march for life

January Itinerary

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January is always a busy time for Secular Pro-Life, and the pro-life movement as a whole, as we mark the anniversary of Roe v. Wade and develop strategies to save lives in the new year. Here’s where you’ll find us.

Saturday, January 11: Chicago, IL
Our friends at Rehumanize International have organized a meetup group for the Chicago March for Life at Daley Plaza. Both before and after the march, stop by the Secular Pro-Life exhibit booth at the Chicago March for Life convention. (We could use one or two more volunteers; please email us at info@secularprolife.org if you’re interested.)
Thursday, January 23: Washington, D.C.
From 9:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m., Secular Pro-Life is proud to support the Geaux Forth pro-life youth rally at the Warner Theater, organized by Louisiana Right to Life. 
Friday, January 24: Washington, D.C.
Join us for the March for Life! Look for our 14-foot-tall bright blue banner at the Rehumanize International pre-march meetup, starting at 10:30 a.m. Our very own Terrisa Bukovinac will speak at the meetup, along with several other awesome activists:
On Friday evening from 9:30 p.m. to midnight, we will again join Rehumanize International for our third annual joint karaoke fundraiser! SPL president Kelsey Hazzard will be your K.J. Get ready to belt out some tunes for two great causes. 
Saturday, January 25: Washington, D.C.
Secular Pro-Life will have an exhibit booth at the National Pro-Life Summit; get your tickets here. Kelsey will duck out briefly to address an Ivy League student gathering, and we will also have a booth at the Cardinal O’Connor conference. 

January Itinerary

by

January is always a busy time for Secular Pro-Life, and the pro-life movement as a whole, as we mark the anniversary of Roe v. Wade and develop strategies to save lives in the new year. Here’s where you’ll find us.

Saturday, January 11: Chicago, IL
Our friends at Rehumanize International have organized a meetup group for the Chicago March for Life at Daley Plaza. Both before and after the march, stop by the Secular Pro-Life exhibit booth at the Chicago March for Life convention. (We could use one or two more volunteers; please email us at info@secularprolife.org if you’re interested.)
Thursday, January 23: Washington, D.C.
From 9:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m., Secular Pro-Life is proud to support the Geaux Forth pro-life youth rally at the Warner Theater, organized by Louisiana Right to Life. 
Friday, January 24: Washington, D.C.
Join us for the March for Life! Look for our 14-foot-tall bright blue banner at the Rehumanize International pre-march meetup, starting at 10:30 a.m. Our very own Terrisa Bukovinac will speak at the meetup, along with several other awesome activists:
On Friday evening from 9:30 p.m. to midnight, we will again join Rehumanize International for our third annual joint karaoke fundraiser! SPL president Kelsey Hazzard will be your K.J. Get ready to belt out some tunes for two great causes. 
Saturday, January 25: Washington, D.C.
Secular Pro-Life will have an exhibit booth at the National Pro-Life Summit; get your tickets here. Kelsey will duck out briefly to address an Ivy League student gathering, and we will also have a booth at the Cardinal O’Connor conference. 

March for Life announces 2020 theme

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Yesterday, the March for Life announced that the theme for January’s gathering will be “Life Empowers: Pro-Life is Pro-Woman.” The theme was selected to coincide with the centennial celebration of the 19th Amendment to the United States Constitution, which recognized women’s right to vote. Accompanying the announcement, the March for Life released this spoken word video honoring our pro-life feminist foremothers, including those in the suffragist movement:

The March for Life will take place in Washington, D.C. on Friday, January 24, 2020. As always, we will be there with our giant blue banner. Stay tuned for details of our meet-up. The following day, we will exhibit at the National Pro-Life Summit (formerly the Students for Life of America conference).

Also, local and regional marches for life will take place across the country throughout the month of January. Secular Pro-Life will have a presence at the Chicago march on January 11. Want more meet-ups? We’re open to your suggestions!

March for Life announces 2020 theme

by

Yesterday, the March for Life announced that the theme for January’s gathering will be “Life Empowers: Pro-Life is Pro-Woman.” The theme was selected to coincide with the centennial celebration of the 19th Amendment to the United States Constitution, which recognized women’s right to vote. Accompanying the announcement, the March for Life released this spoken word video honoring our pro-life feminist foremothers, including those in the suffragist movement:

The March for Life will take place in Washington, D.C. on Friday, January 24, 2020. As always, we will be there with our giant blue banner. Stay tuned for details of our meet-up. The following day, we will exhibit at the National Pro-Life Summit (formerly the Students for Life of America conference).

Also, local and regional marches for life will take place across the country throughout the month of January. Secular Pro-Life will have a presence at the Chicago march on January 11. Want more meet-ups? We’re open to your suggestions!

Saving Lives in Memory of Baby Emily

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When I was a child, my baby sister died just two days before her delivery date when my mom’s uterus ruptured unexpectedly—the result of my Caesarean birth just four years earlier. It was the first real tragedy my parents faced in their marriage, and she just happened to die on the anniversary of Roe v. Wade.

Every subsequent year on January 22nd, my parents remembered my sister Emily by participating in pro-life events, including our state’s annual March for Life. We sent up balloons. We ate birthday cake. We celebrated her life.

Even though my baby sister Emily was not an abortion victim, her death taught my family the value of human life and in a very real way started me on my journey as a pro-life activist.

I was only four years old when she died. Now I am 26 and have more than ten years of pro-life experience as an activist. I have volunteered at crisis pregnancy centers, counseled women outside of several Planned Parenthood clinics, referred several women for help, and witnessed more than one life saved.

I will always be grateful to my parents for their example of valuing human life. When facing the greatest tragedy of their marriage, they saw an opportunity for action in their community. They recognized that they were not the only ones to lose a child. In perhaps the most admirable way possible, they taught me to celebrate life and stand up for life at the same time, even in the face of death. This is what the pro-life movement is all about.

You don’t need to be religious to care about ending abortion. You just need to know the value of a human life.

[Today’s guest post by Mary Flanagan is part of our paid blogging program.]

Saving Lives in Memory of Baby Emily

by

When I was a child, my baby sister died just two days before her delivery date when my mom’s uterus ruptured unexpectedly—the result of my Caesarean birth just four years earlier. It was the first real tragedy my parents faced in their marriage, and she just happened to die on the anniversary of Roe v. Wade.

Every subsequent year on January 22nd, my parents remembered my sister Emily by participating in pro-life events, including our state’s annual March for Life. We sent up balloons. We ate birthday cake. We celebrated her life.

Even though my baby sister Emily was not an abortion victim, her death taught my family the value of human life and in a very real way started me on my journey as a pro-life activist.

I was only four years old when she died. Now I am 26 and have more than ten years of pro-life experience as an activist. I have volunteered at crisis pregnancy centers, counseled women outside of several Planned Parenthood clinics, referred several women for help, and witnessed more than one life saved.

I will always be grateful to my parents for their example of valuing human life. When facing the greatest tragedy of their marriage, they saw an opportunity for action in their community. They recognized that they were not the only ones to lose a child. In perhaps the most admirable way possible, they taught me to celebrate life and stand up for life at the same time, even in the face of death. This is what the pro-life movement is all about.

You don’t need to be religious to care about ending abortion. You just need to know the value of a human life.

[Today’s guest post by Mary Flanagan is part of our paid blogging program.]

A Perpetual March for Life?

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The March for Life recently announced that the 2019 event will be held on Friday, January 18. At the end of the announcement email, March for Life president Jeanne Mancini wrote: “And please save the date to join us in 2019, so that one day soon, we no longer have to march.”

It’s a common sentiment. Every January, I hear people say that they hope to never march again. The implied hope is that this will be the year Roe v. Wade will be overturned.

I too fervently hope that Roe v. Wade will soon be overturned… and I also very much hope to participate in the March for Life every January between now and my death. 
I mean no disrespect to Jeanne, of course, and I admire her commitment to putting herself out of a job. Perhaps I’m just being my unnecessarily contrarian self, but hear me out. The reversal of Roe v. Wade should not cause the March for Life to end. There are at least three excellent reasons to keep the March going in perpetuity:
1. To restore the right to life everywhere. The reversal of Roe v. Wade could result in immediate restoration of the right to life, if the Court holds that unborn children are Constitutional persons entitled to equal protection of the law. But the more likely path for reversal is that the Court will simply allow each state to enact its own laws on abortion. This would be a huge victory and save many lives in pro-life states—but woe to the child with the bad luck to be conceived in New York or California. Nationwide, you can be sure that the abortion industry will push to remake the Court and reverse the reversal. The pro-life movement’s work must continue. The March for Life is, and will remain, a critical networking tool for a nationwide cause. 
Moreover, why should we limit our concern to the United States? Sure, it makes strategic sense to start close to home, but our success here should not be the end of the story. It should be a springboard to protect preborn children throughout the world. The March for Life could refocus in that direction.

2. To support mothers in need. After Roe v. Wade is reversed, women will need the pro-life network of pregnancy support more than ever before. Continued pro-life enthusiasm after Roe‘s reversal will be necessary to bolster that network. Pregnancy resource centers, adoption programs, and the like all benefit from an annual gathering. And I haven’t even mentioned the March for Life’s role in post-abortion healing.
3. To memorialize the victims. Suppose abortion ended tonight, completely, totally, everywhere in the world. The death toll is already in the hundreds of millions—over 60 million in the United States alone. We must never forget those children. The political environment may one day allow for a permanent physical memorial in Washington, D.C., but I think a living memorial of pro-life marchers is more fitting.
I’ll see you on January 18.

A Perpetual March for Life?

by

The March for Life recently announced that the 2019 event will be held on Friday, January 18. At the end of the announcement email, March for Life president Jeanne Mancini wrote: “And please save the date to join us in 2019, so that one day soon, we no longer have to march.”

It’s a common sentiment. Every January, I hear people say that they hope to never march again. The implied hope is that this will be the year Roe v. Wade will be overturned.

I too fervently hope that Roe v. Wade will soon be overturned… and I also very much hope to participate in the March for Life every January between now and my death. 
I mean no disrespect to Jeanne, of course, and I admire her commitment to putting herself out of a job. Perhaps I’m just being my unnecessarily contrarian self, but hear me out. The reversal of Roe v. Wade should not cause the March for Life to end. There are at least three excellent reasons to keep the March going in perpetuity:
1. To restore the right to life everywhere. The reversal of Roe v. Wade could result in immediate restoration of the right to life, if the Court holds that unborn children are Constitutional persons entitled to equal protection of the law. But the more likely path for reversal is that the Court will simply allow each state to enact its own laws on abortion. This would be a huge victory and save many lives in pro-life states—but woe to the child with the bad luck to be conceived in New York or California. Nationwide, you can be sure that the abortion industry will push to remake the Court and reverse the reversal. The pro-life movement’s work must continue. The March for Life is, and will remain, a critical networking tool for a nationwide cause. 
Moreover, why should we limit our concern to the United States? Sure, it makes strategic sense to start close to home, but our success here should not be the end of the story. It should be a springboard to protect preborn children throughout the world. The March for Life could refocus in that direction.

2. To support mothers in need. After Roe v. Wade is reversed, women will need the pro-life network of pregnancy support more than ever before. Continued pro-life enthusiasm after Roe‘s reversal will be necessary to bolster that network. Pregnancy resource centers, adoption programs, and the like all benefit from an annual gathering. And I haven’t even mentioned the March for Life’s role in post-abortion healing.
3. To memorialize the victims. Suppose abortion ended tonight, completely, totally, everywhere in the world. The death toll is already in the hundreds of millions—over 60 million in the United States alone. We must never forget those children. The political environment may one day allow for a permanent physical memorial in Washington, D.C., but I think a living memorial of pro-life marchers is more fitting.
I’ll see you on January 18.

March for Life recap

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It’s been a hectic few days as we joined hundreds of thousands of pro-life advocates from all over the country. Secular Pro-Life was ably represented by three atheist women: yours truly (Kelsey Hazzard), co-admin Terrisa Bukovinac, and Sarah Terzo of ClinicQuotes.

I arrived in D.C. on Thursday and stopped by the March for Life Expo; Secular Pro-Life did not get a booth this year, but many of our friends did. I also encountered some organizations I wasn’t previously familiar with, that are doing awesome work. I may profile some of them on the blog in the coming weeks. 
That evening, Terrisa (still on west coast time) convinced me to hang out at the pro-life movement’s signature Irish establishment until about 2:00 a.m. I’m so glad she did, because I wound up having some conversations that I believe will be very beneficial to an upcoming SPL project. I’m not at liberty to go into any more detail than that for now. Suffice to say that there is a huge value in seeing people face-to-face, rather than just online. 
There’s been some debate within pro-life circles about the March for Life atmosphere. Critics say it’s taken on too celebratory a tone; this is a memorial for 60 million lives lost, not a party. I certainly agree that we must keep the victims of abortion at the forefront. On the other hand, the March for Life is the only opportunity many of us have to re-energize and be inspired by what our fellow activists are doing. A sense of camaraderie, and with it joy, is only natural. And sometimes, potentially life-saving conversations can happen at a bar in the wee hours of the morning. 
Friday morning, I said a brief hello to the Created Equal crew, who were setting up a Jumbotron display showing victims of abortion. I’m not interested in a graphic images debate, but I do think there is a time and a place for them, and I found Created Equal’s approach to be very moving. (Unfortunately, I found some others’ use of abortion imagery to be less so, even bordering on cartoonish. It’s a delicate balance.) 
Then I made my way to Constitution Ave, where Rehumanize International hosted a pre-March meetup. I was the first speaker, and you can watch the video here. People can’t seem to agree whether it was a poem or a rap; what do you think? Terrisa and Sarah also addressed the gathering, as did Krista Corbello, Ruben Verastigui, John Whitehead, Ifeoma Anunkor, and Aimee Murphy. 
Sadly, I didn’t get many March for Life photos this year, due to the fact that I had limited cell phone battery and I had stupidly left my nice camera in a taxi. But Rehumanize has some good ones, and you absolutely must see Students for Life of America’s time lapse video.
The biggest difference between this year’s March and past Marches? I only counted three counter-protesters at the Supreme Court. Usually there are at least a couple dozen. Your guess as to the reasons for the drop is as good as mine.
That evening, Rehumanize International and Secular Pro-Life jointly hosted a karaoke fundraiser. It was a great success and we hope to do it again next year!
On Saturday, we went to Georgetown University for the Cardinal O’Connor Conference on Life; the theme was “(Ir)religiously Pro-Life: The Future of the Movement in a Secular World.” I spent most of the day tabling, but I did get to hear keynote speaker Lila Rose, and I had the great honor of participating in the event’s closing panel. You can watch part of it on facebook, up until Terrisa’s phone died; official university footage should become available in a few weeks.
If you missed us in D.C., don’t fret; you can catch us in San Francisco this weekend!

March for Life recap

by

It’s been a hectic few days as we joined hundreds of thousands of pro-life advocates from all over the country. Secular Pro-Life was ably represented by three atheist women: yours truly (Kelsey Hazzard), co-admin Terrisa Bukovinac, and Sarah Terzo of ClinicQuotes.

I arrived in D.C. on Thursday and stopped by the March for Life Expo; Secular Pro-Life did not get a booth this year, but many of our friends did. I also encountered some organizations I wasn’t previously familiar with, that are doing awesome work. I may profile some of them on the blog in the coming weeks. 
That evening, Terrisa (still on west coast time) convinced me to hang out at the pro-life movement’s signature Irish establishment until about 2:00 a.m. I’m so glad she did, because I wound up having some conversations that I believe will be very beneficial to an upcoming SPL project. I’m not at liberty to go into any more detail than that for now. Suffice to say that there is a huge value in seeing people face-to-face, rather than just online. 
There’s been some debate within pro-life circles about the March for Life atmosphere. Critics say it’s taken on too celebratory a tone; this is a memorial for 60 million lives lost, not a party. I certainly agree that we must keep the victims of abortion at the forefront. On the other hand, the March for Life is the only opportunity many of us have to re-energize and be inspired by what our fellow activists are doing. A sense of camaraderie, and with it joy, is only natural. And sometimes, potentially life-saving conversations can happen at a bar in the wee hours of the morning. 
Friday morning, I said a brief hello to the Created Equal crew, who were setting up a Jumbotron display showing victims of abortion. I’m not interested in a graphic images debate, but I do think there is a time and a place for them, and I found Created Equal’s approach to be very moving. (Unfortunately, I found some others’ use of abortion imagery to be less so, even bordering on cartoonish. It’s a delicate balance.) 
Then I made my way to Constitution Ave, where Rehumanize International hosted a pre-March meetup. I was the first speaker, and you can watch the video here. People can’t seem to agree whether it was a poem or a rap; what do you think? Terrisa and Sarah also addressed the gathering, as did Krista Corbello, Ruben Verastigui, John Whitehead, Ifeoma Anunkor, and Aimee Murphy. 
Sadly, I didn’t get many March for Life photos this year, due to the fact that I had limited cell phone battery and I had stupidly left my nice camera in a taxi. But Rehumanize has some good ones, and you absolutely must see Students for Life of America’s time lapse video.
The biggest difference between this year’s March and past Marches? I only counted three counter-protesters at the Supreme Court. Usually there are at least a couple dozen. Your guess as to the reasons for the drop is as good as mine.
That evening, Rehumanize International and Secular Pro-Life jointly hosted a karaoke fundraiser. It was a great success and we hope to do it again next year!
On Saturday, we went to Georgetown University for the Cardinal O’Connor Conference on Life; the theme was “(Ir)religiously Pro-Life: The Future of the Movement in a Secular World.” I spent most of the day tabling, but I did get to hear keynote speaker Lila Rose, and I had the great honor of participating in the event’s closing panel. You can watch part of it on facebook, up until Terrisa’s phone died; official university footage should become available in a few weeks.
If you missed us in D.C., don’t fret; you can catch us in San Francisco this weekend!