March for Life

Ten Tips for the March for Life

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Ten Tips for the March for Life

TEN TIPS FOR THE MARCH FOR LIFE

 

Be prepared for cold weather!

The streets of Washington, D.C. can be chilly in January. Check the weather forecast before you leave, but bring your warmest winter coat, no matter what! Wear layers – you can add or remove layers depending on the temperature and bring hand warmers, gloves, a hat, and waterproof boots.

Stay connected with your group members.
The crowds are very large at the March for Life, so try to stay physically connected to your group as much as possible. Make sure everyone has at least one leader’s cell phone number, and inform everyone of the time and meeting place after the March is finished. Give everyone a map of the March for Life route, which you can download HERE.

Know your transportation options.
If you’re with a large group with planned transport, make sure everyone is informed of the meeting and pick-up locations. If you’re traveling with a small group, we recommend using public transportation. Check out the March for Life website for more travel information and tips for DC public transportation.

Check out other events throughout the week
Turn your trip to Washington, D.C. into a pro-life pilgrimage by participating in a number of events around our nation’s capital.
The March for Life is hosting events from January 22-24, including:
March for Life Expo
March for Life Conference
March for Life Youth Rally
Find other related events on the March for Life website:
MarchForLife.org/related-events

Download the March for Life App
Stay up to date on March for Life events, connect with other marchers, and receive event updates by downloading the March for Life app!

Bring signs
Be creative and let the world know why we march! Check out some of our favorite signs for some inspiration! Even if you forget or can’t bring signs, many groups will have signs to hand out on the National Mall.

Share your experience
It’s important to show why we march!
During the event, post pictures and videos of your experience at the March for Life and tag them with #WhyWeMarch and #MarchForLife! We’ll be sharing our favorite posts at all our events, including the March for Life Conference, Youth Rally, Expo, and Rally and on WhyWeMarch.org!

Show your representative that you VOTE pro-life
Traveling to Washington, D.C. for the March for Life gives the pro-life movement a unique opportunity to directly let our nation’s leaders know America is proudly pro-life!
After the March for Life, consider visiting your representative’s office to be a voice for the unborn. Before visiting, be sure to read the official March for Life Action lobbying booklet, Capitol Hill 101.

Thank the amazing volunteers
The March for Life would not be possible if not for the dozens of volunteers who give their time, talents, and service to building a culture of life. We are especially grateful for the continued support and service of the Knights of Columbus. If you pass by one of our amazing volunteers, please give them a big thank you!

Stay connected with the March for Life year-round
Sign up for text message alerts so you can get important, late-breaking information by texting MARCH to 73075.
Follow the March for Life on social media.
Facebook: March for Life
Twitter: @March_for_Life
Instagram: @marchforlife 
Youtube: March for Life Education and Defense Fund
Follow March for Life Action to stay up to date on our pro-life efforts on Capitol Hill.
Facebook: March for Life Action 
Twitter: @MFLAction

 

Thank you for participating in the 2020 March for Life! We look forward to marching with you!

 

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Early Feminists Were Right About Unborn Human Life

(Originally published in The Daily Signal)

Although they were considered radical at the time, American suffragists were unrelenting in their efforts to transform our country’s politics and empower women with the right to vote.

The year 2020 marks the centennial of their victory in that battle, and while it is an occasion to celebrate, it is also a reminder that we must continue the work of these early feminists.

In addition to voting rights, suffragists championed abolition, equality in education, equal pay for equal work, and the right to life for the unborn.

Unlike many radical feminists of the second half of the 20th century and into 21st century, these women realized that abortion does not empower women. In honor of these suffragists, the theme for the 47th annual March for Life is “Life Empowers: Pro-Life Is Pro-Woman.”

American suffragists looked to the examples of their predecessors and were especially inspired by the English philosopher, author, and feminist Mary Wollstonecraft.

Born in Spitalfields, London, in 1759, Wollstonecraft began advocating equality for women long before the height of the women’s suffrage movement in the United States.

Though she is perhaps best known as the mother of Mary Shelley, who wrote the classic novel “Frankenstein: The Modern Prometheus,” Wollstonecraft was a prominent author in her own right. Her most famous work, “A Vindication of the Rights of Woman,” was published in 1792 and circulated several decades later by American suffragists Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony in their newspaper, Revolution.

Wollstonecraft advocated education reform as a means of empowering women and argued that the education system had been designed to oppress women, undermining their formation in a way that prevented them not only from flourishing as wives and mothers, but also blocking them from entering professional fields.

She believed that empowered women would embrace motherhood and described women who fulfilled their responsibilities as “independent.” According to Wollstonecraft, women’s first duty “is to themselves as rational creatures” and secondly “as citizens, is that, which includes so many, of a mother.”

Wollstonecraft viewed abortion as a depraved consequence of society’s failure to recognize the intrinsic value of women, as well as of the prevailing attitude that women should be objectified and subjugated by men.

She described women and children as victims of this failure to value women and motherhood:

Women becoming, consequently, weaker, in mind and body … have not sufficient strength to discharge the first duty of a mother; and sacrificing to lasciviousness the parental affection, that ennobles instinct, either destroy the embryo in the womb, or cast it off when born.

Wollstonecraft promoted pro-life ideals in her writing, but she also embodied the sacrifices she wrote about in her own life as a single mother, having her first child, Fanny Imlay, out of wedlock despite the harsh judgment of society.

Drawing on her experience as a mother, she argued that better education for women would allow future generations to flourish. She wrote that raising future generations of children “has justly been insisted on as the peculiar destination of woman” and therefore that “the ignorance that incapacitates them must be contrary to the order of things.”

Like Wollstonecraft, today’s pro-life feminists work to transform our culture into one that is both pro-child and pro-woman, recognizing that abortion violates motherhood and undermines women’s empowerment.

Since 1973, abortion has eliminated more 60 million children and harmed millions of mothers in the process. Giving women the right to vote was once considered radical, but today we often take it for granted.

We hope someday to see a world in which embracing the dignity of every human life, both women and their unborn children, is no longer considered a radical idea.

Jeanne Mancini is the President of the March for Life Education and Defense Fund and Alexandra DeSanctis is a staff writer for National Review.

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2019: A Year of Pro-Life Victories!

2019 was a year of major victories in the pro-life movement! Before we look towards the future of the pro-life movement at the 2020 March for Life on January 24, let’s look back on some of our favorite moments and accomplishments from 2019.

Vice President Mike Pence surprised the crowd at the 2019 March for Life Rally and spoke at the March for Life Rose Dinner.

President Donald Trump shared a video message from the Rose Garden, declaring his commitment to veto any legislation removing pro-life policies.

The 1st Virginia March for Life drew over 7,000 Virginians to the state capital, making it the largest crowd to assemble at the Richmond Capitol outside of a Governor’s Inauguration.

By the close of 2019, March for Life announced the 1st Connecticut March for Life on April 15, 2020, the 1st Pennsylvania March for Life on May 18, 2020, and the 2nd Virginia March for Life on February 13, 2020.

March for Life co-hosted “Alive From New York” with Focus on the Family, the largest pro-life event ever held in the Big Apple. Crowds gathered in Time Square to watch a live 4D sonogram of Abby Johnson’s baby and hear his heartbeat.

The Hill Top Lobbyist 2019 named March for Life Action President Tom McClusky as the leading voice in pro-life activism on Capitol Hill.

Since joining the March for Life team in 2013, Tom McClusky has worked hard to take the collective, massive voice of the marchers to the Hill throughout the entire year.

March for Life Action mobilized thousands of citizens throughout the year to be powerful voices for life.

Through our Action Campaigns, we mobilized:

41K citizens to petition Congress 118K times in support of the Born Alive Act. The Born Alive Act Discharge Petition was brought to the House Floor with a record 191 signatures.

8.8K citizens to petition Congress 111K times to stop funding research on aborted baby body parts. On June 5, the Trump Administration halted all aborted fetal tissue research funding.

20.7K citizens to petition HHS 60K times in support of the Protect Life Rule. As a result, Planned Parenthood lost $60 Million in Title X Funding.

The March for Life team continued to grow, with the addition of 3 new members:

Ann Clare Levy – Social Media Manager

Claire Pullan – Administrative Assistant

Mackenzie Rodgers – Grassroots Project Manager

Their passion for the pro-life movement allows us to take greater strides forward in the fight for life every single day.

We are so proud of the impact we made this year in the fight for life and especially grateful for your support, without which, none of this pro-life work would be possible! Help us continue building a culture of life in 2020 by donating to the March for Life!

DONATE!

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Second Annual Virginia March for Life: The Family Foundation, the Virginia Catholic Conference, and the Virginia Society for Human Life, Partnering to Speak Out Against Extreme Abortion Legislation, Policy

The Virginia March for Life, taking place on February 13, 2020, comes as a new majority files Equal Rights Amendment

RICHMOND, VA. – March for Life is excited to partner with The Family Foundation, the Virginia Catholic Conference, and the Virginia Society for Human Life for the second annual Virginia March for Life on February 13, 2020 in Richmond, Virginia. Marchers will rally at the state capitol to stop extreme abortion legislation. Bills have already been filed to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment, to remove necessary, life- saving parental consent and ultrasound informed-consent requirements before an abortion is performed, to eliminate health and safety standards for abortion facilities, and even to establish the “right to personal reproductive autonomy” in Virginia’s constitution.

After the recent Virginia election results, the majority made their priorities clear by filing the pro-abortion Equal Rights Amendment as their first bill. The ERA would endanger every rational pro-life law in Virginia and enshrine abortion in the U.S. Constitution. If Virginia attempts to ratify this moot amendment, the Commonwealth may enter into a season of expensive litigation and see many legal protections now enjoyed by women completely erased. March for Life, The Family Foundation, the Virginia Catholic Conference and the Virginia Society for Human Life are calling upon all pro-life Virginians to stand against all legislation that threatens the inherent God-given dignity of the human person, especially the most vulnerable among us, the unborn. The march will take place right after the legislature’s critical cross-over period between the House and Senate, thereby allowing participants to advocate in person with their elected representatives.

The organizations’ leaders released the following statements:

March for Life President Jeanne Mancini:

“It is exciting to be able to partner with Virginia’s pro-life groups at a time when much is at stake in this state. Pro-abortion politicians who now control both the legislature and governor’s mansion haven’t been shy about their intentions to push forward an extreme abortion agenda, and their willingness to deny basic rights to the unborn is no secret. We will work tirelessly to stand up for the state’s most vulnerable citizens until the day when our government and politicians recognize and protect all innocent, human life.”

The Family Foundation President Victoria Cobb:

“Now, like never before, Virginians who value unborn life must come together and stand against the abortion industry’s march toward making abortion legal for any reason at all stages of human development even into the moments of labor and delivery.”

Virginia Catholic Conference Executive Director Jeff Caruso: 

“Constituents from every community in our Commonwealth: Come pray, come advocate, come witness for life! As Virginians and citizens of faith, let’s lift our voices together to defend the dignity, the sanctity and the immeasurable value of every life. Now is a critical time to ensure our voices are heard, we are witnesses to the faith, and that the rights of the unborn and the most vulnerable are not once again trampled upon! Start the day with us for a 9:15 Mass at the Richmond Convention Center, concelebrated by Bishop Knestout and Bishop Burbidge.”

Virginia Society for Human Life President Olivia Gans-Turner:

“Pro-life people will not stay quiet as pro-abortion forces attack all our reasonable and protective pro-life laws in Virginia. We will be seen, and heard in Richmond, as we stand together to defend every innocent human life from conception to natural death.”

 

The Virginia March for Life will start with a rally at 11:45 am ET, followed by a march at 12:45 pm ET. More details, including a list of speakers, will be announced soon.

 

Learn more about the Virginia March for Life here.

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March for Life Announces Additional Speakers for the 47th Annual March for Life

WASHINGTON, DC – The March for Life Education and Defense Fund is excited to announce additional speakers for both the 47th annual March for Life Rally on January 24, 2020 and the annual Youth Rally, which will be held on January 23, 2020 at the Renaissance Hotel in Washington DC. Speakers for the 2020 Rally include Jim Daly, President of Focus on the Family, Marjorie Dannenfelser, President of Susan B. Anthony List, Elisa Martinez, Founder of the New Mexico Alliance for Life, and David Platt, Pastor at McLean Bible Church.

Charlotte Pence, New York Times best-selling author and the daughter of Vice President Mike Pence, will speak at the 2020 Youth Rally the day before the March for Life.

“We are thrilled to host such dedicated pro-life champions at this year’s March for Life and Youth Rally,” said Jeanne Mancini. “We look forward to uniting with these speakers to both encourage and educate the nation on the inherent dignity of every human life.”

 

March for Life Rally Friday, January 24, 2020 12:00pm – 1:00pm ET

Speakers include:

Jim Daly – President, Focus on the Family

Marjorie Dannenfelser- President, Susan B. Anthony List

Elisa Martinez – Founder, New Mexico Alliance for Life

David Platt – Pastor, McLean Bible Church

Representative Ann Wagner (R-MO)

State Representative Katrina Jackson (D-LA)

Representative Chris Smith (R-NJ)

Melissa Ohden, survivor of a failed saline infusion abortion

Claire Culwell, survivor of a failed surgical abortion

 

March for Life Youth Rally Thursday, January 23, 2020, 2:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m.

Speakers include:

Charlotte Pence – New York Times best-selling author, daughter of Vice President Mike Pence

Allie Beth Stuckey – Podcast host, author, and speaker

Abby Johnson – Former Planned Parenthood clinic director; CEO of And Then There Were None

Phil King – Songwriter and worship leader

Christina Marie Bennett – Pro-Life Activist and Speaker

Bryan Kemper – Founder of Rock for Life, Stand True, and Pro-Life Day of Silent Solidarity

The Restless – Christian rock band from Northern Virginia

Angelica Park – Ms. San Antonio’s Outstanding Teen

 

The 47th annual March for Life, the world’s largest annual human rights demonstration, will be held on January 24, 2020. Leading up to the March for Life and throughout 2020, the March for Life will share more about the theme Life Empowers: Pro-Life is Pro-Woman and the incredible history of the women who pioneered the women’s rights movement and their pro-life beliefs.