On June 24, 2022, the nation entered the post-Roe era. The Supreme Court overturned on that day federal law legalizing abortion, shifting the onus of determining legality to the states. As much as pro-life advocacy changed that day, it remained the same. 

 

In the summer months last year, one question buzzed around the pro-life community: Would the next March for Life still be held in Washington, D.C., in January 2023? 

 

Pro-life advocates have gathered in our nation’s capital since 1974 to witness to the horror of abortion and stand for the sanctity of human life from birth to natural death. After June’s Supreme Court announcement, many wondered about the need for a national March. Shouldn’t the focus shift to the states? 

 

That fall, Jeanne Mancini, president of the March for Life Education and Defense Fund, the organization that runs the March, named the January 2023 March as a still-necessary event to protect the preborn. 

 

Apart from a change in terminus, a move from the steps of the Supreme Court to the steps of the U.S. Capitol, the March continues and will be held next week on Jan. 20. 

 

“The goal of the national March for Life is to not only change laws at the state and federal level, but to change the culture to ultimately make abortion unthinkable,” Mancini said. 

 

Months before Mancini’s statement, Bishop David Malloy used that exact phrase in his Observer column that addressed the news of two potential abortion facilities in the city of Rockford. 

 

“We must speak out and make the case in favor of life. We must contact our legislators at all levels of government in our cities and state. … They must hear our voice of disapproval. There is much work that lies ahead to make abortion unthinkable,” Bishop Malloy wrote in the July 21, 2022, column. 

 

This spring we have two unique, local opportunities to raise our “voices of disapproval” in the public square. 

 

On March 21, 2023, the college campus pro-life organization We Dignify will hold a March for Life in Springfield at the Illinois State Capitol. All six Illinois Catholic dioceses, including Rockford, plan to send pilgrims to Springfield. Traditionally these marches draw parish or school youth groups, but we also encourage families and individuals to consider marching. 

 

In conjunction with the march, the Catholic Conference of Illinois, the public policy voice of the Illinois bishops, will hold its annual Life Advocacy Day. Those faithful who participate will have a brief training on witnessing for the sanctity of human life and current issues and then visit their state legislators to advocate for life on March 22. 

 

Registration information for the Diocese of Rockford pilgrimage to both these events will be released soon. If you are interested in attending or bringing a group from the parish, please send an email to us at life@rockforddiocese.org to request registration information when available. 

 

We, the faithful, can be inspired and equipped to witness for life by remembering who our God is. Bishop Malloy ended that July 2022 column with these words: “… with faith, good will and God’s help, we have both hope and conviction at this moment. God is, after all, the God of life.” 

 

Amen.