March for Life

Marching On

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Marching On

After the March for Life, we want you to keep marching back to your communities for life!  One person can make a difference, and there are so many different ways to do this – we have provided a list of suggestions below.  We also want to hear your #MarchingOn stories – email us at info@marchforlife.org and your story could be featured on our website!

Support Your Local Pregnancy Center (PRC)

Pregnancy resource centers are on the front line of caring for women who are faced with an unexpected pregnancy.  Consider sponsoring a diaper drive for you local PRC, volunteering, or supporting financially.

You can read more about these centers on our educational resources.

Care Net, with its affiliate pregnancy centers, and through the Pregnancy Decision Line, helps prevent forced, coerced and otherwise unwanted abortions by promoting positive life choices.

Heartbeat International works to inspire and equip Christian communities worldwide to rescue women and couples from abortion through the development of neighborhood pregnancy help centers, maternity homes, and adoption services.

Pray

Bound4Life is a grassroots prayer mobilization movement focused on the ending of abortion through public stands of silent prayer wearing Life Tape in front of courthouses and abortion centers around the nation.

40 Days for Life is a community-based campaign that draws attention to the evil of abortion through the use of a three-point program of prayer and fasting, peaceful vigils, and community outreach.

Counsel

Sidewalk Advocates for Life seeks to train, equip, and support local communities across the United States in “sidewalk advocacy”: to be the hands and feet of Christ, offering loving, life-affirming alternatives to all present at the abortion center, thereby eliminating demand and ending abortion.

Start a Pro-Life Group at Your School

Students for Life of America trains and equips college, high school, medical, and law school students so that they can defend unborn children and help their mothers on their campuses.  

Movie Screening

Screen a movie with a pro-life message such as “Bella,” “October Baby,” or “It’s a Girl,” for friends, family, your church, or your community and hold a discussion afterwards.

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The Pro-Life Movement

It’s been 40+ years since the U.S. 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 have hope!

40 bright spots in the pro-life effort

Polling & Data on Abortion

1) According to polls, “pro-life” has been the “new normal” for Americans since 2009. In 2012, 50% of Americans identified as pro-life, while those identifying as “pro-choice” hit a record low of 41%.

2) Young people are increasingly pro-life, which is evident as thousands of youth travel to the March for Life each year. Trends show that support of unlimited access to abortion by young people has dropped 12 percent points since 1990. According to Gallup “support for making abortion broadly illegal [is] growing fastest among young adults.”

3) Admitting that the pro-abortion movement is losing support among young people, pro-abortion NARAL President Nancy Keenan recently submitted her resignation to allow a younger president to conduct youth outreach. Commenting on the March for Life she lamented, “There are so many of them, and they are so young.” 

4) According to a NARAL study, 51% of pro-life voters under 30 consider a candidate’s stance on abortion very important, yet only 26% of pro-abortion voters of the same group  consider a candidate’s stance on abortion to be very important.

5) Most Americans do not agree with United States abortion laws. Abortion is legal through all nine months of pregnancy, but most believe that abortion should be highly restricted: 79% believe it should be illegal after the first trimester; 87% of Americans believe that abortion should be illegal after 6 months of pregnancy, while only 16% believe it should be legal through all 9 months of pregnancy.

6) The number of abortions in the United States has steadily declined since 1990. Abortion rates dropped 5% in 2009, the last year for which statistics are available.

Pregnancy Resource Centers

7) Throughout the United States, there are more than 2,000 Pregnancy Resource Centers (PRC) that offer help to mothers experiencing unplanned pregnancies. There are 1,793 abortion providers through the country.

8) PRCs report that up to 90% of women contemplating abortion who see the ultrasound, and hear their baby’s heart beat, choose to carry their baby to term.

9) Many PRCs offer ultrasounds free of charge to mothers.

10) There is a movement of mobile PRCs bringing ultrasounds to women. By parking in locations where there may be high numbers of women with unexpected pregnancies, such as malls, college campuses, and abortion clinics, these mobile units reach women who would not have otherwise walked into a PRC.

11) PRCs run largely on the generosity of donors, and volunteers. In 2010, approximately 71,000 volunteers performed an estimated 5,705,000 hours of work.

12) Free services offered by PRCs in 2010 were worth well over an estimated  $100 million.

13) As PRCs advance in medical sophistication, National Institute of Family and Life Advocates (NIFLA), has trained many in sonography,  helping  make ultrasounds more widely available to expectant mothers.

Conversions and Outreach Ministries

14) Dr. Bernard Nathanson, former abortionist and co-founder of NARAL, had a change of heart in 1980, and became a pro-life advocate until his death in 2011.

15) Norma McCorvey, the plaintiff in Roe v. Wade is now a pro-life advocate.

16) Sandra Cano, the plaintiff of Doe v. Bolton is pro-life, and a popular speaker on pro-life issues.

17) Abby Johnson, former Planned Parenthood clinic director, left the abortion industry after seeing an abortion on ultrasound. She is pro-life speaker and advocate.

18) Abby Johnson began the ministry “And Then There Were None” to reach out to abortion clinic workers who want to leave the abortion industry. Since the organization’s founding in June 2012, nearly 40 workers have left their places of employment, and through the help of “And Then There Were None” were able to find new jobs.

19) 40 Days for Life is a peaceful prayer campaign where groups dedicate 40 days of prayer and fasting for the protection of life, often in front of abortion clinics. Since beginning in 2007 at least 6,749 lives have been saved, 75 abortion clinic workers have left their jobs.

20) Abortion clinics close at a steady pace; 40 Days for Life reports the closing of at least 25 abortion clinics, including the oldest abortion clinic in New York City.

21) Pro-life campus outreach is flourishing. Students for Life of America reports that in 2011, they had  678 active groups, chapters in 49 states, and  42 trainings on college campuses throughout the year.

22) There are numerous organizations such as Isaiah’s Promise and Be Not Afraid that support expectant parents who receive a poor prenatal diagnosis. These ministries help parents respect the dignity of their babies by carrying them to term regardless of their prognosis.

23) Organizations such as Project Rachel, Lumina, and Silent No More bring post-abortion hope and healing to women and men who have chosen abortion.

Laws – Federal and State

24) In 2003, Congress passed the Partial Birth Abortion Ban Act, which was signed into law by President George W. Bush on November 5, 2003. The ban outlawed use of the procedure that became known as partial birth abortion, and brought the violent and intensive procedure of abortion into the light for the public to see. It is likely that because of this law, public opinion has moved in the pro-life direction.

25) Congress has enacted the Hyde-Weldon, Church and Coats-Snowe Amendments, which all protect conscience rights.

26) Since 1976, the Hyde Amendment has restricted federal funds for abortion.  

27) Between 2010 and 2012 there have been tremendous pro-life advances on the state level. In 2011, a record breaking 92 pro-life laws, and in 2012, 43 state laws were enacted. 

28) In 2011 nine states voted to withhold funding from Planned Parenthood, the nation’s largest abortion provider.

29) Thirty-four states require women receive counseling before an abortion, and twenty-six states have a required waiting period between counseling and abortion.

30) Thirty-eight states have parental involvement laws for minors seeking abortion. Studies show that parental involvement decreases the abortion rate significantly.[17]

31) Twelve states have passed ultrasound legislation, giving women the opportunity to view an ultrasound prior to their abortion.

32) At least five states have pro-life laws on fetal pain.

33) Twenty-seven states now offer specialty “Choose Life” license plates. Proceeds from the license plates benefit PRCs or other organizations that provide alternatives to abortion.

34) Twelve states now provide direct f
unding to PRCs.

Cultural/Miscellaneous

35) The “Too Many Aborted” public ad campaign caused national uproar as it called attention to the fact that over 40% of African American babies conceived are aborted.

36) There have been increasingly more movies that highlight the gift of life including Bella, Juno and October Baby.

37) Adoptions have consistently increased since 1995.

38) Advances in technology show that the developing baby is undeniably a human being and many credit this for influencing public opinion in favor of the pro-life position.

39) Advances in prenatal technology offer lifesaving treatment to the baby in utero, captured in images such as the “Hand of Hope” picture of Samuel Armas.

40) The March for Life has grown from its humble beginnings in 1974 to be the largest pro-life event in the world!

 

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Life Principles

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.

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7 Days of Life: Why Do I March?

The March for Life’s campaign surrounding the 2014 March is #WhyWeMarch.  This push made me reflect on why I march.  It is not an easy thing to answer.  I know what brought me to the pro-life movement – in all honesty it was a job offer from the Family Research Council.  But what made me pro-life?  Why do I March?

 

I March for my parents for giving me my faith and love of knowledge and debate.  I grew up in a family of eight kids, not quite Duggar territory, but not shabby. And while unfortunately not all are pro-life, we were all taught to be both open minded but also be able to defend our positions.  While I am a cradle Catholic it wasn’t till years later I embraced that.  When I was pretty young I was an early riser.  I would get up and then turn on the television for Gilligan Island reruns.  My Mom would have none of that and insisted I go to daily Mass with my Dad.  This not only gave me an incredible bond with my Dad, it turned into me being a daily communicant for most of my childhood and, even though I didn’t know it at the time, gave me my love for the Church.  It was also my Mom who one summer as I was watching television (once again, though this time Mr. Ed reruns) who decided she would have none of that either, and instead introduced me to first editions of the Hardy Boy novels we had up in the attic.  This evolved into me being a voracious reader of anything I could get my hands on.  And as we got older it was my now deceased Dad, a judge and lawyer, who would make meal times interesting by sometimes making us take varying positions on things, and see how we fared against the toughest crowd around – our siblings.

 

I March for my best friend and his girlfriend choosing life.  In my last year of high school one of my two best friends at the time took his own life.  A month after that his girlfriend found out she was two months pregnant.  She decided that she would keep and raise the child.  For my freshman and sophomore years of college I would spend my summer days taking care of her son as she worked days and I worked nights.  For a guy with a pretty reckless reputation it was an eye opener being partially responsible for that life.  In future years it even inspired me for a short while to work day care.  He is now a full grown man and his Mom, who deserves all the credit for his turning out so well, couldn’t be prouder.

 

I March for my unborn child.  A few years after my college graduation, while I was still pretty reckless, I got a young woman pregnant.  Even though we did not work out there was no question we would keep the child.  Unfortunately late in the pregnancy we lost the child.  I know God has a plan in all things.

 

I March for my wife for strengthening my faith and reminding me why it is so important.  She grew up in a family of seven kids and her family is without a doubt more devout.  She incidentally is also in the pro-life movement – however she is in the much more important side – that of ministry.  She sees politics for what it is – not the final answer.

 

So to sum it up:

 

I March for my parents, and all parents, may they teach their children right and wrong and that good and evil do exist – and you need to stand up for what is good.

 

I March for my friend’s child and that child’s mother – and all parents who face a difficult decision and make the right one – be it parenthood or adoption

 

I March for all those who lost a child, deliberately or otherwise, before they had a chance to live.  That they may find healing

 

I March for my wife, and other incredible women like her.  My Mom, my mother in law, sisters, sister in laws, nieces and so on.  That they may help create a world where all human life, at all stages, is given the full value it deserves and that they may always be safe from those who would exploit them in the name of politics.

 

And I March for the inspiration to continue doing the work I have grown to love.  Nothing is more inspiring than seeing hundreds of thousands of people, mostly young, marching to end abortion.

 

That is why I March.  Why do you?

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8 Days of Life: Did Pro-lifers Lie When Obamacare Was Passed?

There is little doubt among reasonable folks that since its passage President Obama’s health care law, commonly known as Obamacare, contains multiple instances of abortion funding or subsidies.  Some of the current ways we know that Obamacare subsidizes or directly funds abortion is through multi-state plans, state exchanges, high risk pools, and of course the anti-conscience mandate that forces business owners and Catholic nuns to pay for abortifacients.  That could only be the tip of the iceberg as Obamacare also created numerous slush funds that are at the Health and Human Secretary’s discretion to give to abortion companies like Planned Parenthood, something they have done repeatedly already.

 

However that is all what we know now – what did we know at the time of passage?  On one side you had groups with names like Democrats for Life and previously pro-life politicians like Senator Ben Nelson (D-Nebr.) and Rep. Bart Stupak (R-Mich.) (both since retired due to their pro-Obamacare votes) insisting there was no abortion funding in Obamacare.  After the vote Senator Nelson even gave me a large notebook that he insisted proved there was no abortion funding in the health care law. (a closer look at the documents in the notebook merely showed groups like the aforementioned Democrats for Life insisting there wasn’t any abortion funding – but offering little proof.

 

Despite their insistence though these politicians and groups with previously stellar records hurt their reputation more than they convinced anyone that Obamacare was abortion-free.  So at the time of the vote – what did pro-lifers know that others did not?

 

This isn’t merely a political exercise.  Shortly after the 2010 elections, one of those many Members of Congress who lost their seat in Congress because of his vote for Obamacare decided to sue the organization he thought mainly responsible – Susan B. Anthony List (SBA List).  Try to ignore the absurdity of a politician suing because lost his election and instead look at what the politician, former Rep. Steve Driehaus (D-esperate), is arguing.  SBA List was preparing to run ads (pictured below) that said that Rep. Driehaus voted for taxpayer funded abortions.  Their evidence was that he voted for Obamacare so thus voted for taxpayer funding of abortion.  Rep. Driehaus actually filed a claim before the election and then refiled again after he lost.

 

From the SBA List press release:

 

In January 2013, the SBA List won its related two year court battle with Driehaus, who had also filed a defamation suit alleging that SBA List cost him his job and a “loss of livelihood,” when the district court held that SBA List’s statements about Driehaus’ vote in favor of Obamacare were not defamatory. Driehaus filed an appeal from the dismissal in February, which remains pending.

 

Under a most likely unconstitutional Ohio state law Rep. Driehaus sued, saying that SBA List was lying.  In their defense and at the request of Doug Johnson at National Right to Life (who filed his own affidavit), I filed an affidavit with the court that argued that the health care law funds abortion.  In retaliation Rep. Driehaus tried to subpoena the email records of myself, Doug Johnson and, just to prove it was a random fishing exhibition, an employee of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. 

 

In a normal world one would think that a Member of Congress suing because he lost an election under the grounds he lost his livelihood would, who granted cert on Friday.  Looking at the case it is more a case on free speech as it is on abortion – however proving SBA List lied would certainly hurt their case.  The thing is they didn’t.

 

Rereading my affidavit (which I had many smarter minds helping me out on) a lot of what is now proven fact was what we were arguing before the bill was even implemented.  This is true if you look at the arguments from most pro-life groups from National Right to Life, Americans United for Life, and so on.  Even the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, who supported government sponsored universal health care, had the same arguments on abortion funding. 

 

In the affidavit it covers abortion in the Exchanges (pg 2, Section 8), slush funds (pg 4, Section 16), multi-state plans (pg 5, Section 17) and the abortifacient mandate (pg 5, Section 19).  The affidavit also reminded me that most pro-abortion groups agreed there was abortion funding in the bill as well (pg 4.  Section 15.)

 

So how did so many pro-lifers see the multitude of abortion funding sources and others did not?  One big difference between those fighting against Obamacare and those fighting for it was that those fighting against it actually read the bill and could figure out what was in it.