Education

Hill Briefing

On Tuesday, September 10, along with Representative Steve Stockman (R-TX-36), the Radiance Foundation, the National Council for Adoption and Alliance Defending Freedom,  the March for Life Education and Defense Fund co-hosted a briefing on adoption titled: Promoting the Adoption Option – Myths, Obstacles and Solutions. Read more HERE.

Resources on Adoption and Pregnancy Resource Centers

Adoption and pregnancy resource centers are on the front lines of helping women faced with an unexpected pregnancy.  To learn more about these centers and organizations, go HERE.

Knowing that no sound action can grow out of a vacuum of purpose, MARCH FOR LIFE formulated the Life Principles as a forthright, comprehensive statement of the position motivating the prolife movement. These Life Principles serve as the basis for prolife moral and legal theory by which the American people can overturn Roe v.Wade.

These Life Principles express the ideals motivating prolife Americans and indicate the purpose of the MARCH FOR LIFE:

• We hold these truths to be self-evident: That all human beings are created equal and are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, among which is the right to life, and Therefore
• The right to life of each human being shall be preserved and protected by every human being in the society and by the society as a whole, and
• The life of each human being shall be preserved and protected from that human being’s biological beginning when the Father’s sperm fertilizes the Mother’s ovum, and
• The life of each human being shall be preserved and protected from the biological beginning throughout the natural continuum of that human being’s life by all available ordinary means and reasonable efforts, and
• The life of each human being shall be preserved and protected at each stage of the life continuum to the same extent as at each and every other stage regardless of state of health or condition of dependency, and
• The life of each human being shall be preserved and protected to the same extent as the life of each and every other human being regardless of state of health or condition of dependency, and
• When there is any doubt that there exists a human being’s life to preserve and protect, such doubt shall be resolved In favor of the existence of a human being, and
• When two or more human beings are in a situation in which their lives are mutually endangered, all available ordinary means and reasonable efforts shall be used to preserve and protect the life of each and every human being so endangered:
• WHEREFORE, Pursuant To These Principles, we recommend and urge the adoption of a Mandatory HUMAN LIFE AMENDMENT to the Constitution of the United States of America.

Applying the Life Principles

Realizing that no sound action can grow out of a vacuum of purpose, in 1974 the MARCH FOR LIFE formulated and included in its charter of incorporation, the Life Principles, as shown above. Purposefully, the Life Principles are not framed in the negative tone of “thou shalt not,” and are framed in the positive tone of duty and responsibility of each human being and of society. The Life Principles are set in the context of our Declaration of Independence—that the right to life is inalienable and endowed by our Creator. If this basic right is weakened, all other rights are meaningless, as disparagement of the value and dignity of human beings will then permeate our society’s mentality and the Laws of our Land—contrary to our common good.

It is the duty of each individual and of society operating through its laws to provide protection for each member of the society. This follows the basic homicide laws of the common law that society protects a member from assault and death. The protection shall extend from the beginning of each human being’s life – acknowledged to be when the father’s sperm fertilizes the mother’s ovum – and throughout the natural continuum of that human being’s life.

All available ordinary means and reasonable efforts shall be used to preserve and protect human life. This would be determined on a case-by-case basis; it is ordinary in our practice of law to consider the facts of each case.

No value distinction may be made in determining the worth and dignity of any human being. Thus, the life of an individual as a preborn child shall be preserved and protected to the same extent as at any other stage of that individual’s life, whether infant, teenager, or aged.

Similarly, no value distinction shall be made between the value of the life of one individual and of another; the life of a preborn child shall be preserved and protected to the same extent as the life of, e.g., an infant, a young adult or a middle-aged prominent national figure. In summary, each human being’s life shall be preserved and protected, using all available ordinary means and reasonable efforts, without regard to whose life it is “better” to presence and protect. There can be no exceptions.

If there is any doubt whether or not a human being exists, then society and any individual resolves that doubt in favor of action which will preserve and protect a human life. A woman unsure of whether she is pregnant, for instance, would not use an abortifacient, which could kill her preborn child who may be in her womb. This follows the simple practice that one does not shoot a bullet into a blind area which may be occupied by a human being.If the lives of two human beings are mutually endangered, use all available ordinary means and reasonable efforts to preserve and protect the life of each and every human being so endangered. Even with these efforts and means, one human being’s life may be lost, or all may be lost. But, the guiding principles are that no innocent human may be intentionally killed in an effort to save another human, and that it shall not be predetermined by law that one human life may be sacrificed to save the life of another human. Any decision about who may be saved must be made on a case-by-case basis, taking into consideration the total circumstances, and trying to save as many humans as possible. With respect to a difficult pregnancy, the principle of “equal care for both the pregnant mother and her preborn child” is well established. Although a pregnant mother and/or her preborn child may die, there is no justification in the law of God or man for the intentional killing of even one innocent born or preborn human in existence at fertilization. NO EXCEPTION! NO COMPROMISE!

With these Life Principles in mind, the MARCH FOR LIFE is the collective effort of grassroots prolife Americans to assure that our state and federal laws shall protect the right to life of each human in existence at fertilization. An important step is adoption of a Mandatory Human Life Amendment to the Constitution of the United States. Such an amendment would be simple and require that individuals and society provide protection for the right to life of each human in existence at fertilization. It would require that State laws conform to the Constitution and provide the same protection. Thus, the Life Principles provide guidance and purpose to the grassroots prolife volunteers in our efforts to be effective through our education and action programs.

Pro-life: the Human Rights Issue of Today

The 40th March for Life

Jeanne Monahan and Patrick Kelly

January 22nd marks the 40th Anniversary of Roe v. Wade, and on the 25th we will commemorate that solemn occasion with the 40th anniversary of the largest human rights demonstration in the world, the MARCH FOR LIFE.  With the passing of the pro-life leader and visionary Nellie Gray, a change in leadership has occurred, and with this new leadership comes big plans for the March as we go forward. 

This year in particular we aim to raise awareness in the minds of all Americans of the 40th Anniversary and the toll this has taken on these United States. Our theme includes an equation—40=55M, to signify that in the forty years since Roe v. Wade, 55 million of our fellow human beings have lost their lives to abortion. Fifty-five million is nearly the population of California and New York combined.  Clearly, abortion truly is the human rights abuse of today and our theme this year reflects this reality.  

Participants in this year’s peaceful demonstration will notice that we have made some changes to the program. The rally preceeding the March will be much shorter. In past years we have had more than fifty legislators speaking; this year we will have only a handful of congressional leaders. Many legislators are expressing their support via our website by posting youtube clips and sending messages of encouragement to Marchers. Other speakers will rally our young people, who are the heart and soul and vitality of the pro-life movement. These young people are not just the future of the pro-life cause, they are the present reality. Gallup and other polls indicate that young people are predominantly pro-life!

This year also marks a new broader approach to media engagement. It has often been the case that Marchers are disappointed and even amazed that the mainstream media gives very little attention to the largest civil protest in the world, the March for Life. But this year we are proactively interviewing with many such outlets with the firm hope of increasing education and awareness about the 40th anniversary March. One such outlet even wondered whether our crowds might be larger than the inauguration! On that note, also for the first time we will have jumbo trons.

We are embracing social media technology to much larger degree this year. We have a brand new website and an expanded social media presence on Facebook and Twitter.

But what happens the day after the March? What do we do the rest of the year? We are the MARCH FOR LIFE Education and Defense Fund, and we plan to develop the education component of our mission as we go forward. The MARCH FOR LIFE is remaking itself to become a tool for pro-lifers to march from the steps of the Supreme Court and into their communities, their churches, their workplaces, and their families.  We want to build a culture of life not only on the anniversary of Roe and Doe, but on every day of the year! We will continue the interviews, op-eds, and advocacy throughout the year, and we will continue to be in touch with our marchers. This is especially true of our young people, through the new channels social media has opened up to get information out to our movement.

Now more than ever, the American people do not embrace the legacy of Roe v. Wade, with its 55 million victims. Pro-life is the “new normal”, and states are enacting record numbers of pro-life laws. At this important moment in our nation’s history, please join us for the 40th anniversary of the MARCH FOR LIFE with the hope that soon we will work ourselves out of a job.