If you’ve been following the blog, you know why we bring abortion victim images to the pro-abortion Women’s March, but some might wonder why we show them to a march led by pro-lifers. There are five main reasons.
1) There are abortion supporters at these events
Consider the following testimony from Mary Anne, a caller into Teresa Tomeo’s Catholic Connection. “[My family] were witnesses to three young people- two guys and one woman- who were carrying pro-abortion signs. And they got to the point in the March [for Life] where there were photographs of abortion and the video of an abortion. And the woman stopped dead in her tracks. She started to cry. She put down her sign, and she picked up a pro-life sign.”
2) Not everyone at these events is completely set in their anti-abortion beliefs
After the 2017 march, a young girl named Megan shared with us the impact seeing the victims had on her. “My first time going to the March for Life, I wasn’t sure where I stood on abortion. But when my friend and I saw your signs, we just stopped and cried. Immediately, my mind changed on abortion.”
3) There are people in the area not necessarily associated with the events who don’t know the truth about abortion
A security officer named “Daniel” told us, “I worked the [Students for Life] conference two years ago and I saw your stand. It was the first time I saw abortion. I had no idea it was really like this. It completely changed my mind instantaneously… Thank you for your service. You’ll save more lives than I will!” Who knows how many more like him there are? There certainly are many. Even the FBI, in since deleted correspondences, talks about our JumboTron at the March for Life.
4) This compels those present to make greater efforts to fight abortion
We must see the whole truth of what abortion does to preborn children to fully comprehend what abortion is and to appropriately fight against it. “My daughter, Renee, saw this video at the March for Life two years ago, when she was 16. As soon as she saw the images, she became truly pro-life and has since been striving to end abortion,” a father who was marching told us this last year. He explained that it was seeing the victims that made his daughter go home and truly live out being “pro-life”. Seeing the victims inspires action, bold action. It makes people realize that holding a pro-life opinion isn’t enough; they must take direct action to end the injustice.
5) The victims of abortion deserve to be present at events designed for them
Last, and most importantly, marches against injustice belong to the victims of that injustice. As apologist Stephanie Gray notes, “Historically, marches were effective for campaigns like the Civil Rights Movement because the very people being victimized participated.” We would never tell African-Americans who had been beaten bloody and scarred that their pictures were too graphic to be present in a Civil Rights march. This would limit the power of the demonstration and, more tragically, kick the victims out of an event allegedly created for them.
Why, then, would we censor images of abortion victims at an event designed for them?
We must remember we are not marching for born people. We march so that the nation’s attention might be brought to the holocaust being perpetrated against our preborn brothers and sisters. The victims deserve to and must be the focus among the movement fighting for their rights.
Longtime pro-life leader Joe Scheidler says this about our JumboTron at the March for Life: “What surprised me were people marching in an effort to stop abortion and being shocked out of their wits when they see the victims they are marching for. Admittedly the images are as shocking as they can be, but are absolutely necessary for all pro-lifers (and the pro-aborts standing around) to see. I think it is the one vital ingredient that has been missing all these years in the March for Life.”
Don’t let your marching this weekend be the only pro-life thing you do this year. If you’re looking for ideas of ways to take action, click HERE. While you march, remember why you’re there, resolve to do everything within your power to bring the killing to an end, and make sure you fellow marchers do the same.
Watch below the video we show on our JumoboTron.