2013 marked 40 years since the Supreme Court invalidated all 50 state abortion laws in Roe v. Wade. The pro-life movement has made tremendous strides to educate the American people on the gift of life. Although there is much more to do, there are many reasons that pro-lifers must [Read more…] about Reasons for Hope
Education
History of the March
On January 22, 1974 thousands of pro-lifers participated in the first March for Life to stand up for the unborn. An inspiring rally was held as Members of Congress announced pro-life legislation and expressed their support for the pro-life cause. The program concluded with a “Circle of Life” march around the Capitol, followed by participants lobbying their Members of Congress.
Soon after that first March in 1974, it became apparent that congressional protection for the unborn was not on the horizon. Instead of sitting on the sidelines, Nellie decided that the MARCH FOR LIFE, rather than the originally anticipated one-time event, would instead be held every year until Roe v. Wade was overturned. That year, the March for Life became incorporated as an action-oriented non-profit organization, and the “Life Principles” were developed as the underlying guideline of the organization.
With Nellie’s leadership, the March continued to grow and develop each year. Nellie was an ever-faithful voice for the most vulnerable in society, working to protect the preborn until her last hours of life. While each MARCH FOR LIFE has faced a unique challenge or obstacle, the numbers of participants have continued to grow. Below are some highlights of the dedication of pro-lifers over the past forty years:
1987
On January 22, 1987, as pro-lifers began their annual pilgrimage to Washington D.C. for the MARCH FOR LIFE, many faced a terrible snow storm. While some had to turn back, thousands continued on to Washington D.C. to witness for the preborn. Nellie later commented “Our continuing to march that day was not stubbornness to defy the elements, but willingness to cope as best we could in our determined efforts to defend the unalienable and paramount right to life of our born and preborn brothers and sisters.” Police estimated that 10,000 people trod through the deep snow that day.
1990
In 1990 it was apparent that the March was growing tremendously. For the first time, buses had to park at Robert F. Kennedy Memorial (RFK) stadium and pro-lifers took the Metro to the March. Unfortunately, there was an escalator collapse in which many pro-lifers were hurt; as a result, many others had to walk miles to the rally. But, they graciously walked the “extra mile” with joy for the sake of life!
1995
In 1995 there were disruptions in the planning of the March because of shootings at an abortion facility. The press sought comment from the MARCH FOR LIFE Education and Defense Fund, and we reassured them that the March for Life is dedicated to protecting life through peaceful means.
1998
In 1998, to commemorate the 25th anniversary of Roe and Doe, the dedication of prolife Americans was proven again with an unprecedented number of Marchers. The rally featured three former pro-abortion activists who had become pro-life: Dr. Bernard Nathanson, founder of NARAL, Norma McCorvey, the plaintiff in Roe v. Wade, and Sandra Cano, the plaintiff in Doe v. Bolton.
2002
In 2002 the MARCH FOR LIFE was held just months after the September 11th terrorist attacks on America. The march went on and thousands courageously made the journey to Washington, DC despite the uncertainty and fear that the attack brought upon the American people.
2005
In 2005, on the stage, the family of Terri Schiavo, who were then battling to save her from starvation and dehydration, reminded the marchers that the right to life applies not only to the unborn, but all, including the disabled and terminally ill.
2006
The year 2006 brought excitement to the March, as two Supreme Court seats opened up in 2005. Following the retirement of Justice Sandra Day O’Connor and the passing of Chief Justice Rehnquist, President Bush nominated Judge John G. Roberts and Judge Samuel Anthony Alito to the Supreme Court. The President also raised Justice Roberts to Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. Pro-lifers had hope that Roe v. Wade/Doe v. Bolton cases would be corrected.
2009
The March in 2009 was held two days after the Inauguration of President Barack Obama, who had expressed his support of abortion. Perhaps in response, the March for Life estimated that it was the largest March to date, with hundreds of thousands of participants.
2011
In 2011, there was a sense of renewal as the 111th Congress was sworn in, bringing many new faces to Washington, including many who were elected on pro-life platforms. At the rally, a record fifty-three members of Congress spoke to voice their support for the unborn!
2013
The 2013 March will be filled with sadness as pro-lifers mourn the 40-year legacy of Roe v. Wade, and the passing of Nellie Gray. At the same time, we are filled with a sense of gratitude as we look back on all the great work that she did in organizing and running the March for Life for the better part of a century. Nellie dedicated all of her energy to advocating for the most vulnerable in society. Under her leadership, the March grew from 30 concerned citizens gathering in a Washington D.C. home to the present day march that draws hundreds of thousands of people from all fifty states and countless countries!
Pro-Life 101
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!
Throughout this year, the March for Life will embark upon new educational initiatives to broaden our movement as well as deepen it. We desire for every pro-lifer to be educated on the issues so that they can promote life and influence people. Stay tuned for updates!
Here are some “Pro-Life 101” Facts
We believe and know through science that life begins at conception. Check out this prenatal development timeline from the Endowment for Human Development.
Abortion takes the life of an unborn human child. There is a great deal of information available on fetal pain during an abortion.
Know the abortion laws in your state.
Get the facts on abortion-funding in Obamacare.
Find out the truth about Planned Parenthood.
The Truth about Planned Parenthood
It is the end of the year and time for Planned Parenthood’s partial report. The abortion giant tends to release this report right around Christmas time, usually in hopes that other news around the holidays will distract people from actually finding out what Planned Parenthood is all about – abortion. This year it is using 2012 data.
Prior to the release of Planned Parenthood’s report two other reports were released that highlighted both bad and good news related to abortion.
The bad news comes from a Center for Disease Control report that showed how much abortion affects Hispanics and African-Americans (the report is incomplete as many states do not report the number of abortions). According to the report reported of the 765,651 abortions that were reported to CDC a high percentage of minorities were targeted by abortion:
(N)on-Hispanic white women and non-Hispanic black women accounted for the largest percentages of abortions (36.8% and 35.7%, respectively), whereas Hispanic women and non-Hispanic women in the other races category accounted for smaller percentages (21.0% and 6.5%, respectively). Non-Hispanic white women had the lowest abortion rates (8.6 abortions per 1,000 women aged 15–44 years) and ratios (141 abortions per 1,000 live births), whereas non-Hispanic black women had the highest abortion rates (31.8 abortions per 1,000 women aged 15–44 years) and ratios (483 abortions per 1,000 live births).
For most races 2010 was an increase in targeting:
Among the 22 areas that reported by race/ethnicity every year during 2007–2010, abortion rates decreased for all racial/ethnic groups, although decreases for non-Hispanic black women were smaller than for other groups. For non-Hispanic white women the abortion rate decreased 11% (from 9.3 abortions per 1,000 women in 2007 to 8.3 in 2010), for Hispanic women it decreased 9% (from 20.7 abortions per 1,000 women in 2007 to 18.9 in 2010), and for non-Hispanic black women it decreased 5% (from 34.8 abortions per 1,000 women in 2007 to 33.2 in 2010)
Further in major cities the report reveals that the targeting is more intense. 63.7 percent of African-American and Hispanic babies were aborted in Texas, 64.8 percent in the nation’s capital and 73.2 percent in the southern state of Georgia. New York City continues to be the abortion capital with 81.9 percent of the babies aborted being African American or Hispanic.
In more positive news a Bloomberg News report from late November 2013 finds that at least 73 U.S. abortion clinics have shut down since 2011 with half of that number being attributed to state led efforts to regulate abortion facilities. Bloomberg also attributes some of the closures to exposure of some of the practices of abortionists like Kermit Gosnell:
New laws are responsible for roughly half of the closures, while declining demand, industry consolidation, and crackdowns on unfit providers have also contributed to the drop.
So how does Planned Parenthood’s annual report reflect some of the above news? Thanks to taxpayer dollars, Planned Parenthood continues to profit off of abortion – while lying about the other “women’s health” issues they supposedly cover. Luckily Susan B. Anthony List looked at the report and broke down some of the facts for us:
- In 2012, Planned Parenthood performed 327,166 abortions, a 2% drop from 2011.
- In 2002, Planned Parenthood performed 227,385 abortions, meaning they perform 100,000 more abortions than they did 10 years ago.
- In 2012, abortions made up 93.8% of Planned Parenthood’s pregnancy services, while prenatal care and adoption referrals accounted for only 5.6% (19,506) and 0.6% (2,197), respectively.
- For every adoption referral, Planned Parenthood performed 149 abortions.
- Prenatal care services have dropped 32% in one year, and 52% since 2009. Adoption referrals are also down 4.5% in one year.
- Planned Parenthood reported a total of three million clients in 2012, meaning that 11% of all Planned Parenthood clients received an abortion.
- Cancer screenings provided by Planned Parenthood continue to drop, dropping 14% in one year and 39% since 2009.
- Planned Parenthood reported $58.2 million in excess revenue, and more than $1.3 billion in net assets.
Pro-abortion groups have given tens of millions to abortion advocates running for office (pro-abortion PAC EMILY’s List has the fifth biggest “super-PAC” in the country) as well as shares a lot of big donors with the President, who has been ardently pro-abortion, and at times anti-life (voting to defend partial birth abortion in the Illinois state senate), since early in his political career. A couple of years ago the President was even willing to shut down the whole government over the issue of taxpayer dollars going to Planned Parenthood. Clearly the multi-million dollar investment Ms. Richards and her allies put into the Obama Campaigns are paying off in hundreds of millions of dollars of taxpayer funds.
Obamacare’s Secret $1 Abortion Surcharge
Congressman Christopher Smith (R-NJ), joined by Reps. Dianne Black (R-Tenn.), Dan Lipinski (D-Mich.) and many others, introduced the “Abortion Insurance Full Disclosure Act” (H.R. 3279) yesterday to address how the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA), more well known as ObamaCare, currently mandates that insurance companies that are part of the law’s state exchanges not disclose whether they pay for elective abortions until enrollment. Rep. Smith’s legislation would make sure that insurance companies will no longer be able to hide whether their plans cover abortion and will charge enrollees a $1 monthly abortion surcharge.
Researchers at the Charlotte Lozier Institute (CLI) found evidence of the utter lack of transparency regarding abortion coverage.
If you recall when Obamacare was passed then Senator Ben Nelson (D-Nebr.) made a “grand bargain” that supposedly would halt or slow abortion coverage. Most saw it for what it was, an excuse for those who claim to be pro-life to instead vote for the taxpayer funding of abortion legislation called Obamacare. Shortly after the vote Senator Barbara Boxer helped to clarify something we already knew, the language crafted by then-Senator Ben Nelson (D-Nebr.) and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) will use government funds to pay for abortions.
As reported then by Catholic California Daily:
Boxer, who has received a 100% approval rating from groups like NARAL and Planned Parenthood year after year since her election to the Senate in 1992, had been a featured speaker at an abortion-rights rally in Washington, D.C., just weeks before she became involved in the ‘abortion compromise.” Following her decision to agree to the Nelson language, groups like the National Organization for Women, the Congressional Pro-Choice Caucus and the National Institute for Reproductive Health issued blistering criticism of the senator. National Institute for Reproductive Health president Kelli Conlin said the Senate bill “has sold out women” and described its as “”unconscionable.”
But not to worry, Boxer told McClatchy News Service. Boxer, reported McClatchy, “said it’s only an ‘accounting procedure’ that will do nothing to restrict [abortion] coverage.”
It is good to see at least one supporter of the law can be honest.
