Pro-life rally: The tide is turning

Participants in the eighth annual Midwest March for Life make their way back to the Capitol after completing the march Saturday morning through parts of downtown. They then gathered for a rally in the Capitol Rotunda.
Participants in the eighth annual Midwest March for Life make their way back to the Capitol after completing the march Saturday morning through parts of downtown. They then gathered for a rally in the Capitol Rotunda.

Perseverance.

That was the theme for the eighth annual Midwest March for Life, held Saturday in Jefferson City.

Organizers estimated a thousand or more people came to the event with some coming from Arkansas, Illinois and Kansas.

Marchers met at the Selinger Center at St. Peter Catholic Church on Broadway St. and marched on the sidewalks around the Capitol, going down East Capitol Avenue past the Governor's Mansion, then down Madison Street before turning onto West Main Street to head back to the Capitol for a rally.

Marchers heard from Zina Hackworth of This Race Will Self-Destruct in St. Louis, a mother-daughter abstinence/pro-life workshop for young black adolescent girls.

"In 1973, when Roe vs. Wade was argued in the U.S. Supreme Court, I was 8 years old and I am tired of abortion being legal in this country," she said. "I am 53 now and there is something wrong that it is still legal. We need judges and politicians who will end abortion. I am tired of having to have a pro-life rally and marches because what that says is we have been defeated. I want a victory over abortion march."

Lou Holtmann represented the Missouri State Council for Knights of Columbus who were recognized for their efforts to bring 43 sonogram machines to pregnancy relief centers across Missouri.

"Think about this - 60 million babies have been lost since Roe vs. Wade," Holtmann told the crowd. "This represents the population of North and South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri, Michigan, Illinois, Indiana, Arkansas and Oklahoma. All the people in these states would be gone. If anywhere in the world someone got rid of 60 million people we'd all be on the front line to end it. What's wrong here?"

Patty Skain of Missouri Right to Life told the crowd while there are days when it is not easy to carry on their fight, there is hope that within the next few months or perhaps a year they could get one of the strongest right to life pieces of legislation ever passed in Missouri.

"When we began in 1974, and for several years after that, we had many losses and it was tough," Skain said. "But now, things have changed thanks to new lawmakers and judges and that is due to the grass roots folks, like you, working with us."

Bridget Van Means is president of Thrive Express Women's Healthcare in St. Louis, which has three centers and four mobile centers. She told the crowd that last year they saved 1,850 babies through their advocacy efforts and they're working to make Missouri the first abortion-free state in the nation.

"If there is one message I want you to hear it's that what you do matters," she said. "I think many times we feel discouraged about our efforts, but we need to remember that over 50 percent of our country is pro-life and only 12 percent of the nation believes there should be total access to abortions. My daughter converted her eighth-grade class to be pro-life. When you don't stay quiet and you prepare your argument, those things matter."

State Sen. Andrew Koenig, R- Manchester, was honored with the Team PLAY Patriot and Statesman For Life Award in recognition of his sponsoring Missouri Senate Bill 5. The bill requires doctors providing an abortion to be the one who tells a woman of the medical risks 72 hours in advance of the abortion. The law also put in a new abortion clinic inspection regime, new prosecuting powers for the attorney general, new whistleblower protections for clinic employees, and a section requiring tissue removed during an abortion be sent to a pathologist within 72 hours.

"Denying that life begins in the womb is the equivalent to saying the Earth is flat," Koenig said. "Scientific evidence shows life exists in the womb. When Roe vs. Wade was first brought up, the prime argument was the 14th Amendment to the Constitution. It reads that 'nor shall any state deprive any person of life, liberty or property without due process of law.' It's delusional to think the word liberty means you can kill your child, especially when right before that the Constitution says every person has the right to life."

Kristin Wood, president of Missouri Students for Life in Columbia, told the crowd the tide is turning among young people about abortion.

"Young people have an increasing respect for life," she said. "Three years ago only five students from Mizzou attended the March for Life in Washington, D.C. This year we had 18. We also received the Chancellor's Award for most improved student organization beating out every other club on our campus. We are bold and not afraid of change."

March organizers are hopeful for another large turnout March 13 when a pro-life lobby day will take place at the Capitol.