On Friday, Jan. 29, a mostly-virtual March for Life took place in a notably different format from the usual event in Washington, D.C. After the March for Life announced that the event would not be open to the public due to COVID-19 risks and potential for civil unrest in the area, a small group of pro-life leaders marched in the capital with a range of speakers addressing the thousands of people streaming online.
“Almighty and eternal God, we give you thanks for the great gift of human life. While you created us individually and uniquely, you also created us to be in community with each other,” Archbishop Joseph Naumann said, starting the March off in a prayer of solidarity. “Although separated by physical distance, together we are united in you … Almighty God please pour out your graces on all our efforts and make us strong together united in life, this we ask in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God forever and ever. Amen.”
“It’s okay to recognize there is a somber tone even here today and amongst all of us, and I think back to John Paul II … he says ‘the heart of the tragedy being experienced by modern man is a loss of the sense of God in man,’” Sr. Virginia Joy of the Sisters of Life said to the livestreaming audience while walking through the capital. “[But] there is always reason to hope when we’re people of faith. God is in Heaven, His victory has been won, but we get to be just pilgrims here on earth, really to fight the good fight and we have to.”
Pope Francis granted a plenary indulgence to those who took part in the American March for Life events. A plenary indulgence is a remission of temporal punishment from sins already forgiven through the attainment of a valid Confession, reception of the Eucharist, and prayer for the intentions of the pontiff.
On the same day as the national March for Life, several dozen of New England’s pro-life leaders prayerfully and peacefully marched around the Boston Common before concluding with a Rosary and listening to speakers on the steps of the Massachusetts Statehouse.
“It was encouraging to see so many people from Massachusetts and beyond brave the bitter cold to make a public statement against abortion, from those who’ve been invested in the pro-life cause for decades to students and young adults carrying the torch for the next generation,” Mary Moser, Vice President of Boston Pro-Life Future, said. “Their witness is important to let our lawmakers know that we oppose the disturbing trend of abortion extremism and infanticide.”
In response to a new federal administration which has already repealed the Mexico City Policy preventing large-scale government funding of abortion overseas, various state legislatures are focusing on bills to protect preborn life. In Kansas, pro-life lawmakers on Jan. 28 passed a bill allowing for a voter referendum on the “Value Them Both” Amendment. The amendment would express that there is no state constitutional right to abortion and enable the state legislature to make laws that protect preborn children.
In Boston, the new year’s legislative session followed a contentious end to the last session in December on matters of life. On Dec. 24, 2020 addressing the annual budget bill that included pro-abortion provisions formerly called ‘The ROE Act’, Governor Charlie Baker vetoed line items that allowed for 16-year-old girls to procure abortions without parental notification or consent as well as unrestricted abortion up to birth. The Massachusetts Senate and House voted to override these gubernatorial line-item vetoes within a week, ensuring all these measures would become state law.
“The ROE ACT is extremely disturbing and dangerous, as it goes far beyond ‘choice’ and instead removes common sense protections for the lives and health of women and children in our state,” Moser said. “Even many who identify as pro-choice recognize that a 9-month-old baby in the womb a few days away from birth, or a baby who miraculously survives an abortion attempt and is born living and breathing on a table, deserves legal protection, and the fact that this bill allows the direct or passive killing of both is too far.”
Max Montana is a senior studying philosophy and theology. When not writing for The Torch, he enjoys reading more about the Catholic faith and philosophy, serving the unborn and mothers in need, and hanging out with friends. Max is honored to hail from the state with many gators and the bishop of the moon: Florida.
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