NATCHEZ — More than 100 students crowded out onto the front lawn of Cathedral School on Wednesday for a pro-life rally.

The rally was planned and promoted by Cathedral School administration and open to students in middle and high school.

Some students carried signs calling for Congress to defund Planned Parenthood or to stop abortions; others stood quietly with little blue pamphlets on which were scrawled the group prayer that would close the protest.

“God our creator,” began JoAnn Waycaster, a teacher at Cathedral who led the event. “You created each life … and every new life has a defined destiny.”

The walkout was a part of a national event wherein students from more than 270 schools and universities throughout the nation exited their classrooms in support of defunding Planned Parenthood and supporting an end to abortion in America.

The United States Supreme Court in 1973 affirmed the legality of abortion during Roe v. Wade court case. Planned Parenthood is a nonprofit organization that provides health care services including contraception, pregnancy testing and abortion.

The protest lasted 17 minutes — the same amount of time allotted for recent anti-gun violence protest March for Our Lives, last month.

Protestors throughout the nation dedicated each of the 17 minutes in the March for Our Lives walkout on March 14 to the 17 students who died in a Feb. 14 mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Florida.

Mimicking the 17 minutes in Wednesday’s protest, Waycaster said, was not an attempt to link the two issues, but rather a matter of equality.

Following the March for Our Lives walkout, Julianne Benzel, a teacher in Sacramento, Calif., was placed on administrative leave after beginning a discussion among her students as to whether the school that had allowed an anti-gun walkout would also allow a demonstration for pro-life students, multiple outlets reported.

After the school put Benzel on administrative leave, a student in Sacramento decided to host the theoretical pro-life protest.

That student’s walkout gained national attention and became the impetus for Wednesday’s event.

“It’s become a national movement,” Waycaster said. “It’s 17 minutes to keep a level playing field. It’s no more and no less than what the March for Our Lives asked for.”

The students stood in a semi-circle as Waycaster led the event.

“Abortion is the most important human rights’ issue of your lifetime,” she told the students. “I stand before you as an adopted person … and I adore my mother even though I’ve never met her, because she chose life for me.”

On the blue pamphlets passed out to students at the voluntary event, organizers had printed a prayer Waycaster asked students to recite.

“It was definitely heart-touching,” said Emily Stewart, a junior who participated in the walkout. “We are the guys who are growing up and have to deal with this.”

Stewart was among a group of 16 students who went to Washington, D.C., this year for a March for Life event, and said the nationwide event impacted her perception of the pro-life position.

“It was eye-opening,” she said. “You saw how many people were really pro-life.”

Damira McGruder, who sang during the event, said she, too, benefited from participating in the Washington, D.C., march.

“You see so many people and you wonder, ‘Why is this even an issue?’” she said. “I’m really glad we had this here. I’m 17 and before I got to eighth grade I’d never really had to think about it.”

Waycaster said it was important for students to be willing to stand up for their beliefs at an early age.

“It’s important that you speak out,” Waycaster said. “It’s important that your voice is heard.”