39 Days of Life: Social Media Highlights
We’re 6 weeks away from the March for Life! It’s exciting to see the enthusiasm growing on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram as individuals and groups finalize their plans. We are so encouraged by the youthful, committed, and dedicated pro-life generation. Every Wednesday leading up to the March for Life on January 22, 2014, we’ll pull together some highlights of your social media posts and publish them on Storify, here on our blog, and distribute via the March’s social media – you could be featured!
March for Life – 6 Weeks Out
March for Life – 7 Weeks Out
49 Days of Life: Giving Tuesday, Gaining the Future
This is an actual headline, from Time Magazine yesterday: “Calm Black Friday: Only 1 Death, 15 Injuries Attributed to Big Shopping Day.” As we’ve all watched over the past decades, consumerism gone wild has led to arguments, fights, stampedes, and tragically, many deaths on the Friday after Thanksgiving, when the drive to buy a discounted DVD player or some other consumer good seems to trump acting out of common sense and treating people with dignity.
With the arrival of the Internet, Cyber Monday emerged so that we are still able to satiate our drive for “stuff,” but from the comfort of our couch. Or, transport yourself from the office to the virtual world (during a lunch break, of course) where no item is unattainable, without the pushing and shoving.
While I am certainly no stranger to shopping, and love picking out the perfect gift for family members and friends, let’s be honest, most of the items we purchase don’t last, or really aren’t that worthwhile. However, a new movement has arisen, and it’s going on right now – “Giving Tuesday.” From their website:
This year help us create #GivingTuesday. A new day for giving back. On Tuesday December 3, 2013, global charities, families, businesses, community centers, students and more will come together to create #GivingTuesday.
It’s a simple idea. Just find a way for your family, your community, your company or your organization to come together to give something more. Then tell everyone you can about how you are giving. Be a part of a national celebration of our great tradition of generosity.
Thankfully, there are so many ways in which we can invest our money to help the cause of the most valuable gift we’ve all received: life.
Pregnancy resource centers are on the front line of caring for women who are faced with an unexpected pregnancy. Personally, I have been blessed to volunteer at the Capitol Hill Pregnancy Center in Washington, D.C, and have witnessed the loving and supportive care of the staff and counselors. Also, in D.C., the Northwest Center seeks “to promote the dignity of women and a respect for all human life…by offering the loving support and comprehensive aid necessary to enable all women to continue their pregnancies, deliver healthy babies, and adequately care for themselves and their children.”
Thousands of women have chosen life for their sons and daughters due to the love and compassion of pregnancy resource center counselors across the Nation. When we give our resources to these organizations, we are playing a small part in helping women choose life. Who knows who you might impact? Heartbeat International and CareNet are the parent organizations for most centers, and the innovative Online for Life partners with many centers, using technology to connect with women. By supporting any of the aforementioned organizations, or your local pregnancy resource center, on this #GivingTuesday (or any day!), you are investing in the future, and helping to give the most precious gift: life.
Around the Movement
One thing great about the pro-life movement is our incredible allies for the unborn. Here is a sampling of what some of our friends are up to. Please take the time to learn more about these great organizations.
For info on abortion giant Planned Parenthood visit Alliance Defending Freedom’s site Pretty Ugly.
Americans United for Life’s Clark Forsythe has a great new book out on Roe v. Wade, called Abuse of Discretion
Charlotte Lozier Institute found evidence of the lack of transparency regarding abortion coverage.
There is still time to sign up for 40 Days for Life’s current prayer campaign.
National Right to Life has sent a letter to the Hillcataloging the anti-life views of a judicial nominee, Cornelia Pillard.
Susan B. Anthony List has chronicled the actions of Kermit Gosnell as more the norm than the oddity.
New March for Life Gets off to a Running Start
by: Jeanne Monahan
August 13, 2013, marked the one-year anniversary of the passing of Nellie Gray, founder of the March for Life (MfL). Nellie’s tireless pro-life work following the decision of Roe and continuing for the next forty years, (until the age of 88!), built the strong foundation upon which the March for Life now continues its work to promote the dignity of the human person.
Following the passing of Nellie the questions were asked by the Board for the March for Life: “What can we do to build on this incredible woman’s legacy? And how can the March for Life further promote a culture of life?” The answers included a strategic expansion of scope of the March for Life, and thus the board brought on new staff to help with digital media, legislative issues, and ecumenical outreach.
As we begin our first monthly newsletter, I’d like to take a few minutes now to share with you some of the work of the March for Life over the course of the past year. Many people often ask MfL staff: “What do you do after January”? In addition to coordinating the largest pro-life gathering in the world every year on the anniversary of the Supreme Court decisions in Roe and Doe, the March for Life staff also works on a day-to-day basis to build a culture of life. It is our ultimate goal to work to create a culture where no woman would ever choose abortion.
One of the ways we do this is through media; the MfL regularly represents the pro-life voice in mainstream news. Over the course of the past year, the MfL has been interviewed on such major outlets as the Today Show, NBC Nightly News, National Review, and Washington Post on a variety of issues related to a culture of life, including speaking out on Emergency Contraception (which can act as an abortifacient), the safety of abortion clinics, and adoption, among other themes. Please check out our website to view or read any of these interviews: marchforlife.org.
We also work to educate the public about the inherent dignity of the human person through new media: in 2013, our Facebook presence increased from under 1,000 to close to 14,000, with daily posts that are content-rich. We have over four thousand followers on Twitter, with daily tweets on pertinent issues. We also have a blog with regular posts with themes touching on a broad array of issues impacting a culture of life – from chastity to college pro-life involvement to stories about some of our favorite pro-life heroes.
In the way of more traditional education, this past year, the March for Life has offered presentations at a vast array of conferences and events, including a bioethics conference in Rome, Italy; events in Michigan, New Jersey, Connecticut, Indiana, and numerous schools and universities. We are also hosting briefings on Capitol Hill on related topics; on Sept. 10 we partnered in a briefing on adoption as a noble option.
Last but not least, we are very busy in January, too! Last January offered increased media coverage of the March from the Washington Post to MSNBC. We had the first annual 5K run on the day following the MfL. The Youth Rally and Law Summit had record breaking crowds. The March itself included hundreds of thousands of participants marching past the Supreme Court in densely packed crowds for well over two hours. This all requires a great deal of planning.
You can see that we are busy – not only in January, but year-round! In August, our staff expanded significantly to meet the increased work-load — you will have a chance to read about the wonderful MfL team in this newsletter. We also recently moved into historic staff offices in Washington, DC. It has been a year of transition, and an exciting year. We are now excited to continue the good work that has begun.