Participants in Midwest March for Life urged to 'make the case for life'

By Jay Nies Catholic News Service

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (CNS) -- For many of the more than 2,500 people joining the 13th Midwest March for Life, the possibility that the U.S. Supreme Court will overturn its 1973 decision that legalized abortion was on their minds.

Hearing from several speakers, including prolife activists and Bishop W. Shawn McKnight of Jefferson City, the crowd gathered in the Rotunda of the Missouri State Capitol was resolute in their purpose: ending abortion.

"If the Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade as we have been praying and working for, or it greatly expands the limitations on abortion that can be legally enforced, abortion will be debated again in every state legislature, guaranteed," Bishop McKnight told marchers April 20 during the 13th annual march.

The Supreme Court did seem poised to overturn the nearly 50-year-old Roe decision, according to a leaked initial draft of a court opinion obtained by Politico and published online late May 2.

To advance the culture of life, the bishops said, people must be willing to "make the case for life ourselves" and in lobbying efforts.

"We must be a people unafraid to stand up for the weakest among us. We must support the dignity of all human life and never tire of the demands of what it means to be pro-life," he said.

Most of the daylong event's festivities were moved inside because of rain, although the march did take place through the streets of the capital.

Father Anthony Viviano, moderator for pro-life ministries in the Jefferson City Diocese, opened the march with prayer, asking God to "enkindle an undying passion for the mission for which we gather this day."

"Father," he prayed, "we gather as protectors for 'the least of yours,' those most precious to you in their complete and total innocence. We come before you, Lord, as 'poor beggars,' seeking the courage, the resilience and a warrior's spirit to protect the unborn."

He was followed by several speakers and award presentations.

Bridget Van Means, president of ThriVe St. Louis, a women's health care center, gave the Patriot for Life Award to state Republican state Rep. Mary Elizabeth Coleman for her efforts in the legislature to end abortion.

"I don't know why we're still fighting this 50 years later, but our time is not God's time, and he calls us not to be successful but to be faithful," Coleman said.

Van Means also was honored, receiving the Vision Champion for Life Award from Missouri Lieutenant Governor Mike Kehoe.

"It is essential that we continue to make our voice heard," Van Means said in accepting the award.

Joan Kane, a member of the board of directors of Support After Abortion, urged participants to cultivate a listening ear and an open heart in order to help people who have been wounded by abortion find the healing they need.

"There's always more than one victim of abortion," Kane said.

Keynote speaker Abby Johnson, a prolife activist who previously managed a Planned Parenthood clinic, emphasized the importance of not just saving babies' lives but  saving souls.

That's why she founded And Then There Were None, an organization that helps people who are seeking to transition from employment in which they are participating in abortion.

"I want not one person to perish in hell," she said. "Not one! And while the work that we do is very important -- saving babies from abortion -- the work that we do with these mothers, the work that we do with these abortion-clinic workers, their souls are just as important as the physical lives of the babies we are trying to save."

Johnson noted that people standing on a sidewalk outside the clinic she once managed spoke honestly with her, telling her that what she was doing was wrong. Still, she said, her work is about converting hearts, not changing laws.

"You want to change a culture, you convert hearts to Christ," she said. "You want to end abortion? You bring these women to Jesus Christ."

After marching through Jefferson City, young participants returned to the state capitol building to learn about how to defend the cause for life.

Youth activist Hope Miller said the goal cannot be to change another person's mind with one discussion.

"Your goal must be to plant a seed that someone else will help grow," she said.

Reagan Barklage, national field team director for Students for Life America, told the marchers it is also important to compassionately explain the abortion procedure.

"Argue the humanity of the human baby," she said.

"Read, learn, speak intelligently, have conversations, work to change hearts," she added. "Nobody has all the answers, and that's okay. But never be afraid to get involved and speak up."

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Nies is editor of The Catholic Missourian, newspaper of the Diocese of Jefferson City.