peopleforlife.org or (814) 882-1333.

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Purpose
People for Life's Student Essay Contest is intended to help students, regardless of their current writing skills, to develop the ability to share their pro-life views with others. Students gain knowledge and writing experience by researching a pro-life topic of their choice, organizing what they have learned, and expressing their own thoughts on the topic.



2024 Contest Rules

1. Open to all students in grades 7 to 12 from Erie, Crawford, Mercer, Venango, Warren, Ashtabula and Chautauqua counties.

2. Competition will take place on two levels, a 7th to 9th grade level and a 10th to 12th grade level.

3. Contestants will research and write an essay on a topic related to abortion, assisted suicide, euthanasia, or embryo-destructive experimentation.

4. Up-to-date factual information should be used.

5. Essays will be judged on grammar and spelling as well as originality, accuracy, apparent depth of research, readability, and logical precision.