Pro-life activists unite at annual State House rally

Posted

PROVIDENCE — Pro-life activists from across Rhode Island gathered at the State House last Wednesday, Jan. 24, to demand greater protections for human life from state legislators at the annual pro-life rally organized by Rhode Island Right to Life.

Prayerful protest filled the State House rotunda as speakers addressed the pro-life work of the past year and looked ahead to the opportunities and challenges facing the pro-life movement in 2018. As Carol Owens, Life and Family coordinator for the Diocese of Providence, pointed out during an opening address, the annual event brings together activists from many organizations and denominations who work from locations around the state toward the same goal of recognition of human life.

“Whether we are right, left, liberal or conservative, we are all part of the human family,” she said.

While the tone of the rally was peaceful and positive, Barth Bracy, executive director of Rhode Island Right to Life, warned those gathered of a difficult fight in the legislative season ahead. Last year, pro-choice legislators attempted to remove nearly all restrictions on abortion in the state with the Reproductive Health Care Act, a bill that garnered significant support among the pro-abortion community before being held for further study. With a revised version of the bill introduced in the Senate on the same day as the rally and anticipated in the House, Bracy warned the crowd that the upcoming legislative session will once again require the full commitment of pro-life activists to counter the legislation by making their views known to elected officials.

“They’re going to fight hard. I need to let you know that if you don’t fight hard by calling your legislators, emailing your legislators, they’re going to win,” he said.

Bracy also encouraged pro-life activists to call upon their legislators to support House Bill 7026, the Rhode Island Unborn Child Protection from Dismemberment Abortion Act, and reminded them of the added weight of their voices during the coming election year as they carry their views with them to the voting booths during the September primary and the November general election. Like other speakers, he also commented on the strong turnout of young people at both the statewide rally and the national March for Life in Washington, D.C., the previous week.

“It gives you the sense of hope that this generation will overturn Roe v. Wade and end abortion,” he said.

One of these young people, Abigail Young, spoke about her work as a regional coordinator for Students for Life and shared the organization’s activities on college and high school campuses. She encouraged those gathered to take heart in the visibly growing pro-life presence among the millennial and younger generations.

“Our sole mission is to abolish abortion, and we know that this generation will be the one to do it,” she said. “They are the activists this country needs to not just make abortion illegal, but to make it unthinkable.”

Yojan Santes, a student at Awakening Leadership Center, Smithfield, also shared his perspective as a young pro-life activist. He spoke in particular about the connection between the concept of women’s choice furthered by the pro-choice movement and the abdication of responsibility by young men who grew up hearing that pregnancy is solely a woman’s concern, challenging his peers to change this mindset.

“I’m a 20-year-old man and I’m pro-life for a lot of reasons, but one of the reasons is this: I don’t want to see a generation of men who act like boys,” he told the crowd. “To men, I’d like to propose a challenge to grow up, to stand up and to take the role of father to generations of children whose lives literally depend on it.”

Santes was not alone in his view that abortion is harmful to women. Celia Wolf-Devine, a participant who attends St. Sebastian Church, Providence, told Rhode Island Catholic following the rally she thought abortion ultimately harms women by enabling men to walk out on their pregnant partners. Considering herself a pro-life feminist, she said today’s pro-choice movement is a far cry from the women’s movement as originally envisioned by leaders like Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton.

“As a pro-life woman, I think the most important thing is to support women in difficult circumstances,” she said. “There’s a lot of goodwill, a lot of generosity, and I would like to see the government give some money to crisis pregnancy centers because they have roots in the community.”

While some of those in attendance had been active in the pro-life movement for many years, others, like seventh-grader Ben Curtis, were just finding their voice. Curtis, a student at Our Lady of Mount Carmel School, Bristol, attended the rally for the first time with his family after placing second in Rhode Island Right to Life’s annual essay contest.

“They can’t defend themselves, so you have to defend them,” he told Rhode Island Catholic following the rally.

While the experience was new, Curtis said he was glad to see many familiar faces from his parish, Holy Ghost Church, Tiverton, united at the pro-life event.

“It’s amazing to see how many people come here to do this. It’ll be interesting to see how it turns out,” he said.