By Jim Sedlak
Last week, our ALL team had a booth at the March for Life in Washington, DC. We spent most of Wednesday through Friday talking and interacting with pro-lifers from across the United States and some foreign countries. It was an exciting time. The folks we met were surely on fire for LIFE.
Our booth was focused on the spiritual battle against abortion. We encouraged people to join the Marian Blue Wave to end abortion and close down every Planned Parenthood facility in the country. The response was great. Hundreds of people signed up to say one Rosary a week. More took our card and signed up later by texting WAVE to 66866.
Then came the physical march on Friday, when President Trump became the first sitting president to ever speak from the stage of the March for Life. His remarks were spectacular. You can read his full statement on the White House website. Here are just a few excerpts:
All of us here today understand an eternal truth: Every child is a precious and sacred gift from God. [Applause.] Together, we must protect, cherish, and defend the dignity and sanctity of every human life. [Applause.]
When we see the image of a baby in the womb, we glimpse the majesty of God’s creation. [Applause.] When we hold a newborn in our arms, we know the endless love that each child brings to a family. When we watch a child grow, we see the splendor that radiates from each human soul. One life changes the world. . . .
We cannot know what our citizens yet unborn will achieve, the dreams they will imagine, the masterpieces they will create, the discoveries they will make. But we know this: Every life brings love into this world. Every child brings joy to a family. Every person is worth protecting. [Applause.] And above all, we know that every human soul is divine, and every human life—born and unborn—is made in the holy image of Almighty God. [Applause.]
Together, we will defend this truth all across our magnificent land. We will set free the dreams of our people. And with determined hope, we look forward to all of the blessings that will come from the beauty, talent, purpose, nobility, and grace of every American child.
WOW! We have waited 47 years for a president to say those words at the March for Life.
But, if I am to be honest in this reflection, everything was not great at this year’s march. In conversations, we heard leaders of a number of pro-life groups (I will not name any particular ones) begin to talk about compromise. Continue to push legislation with exceptions. Even advocate for creating legislation based on consensus. It was heartbreaking.
The president got it right: “We know that every human soul is divine, and every human life—born and unborn—is made in the holy image of Almighty God.”
But there are some pro-life leaders who justify allowing some babies to die because “we have to save as many as we can.”
The founder of the March for Life, Nellie Gray, would never accept that argument. She was a champion of no-exceptions legislation, and I personally heard her take politicians to task for supporting exceptions legislation.
In memory of Nellie Gray, and in support of the numerous pro-life leaders she taught and who fight always for the lives of every preborn child, I pray that God will shower His graces on the country and lead us to the end of the killing of His youngest human beings, with no exceptions.
Jim Sedlak is executive director of American Life League, founder of STOPP International, and host of a weekly talk show on the Radio Maria Network. He has been successfully fighting Planned Parenthood since 1985.
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