SPECIAL： Biggest Pro-Life Moments from the 2024 March For Life
Episode Stats
Length
1 hour and 6 minutes
Words per Minute
161.5968
Summary
March for Life is a movement of love that fights for the sanctity of the life of the unborn. In this episode of Life Site News, we sit down with Jacinta Righi from Life Site League and many other participants in the March for Life League to talk about their experience attending the march and what it means to be a part of the pro-life movement.
Transcript
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Abortion, the sanctity of the life of the unborn is the preeminent issue of our time.
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And I think more and more people are seeing that the evils we're seeing, child trafficking, the pornography,
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all sorts of evils are coming out of a lack of respect that life comes from God.
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And when we don't respect that, everything starts to unravel.
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Every single human person, every single human person from the womb to the tomb was created in the image of God and has a right to life.
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This is John Henry Weston for LifeSite News, and we are down with a whole crew here as well as Jacinta Righi from LifeSite League
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and many other participants in the league at March for Life 2024 in Washington, D.C.
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One of the first events every year is this prayer protest outside of the Planned Parenthood
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where many pro-life leaders are here giving short testimonies, testimonies from victims of abortion.
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And now Frank Pavone is reading, the head of Priests for Life, is reading a list of the names of the women
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who have gone into Planned Parenthood for abortions but never came out themselves.
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This list of young ladies goes on and on and on and on as he reads them.
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And in between each name, Lord have mercy on them.
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This is a movement of love, not only for babies in the womb,
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but for their mothers who are sometimes deceived into going into abortion that leads them into a life of hell.
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And they need to repent from it, come out of it, and be healed from it.
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It's also a joyful time because there are literally hundreds of thousands of young people here.
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Already we know that Bishop Strickland's on his way.
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He's going to be given an award on the day of the March for Life.
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One thing we're going to be doing together is praying.
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Just before the March at 11, we're going to be praying together the Holy Rosary outside of the National Art Gallery,
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only a block or so from the start of the March for Life.
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Stick with us for this coverage, and may God bless you.
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We are just out here today to represent the pro-life generation, really show up, show that the pro-life movement is predominantly made up of this next generation
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who is ready to continue to fight for life in all sorts of circumstances.
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It is more important now than pre-Dobbs to continue to fight for life because although we had that tremendous victory on June 24th of 2022,
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abortion is still legal in the majority of states in our country,
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and there is still so much work we have to do at all different levels from fighting for life in law,
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like Students for Life Action is doing at the Capitol here and in state legislatures across the country,
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to equipping women in our communities with resources like our initiative Standing With You
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and all of our student groups on over 1,400 campuses across the country are doing.
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There is so much more work to be done in the pro-life movement,
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and the pro-life generation is not going to stop until abortion is not only illegal but unthinkable.
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I've been coming for the last maybe 10 years or so with a group from the Virgin Islands,
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and grew in the faith and came along, and I eventually met my wife here a few years later.
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And so it's a great reunion, and also very important to pray for the moms and also the babies who are dying.
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It's great to get together with like-minded individuals, to keep on praying, to reunite,
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to actually unite at the foot of the cross, which is Planned Parenthood, like Father Frank just said.
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I've been just going to the National March for Life since I was in high school,
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doing mission work for a group called Copes for Christ,
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and I've just believed in life ever since, like continue to celebrate life, continue to defend life.
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I mean, we need more people of the younger generation to step up.
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Without the right to life, there are no other rights.
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Rights are good of human persons, and every child in the womb is our neighbor.
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And the womb is the first home of the whole human race.
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I mean, medical science has confirmed what our conscience long ago told us,
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what the scriptures and the unbroken teaching of the church for 2,000 years has affirmed.
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There is a fundamental right to life because every man and woman and child has been created in the image of God.
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As a lawyer, I'm happy to have seen Roe overturned and Casey with it.
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We now have 50 battles, although 14 states have made great progress,
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And our children in the womb are our first neighbors.
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Standing with my friend, Frank Bivono, I've known for a long time.
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And standing tomorrow with my dear friend, Bishop Joseph Strickland,
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This is Louis Konefki reporting live at the Capitol.
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And we're joined here by Congressman Chris Smith just after a press conference
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in which a number of legislators here on the Capitol have come in support of the crisis pregnancy centers.
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So, Congressman, maybe if you could tell us just a little about the bill that was introduced today
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and maybe any other actions or movement within Congress regarding the pregnancy centers,
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especially in light of all the violence that they've suffered since Dobbs.
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Well, you know, the president has declared war on pregnancy care centers.
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And, you know, I can understand some of the people who work for him.
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You know, they're Planned Parenthood people and others.
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But he used to be with us on funding, and now he's going all out to decimate the pregnancy care centers,
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taking away, you know, they're not enforcing the law as it relates to the violence that has been committed against them,
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We had one of the leaders here talk about that briefly today at our press conference.
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And so there's a lack of concern for the welfare and well-being of those who man these amazing pregnancy care centers
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that save lives every day and love both the mother and the baby in such an unconditional way.
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And to see the president then looking to do this rule that would say that TANF funding,
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which, you know, the aid for the indigent, for the poor,
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is not eligible for those who are getting services from pregnancy care centers,
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Michelle Fischbach had a bill up today that would stop that.
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It's going to have hard times over in the Senate side.
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and these unconscionably wrong and discriminatory policies that Biden's putting into place
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because he integrates abortion, as you know, into everything.
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and community outpatient clinics to promote abortion, to do abortions.
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Everywhere you look, I've never seen anything like it.
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So in the House, do you think there is enough support right now to actually pass this bill?
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Barring some unforeseen, and we'll know very shortly,
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you know, we've worked very hard and we think the votes will be there.
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I'm still a little taken back by the passion of the Democrats and the abortionists in the House.
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How could they be so against something, either they don't know about it,
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how long have they ever gone and visited a pregnancy resource center
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and seen the love and the compassion manifested by those individuals?
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So, you know, and as I said a moment ago in the press conference,
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even when a woman aborts, who's there for them?
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It's the Pregnancy Care Center people, it's our church, you know, reaching out and saying,
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you know, God loves you, we love you, we're going to help you.
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So then if this fails in the Senate, we should likely do.
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Well, my fear is it won't even get up for a vote.
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So if that's the case, will this be resurrected?
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And, you know, other iterations of it, you know, there are other things we could be doing.
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And we have another bill that we're putting in that would go even further.
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And then what are some of the details of the bill?
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Is it funding primarily for the pregnancy centers or protections?
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Protections, that's all a matter of prosecutorial discretion on the part of the Justice Department
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to say this is serious and we're going to do it.
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We're going to protect these, you know, and go all out and do the kind of investigations
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that they are capable of but they have completely been AWOL on under this Attorney General and this President.
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So would the bill put pressure on the DOJ to prosecute them?
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They would provide a new bill we're doing, a private right of action, so that these organizations
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They're not out here asking for federal funds, but when a poor person comes and has needs
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that could be met and should be met because they happen to meet the poverty guidelines and
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they're below them, they should get it and not be told, oh, you can't get it from a pregnancy
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And then there was a bill in the fall that you joined Chip Roy on regarding repealing the
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But for the record, I led the effort against the FACE Act back in 1993-ish when Schumer was
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a House member and he got past this bill that criminalizes civil disobedience, nonviolent
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direct action, and does it in a way that is viewpoint specific.
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If you're pro-life, you're targeted, if you're arguing for labor rights and I'm all for picketing
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and sit-ins and, you know, whether loans are nonviolent, you know, you're okay.
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But there's a federal offense leading to felony and confiscation of just about all you own,
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including your 401k, that goes to the abortion clinic.
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I mean, it's a perverse, perverse law, and I'm dead set against it, and I led the effort
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So are you saying if someone loses in a FACE Act trial, their assets or whatever goes to
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Because right now, you could say, I'm blocking your way to get to the Capitol.
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I mean, nonviolent civil disobedience, especially, you know, a sit-in or something, or even just
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standing, you're out there doing sidewalk counseling, say, hey, would you reconsider?
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Somebody says, he was in my way, he was blocking my entranceway.
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And so I could be blocking your way into the Capitol right now, and you could sue me if this
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One last question, and then I'll let you go, Congressman.
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So eight pro-lifers were jailed last year for a FACE Act violation here in D.C.
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Because they're literally just across the river in Alexandria.
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Just to encourage them, you know, we have a very hostile administration.
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You know, again, part of what some of them were protesting was the very, very late-term
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abortions, including five that those individuals probably, one of them at least, or maybe more,
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were killed with partial birth abortion, which is an illegal method.
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You know, and there's been no investigation by D.C. or by the Attorney General, and instead,
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those who raised these issues find themselves behind bars.
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So the encouragement is, you know, my hope is your sacrifice is not in vain.
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We're trying to change laws and policy, hearts and minds.
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But we still have a situation where it's open season, literally open season on unborn babies.
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Well, thank you, Congressman, for all your pro-life work.
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And it is very appreciated by those of us who are trying—
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Yeah, well, you're up there in the front lines in Congress.
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Well, Jim Harden, thank you for joining us today.
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So we were just out on the steps of the Capitol.
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And maybe for the LifeSite viewers, if you could refresh us on what you do.
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You're in the Christ Pregnancy Center industry.
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And you're helping save lives, helping women in their time of need.
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And your particular crisis pregnancy center up in New York, as I understand, was firebombed just before the Dobbs decision.
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So if you could just tell us what happened and what you do and what has happened since.
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Well, Compass Care has a network of medical pregnancy resource centers all across New York State, in Buffalo, Rochester, Albany, and in Brooklyn, New York.
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And shortly after the illegal, unprecedented leak of a full-draft Supreme Court opinion, the Dobbs case,
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that sparked a crime wave of pro-abortion terror attacks against pregnancy centers and other pro-life entities across the country.
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The first firebombing occurred in Madison, Wisconsin, on Mother's Day, May 8, 2022.
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And Jane's Revenge, a pro-abortion terrorist group that's a front for Antifa, took responsibility for that
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and issued an ultimatum for pregnancy centers to shut down or face similar attacks.
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On day 30, which was their ultimatum, 30 days, we were firebombed.
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That was in Buffalo, New York, half a million dollars of damage.
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Two firefighters were injured and putting out the blaze.
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And by God's grace, the people of God and his church and through Buffalo and across the country came together
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and rebuilt the entire facility in a Nehemiah-like 52 days.
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We were back up and running, providing medical care out of that facility.
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Now, mind you, Compass Care never stopped providing medical services to women facing unplanned pregnancy in Buffalo.
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We immediately pivoted to another office because of the generosity of the people of God in Buffalo.
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So, we were still serving patients the very next day.
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We had to file a lawsuit against the local police department responsible for the investigation
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We needed to get our evidence back so we could give it to our private investigators that we hired
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So, we've been putting pressure on the House and Senate Judiciary Committees to ask
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Christopher Wray, the FBI director, and Merrick Garland of the DOJ
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as to why they've abdicated their duty to investigate as well as indict.
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So, we're expecting that they'll be held accountable.
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And we're hoping that they'll either be impeached and or indicted for conspiracy to deprive pro-life people
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of equal protection under the law, a violation of the 14th Amendment.
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Do you have any plans to press this case further?
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And, you know, perhaps that the change of personnel at the FBI actually find who it was who firebombed
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If the next president is pro-life, I think he can do a lot of good.
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I think he can pardon every peaceful pro-lifer that's been illegally indicted for FACE Act violations.
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I think he can not just replace and fire Christopher Wray and Merrick Garland,
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but I think he can actually route out the corruption within the FBI because it's his purview, by the way.
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So, I think a lot of good can happen if you get the right executive in the office relative to justice being done for all people
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We're being treated like second-class citizens because of what we believe.
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We believe that all people are made in the image of God and, therefore, equally valuable,
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The Declaration of Independence says we are endowed by our Creator, capital C,
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with certain unalienable rights, the first of which, the basis of all other rights, is the right to life.
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And so, I think a solid president who understands the need to protect all people, including pre-born boys and girls,
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will go a long way in routing out the corruption and re-civilizing our country.
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And then maybe if you could tell us a little about what your pregnancy center offers the services
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and perhaps also what are the most common situations in which women come to you
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and how you meet them in those needs that they have.
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So, when a woman faces an unplanned pregnancy, she feels stuck.
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She says, I'm stuck, I'm trapped, I've got no other choice, I need to have an abortion.
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And so, we come alongside of her with ethical medical care and comprehensive community support
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to give her a vision of her future after having had a child
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so that she can walk out of our first appointment with Compass Care and say,
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I see now how it's possible, we truly empower her with a choice.
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And so, we provide early pregnancy diagnosis through ultrasound technology.
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We provide progesterone pregnancy-sustaining therapy to reverse the effects of the dangerous chemical abortion drug.
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A study came out saying that 1 in 10 women who start the chemical abortion process end up in the emergency room.
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That's half of all pregnancies in America right now, and that's at the Supreme Court.
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So, we're waiting to see what the Supreme Court does with that particular case
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and pushes it back, hopefully, to the FDA and say,
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do your job, take this dangerous drug off the market and protect women.
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Do you have anything that you want to say to those who are coming to D.C. in the midst of the cold
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and perhaps to mothers or pro-lifers who are not able to make it?
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Yeah, so all the pro-lifers out there that are coming to the March for Life
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as well as the ones that couldn't make it, I would say, keep it up.
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There's a new chapter in America right now when it comes to the fight for life
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and for not just babies in the womb but also pre-born, but also other mothers.
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It went from, you know, a lot of people thought that if we could just reverse Roe versus Wade
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What overturning Roe did was created abortion tourism dynamics in abortion hub states.
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So, we've got to be diligent because the fight is getting more intense at the state level.
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So, unity and vigilance is key for every pro-life citizen in America today.
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Well, thank you so much, Jim, and I look forward to perhaps seeing you again one day here in D.C.
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John Henry Weston for LifeSite News here with Jacinta Righi from LifeSite League.
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We're standing, obviously, in front of a building we all hope will be changing residence very soon.
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We're expecting a huge crowd at the March for Life to ensure that this residence changes occupants.
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Yeah, we're hoping to get a big crowd here, but I'm so excited.
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And, yeah, we're just hoping to make a difference and see a lot of people out here today.
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As you know, we're going to be out front of the National Arts Gallery at 11 o'clock an hour before the march started to pray the Holy Rosary.
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And Bishop Strickland just called me yesterday to tell me that he's on his way here.
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He's getting an award, and it's going to be awesome.
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So we hope that you will join us at LifeSite News for all of the events at the National March for Life.
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For this is my body, which will be given up for you.
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And every type of thing which is so, so serious,
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like the killing of these hundreds and thousands and millions of innocent children.
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And the only real answer we can have to do against that
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injustice and rebuilding opportunities so that mothers
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With deep compassion, we must love kindness by offering
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a continuum of care that provides lasting resources
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in our own power, may we always realize that our wisdom
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and our strength is found by humbly seeking God's direction
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Emotion runs really high in mountaintop gatherings like these,
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Men, in a country where too many of our marriages are crumbling,
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go back to your homes and fight for your families.
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Civic leaders in the current climate of compromise,
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go back to your committees and your communities
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All of you frontline workers in pregnancy resource centers
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around the country and other life-affirming organizations.
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Go back to your posts knowing that every encounter
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And all you young people, with all of your energy
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and all of your ingenuity, go back to your schools
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Be leaders that are unashamed to stand for life.
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Friends, friends, keep pressing on, keep pressing on,
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keep pressing on until abortion is not only unthinkable,
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Okay, guys, we are here with LifeSite League and LifeSite News
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Because I stand for life and believe life begins at conception.
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Yeah, we took, I think, like 17 buses or something like that.
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Don't quote me on the number, but there are a lot of buses and they were pretty packed.
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Well, thank you for being here, AJ, and thanks for being on camera with us today.
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We are with the Parishes of St. Michael, St. Mary's, and St. Joseph's of the Coopersville,
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We have 13 people that came from our churches to come March for Life.
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And why is it important for you to be at the March for Life this year?
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This year, this is my 10th year coming, bringing individuals from our parishes to come March
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To me, the March for Life and just saving the babies from the point that they are conceived.
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And we need to give every opportunity to show that mothers and their babies are fully
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Thank you all for coming here, especially in the freezing cold.
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So on the count of three, you can all scream March for Life.
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And what organization or group are you with today?
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We're with St. Louis Parish in Clarksville, Maryland.
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Because there's nothing more important than the sanctity of life.
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Our whole country was built on the graces that come from God and knowing that all of our rights, particularly the right to life, come from God.
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And we've lost that in the last couple of generations here.
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So the whole foundation of our country is being dismantled.
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We're here to witness to the origins for United States of America, as well as God's love for us.
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We're all about freedom and just basic rights in this country, and that's what's being taken away from us.
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Yes, we've got a lot of manufactured, alleged rights, which are displacing essential foundational rights.
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Well, thank you so much for being here and for interviewing with us today.
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We came as a community from Metro Detroit, Arizona, California.
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And how about, like, how many people came with you today?
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So as you know, the Roe v. Wade was already overturned.
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Why is it still important, do you think, to be coming to the March for Life?
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We understand that there's the unplanned pregnancies, but this is something that we want to continue to fight for,
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those children that can't speak for themselves.
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I mean, especially as followers of Christ, we're not going to stop until we fulfill his word
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Do you go to a college that is pro-life or anything like that?
00:35:47.460
No, sadly enough, I don't have the funds to be able to go to a school like that.
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We're going to be a Passover, which is very secular.
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But, you know, we're still like, you know, God still wants us to like, you know, go anywhere you can.
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And then, you know, in every moment, trying, you know, with prudence, you know, bring him to whoever you can.
00:36:05.460
And why are you at the March for Life this year?
00:36:11.460
But I think it's like even with, you know, Roe v. Wade being overturned and everything, you know, it's like you can never stop going.
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You have to keep moving forward because sin never rests.
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Therefore, we must always be vigilant and just, you know, as long as we're still in this world, you know, Christ will come.
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But until then, we must make good with the time we have.
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I'm actually working right now in youth ministry part time.
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Yeah, I work at a school in Old Town like part time.
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And then I, you know, take classes over at Nova and then, yeah.
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Because I know I went to a pretty liberal college.
00:36:50.460
And whenever I mentioned the word abortion, whenever you mentioned the word abortion really anywhere, there seems to be like violence.
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There seems to be like a chill that comes about the room.
00:37:01.460
And like, why is it important to make sure it's a topic that's always talked about, the pro-life movement and just abortion and all of that?
00:37:08.460
And like, God commands us to, you know, I mean, Jesus said like, you know, go, go therefore and make disciples.
00:37:14.460
And like, part of that is saying, you know, God is like, you know, I'm not the God of the dead, but of the living.
00:37:19.460
And so it's like, you know, this is about life.
00:37:22.460
And so you come here to facilitate and move forward, you know, the agenda ultimately of God, which is not for death, but of life.
00:37:31.460
And, you know, to give up on that call is, you know, to ultimately disobey God, which, you know, we shouldn't do.
00:37:38.460
That's what God didn't make us for, you know, confusion and death and all this other nonsense that, you know, surrounds us.
00:37:44.460
But yeah, as soon as, if we let go of this, you know, you let go of everything else.
00:37:49.460
So that's why you can't, you got to fight, you know, no matter what to the death.
00:37:54.460
And it's a basic human right that we have is to live.
00:37:59.460
Well, you know, I think it's sad because of our generation.
00:38:03.460
There's a lot of kids who don't know, like, you know, the beauty in life and things like that.
00:38:07.460
They kind of live in a world where, you know, they have technology, many other things making them depressed and sad and then break up a family, things like that.
00:38:15.460
So it may cause them to not want to, you know, appreciate life.
00:38:19.460
So then when you see them not understanding, you know, that the most vulnerable life point, you know, it's like they don't see it as a living person or a thing.
00:38:27.460
It's just like, you know, what they call blood tissue.
00:38:29.460
It's of heart, like God, that Jesus talks about in the Bible, you know, they have hardened their hearts against me.
00:38:35.460
And, you know, that an example is, you know, not caring about unborn life.
00:38:40.460
Well, thank you guys so much for speaking to us today and stay warm.
00:38:50.460
And can you tell them what you do for a living?
00:38:53.460
So I am a religion teacher at a Catholic parochial middle school in Maryland.
00:38:59.460
And you hear so many times people say abortion or pro-life or all of that should be hidden from kids and not talked about in schools.
00:39:07.460
Why is it important to you to talk to sixth graders, any type of middle schooler about the pro-life movement?
00:39:13.460
Well, I think the earlier that our students and our youth can understand the sanctity and dignity of every human life and the importance of this issue, the better.
00:39:23.460
From a personal standpoint, I think my nephew, he wouldn't be on this earth right now if my older sister didn't hear that message when she was in middle school and high school.
00:39:34.460
And it wouldn't have been as important to me either, right, if it wasn't something that I heard from a younger age.
00:39:41.460
So it's a time when they can see things a lot better, I think, like black and white and just be set on fire for this movement.
00:39:49.460
And then when they go out into the world and they graduate, they already have that in them instead of going out and people telling them there's ten genders and there's like all these things, you know.
00:39:59.460
If you instill in them at a young age, once they become older, they're going to be so much more fierce in the movement and their beliefs are going to be so much stronger.
00:40:19.460
So their signs are getting a lot of turned heads.
00:40:26.460
We all know what it means, but like where do you guys come from?
00:40:46.460
We think everyone else should have more babies.
00:41:06.460
Okay, so do you guys, are you guys at a, do you go to college anywhere or what?
00:41:12.460
And the rest of us are currently going to Franciscan.
00:41:19.460
At least I know I have since I've been like seven.
00:41:21.460
Okay, so obviously you know Roe v. Wade was overturned.
00:41:24.460
Why do you think it's still important that we're doing this even though Roe v. Wade was
00:41:29.460
So Roe v. Wade was a big deal, right, getting overturned because that means that, you know,
00:41:37.460
That's important probably more than ever for us to really overturn it at the state level,
00:41:41.460
right, so that abortion actually becomes illegal and, you know, life can prosper.
00:41:46.460
Not to mention that this now is like a celebration of life.
00:41:48.460
It's just a bunch of young people that want to go out and just like vocalize it.
00:41:52.460
They want to be able to go and protect those kind of people.
00:41:55.460
And you guys are doing that by holding your signs.
00:42:24.460
Why do you think it's still important to show up at the March for Life?
00:42:27.460
I just think it's a good strength in numbers for everybody to be here and to show up and
00:42:33.460
Yeah, and why do you think, for example, like the youth especially should be here, like
00:42:37.460
you guys, why is it important that this generation is here?
00:42:40.460
I think it's important because, like, we're the future of this.
00:42:42.460
Like, we're the people who are going to support people for years to come and teach
00:42:46.460
our kids and our students and everybody how to do this after us.
00:42:52.460
Why it's important that young people like you guys, for example, are here marching?
00:42:56.460
I just think it's important to represent your beliefs and, you know, what an organization
00:43:11.460
We're here with Cape Mount Carmel of Wichita, Kansas.
00:43:15.460
Why do you guys think it's important, especially as young people here?
00:43:18.460
Why do you think it's important to come to the March for Life?
00:43:20.460
We feel like a lot of young people aren't informed about the consequences of abortions
00:43:25.460
and we really think that these babies need a, they need to say they can't talk for themselves.
00:43:31.460
We think that's the reason why we should come here.
00:43:38.460
Honestly, I'd just say, like, yeah, babies have a right and we believe that from conception
00:43:42.460
to natural death, that they are humans and that they have a right to live.
00:43:46.460
Yeah, it's a basic human right to live, especially in this country.
00:43:49.460
You know, so why are they not being given the opportunity?
00:43:53.460
I think it's just important because I want to be a mom one day and I think it feels powerful.
00:44:01.460
Why do you think it's important and what do you think the bishops in our country can do
00:44:08.460
Well, I think it's essential as thankfully the bishops just last November once again
00:44:14.460
underscored that it's an abortion, the sanctity of the life of the unborn is the preeminent
00:44:22.460
And I think more and more people are seeing that the evils we're seeing, child trafficking,
00:44:27.460
the pornography, all sorts of evils are coming out of a lack of respect that life comes from
00:44:35.460
And when we don't respect that, everything starts to unravel.
00:44:38.460
So certainly as pastors and successors of the apostles, all of us as bishops need to do
00:44:46.460
And many of the bishops are very active and I encourage all of the bishops to be voices
00:44:53.460
for the sanctity of life and encouraging people to really look beyond whatever obstacles they're
00:45:02.460
seeing or whatever perspective is really making them thinking that abortion is okay or it's
00:45:08.460
okay for up to a certain timeframe in the womb.
00:45:16.460
And so as pastors, not just Catholic bishops, but all Christian pastors really hopefully can
00:45:23.460
And the bishops, we as successors of the apostles, we really need to be leaders in joyfully proclaiming
00:45:33.460
And that is, of course, God the Father who sent his son to teach us who we are, who God
00:45:41.460
So we just have to keep repeating that message.
00:45:43.460
And reminding, I think one of the key things that I've learned is to keep emphasizing that
00:45:50.460
the woman who's pregnant, the man who is part of that pregnancy, the child in the womb,
00:45:56.460
they're all beloved of God and we need to remember that.
00:46:00.460
Sometimes as Catholics we're accused of just paying attention to the unborn child.
00:46:05.460
That's never been the case, but I think more and more movements are recognizing that we're
00:46:11.460
there to care for the woman, to try to urge her not to have the abortion.
00:46:15.460
If she goes through with it, to care for her after the abortion and to just help all of
00:46:24.460
And so absolutely, it's part of the work of bishops to do that.
00:46:28.460
And I just want to say thank you on behalf of all Catholics and just thank you for everything
00:46:34.460
It obviously means a lot and it's making a huge difference.
00:46:42.460
And can you tell your story about why you're involved with the pro-life movement?
00:46:45.460
Yeah, I started off as a neonatal respiratory therapist putting little babies on ventilators.
00:46:49.460
And then what happened was I was like looking into a womb.
00:46:54.460
And so I just started trying to advocate for life.
00:47:00.460
It was like these babies are valuable because we say they are.
00:47:04.460
And then across the hall in the hospital they're killing other ones.
00:47:08.460
I started to get involved and God has done crazy things ever since.
00:47:11.460
And why do you think it's important that the young people are getting involved in the pro-life generation and the pro-life group?
00:47:16.460
Well, I mean, we're losing our generation, right?
00:47:19.460
So it's like if people don't realize that we have to speak out against all of the really crazy indoctrination that's so anti-morals, anti-Western values, anti-Christianity really that we are founded on.
00:47:34.460
We need to get back to those things and that the next generation is our future.
00:47:41.460
There's 14 states that have outlawed abortion, but there's so many more that have enshrined it to the day of birth.
00:47:47.460
The other day I ordered online these abortion pills for free and they came to my house in a state where it was illegal.
00:48:00.460
So we need to end abortion to the very day of birth, you know, from very...
00:48:06.460
We need to spread the word about this and make people aware.
00:48:14.460
In any state in the union, you can literally order this.
00:48:17.460
They'll deliver it to your house for free, not even shipping costs.
00:48:44.460
We have bumped into this young lady here with your family.
00:49:03.460
I gave birth to my first three and adapted the next seven through foster care.
00:49:17.460
So first in there, I have nine grandchildren too.
00:49:28.460
We just need to be a public witness for life that all life is precious and deserves a chance
00:49:34.460
at living and growing regardless of their situation.
00:49:37.460
Whether they're born into foster care, they're taken away, they stay with their parents, whatever.
00:49:43.460
Now, a lot of people are saying, oh, Roe v. Wade's already gone.
00:49:51.460
We absolutely do because on the national level, there are so many things going on that are against the culture of life.
00:49:58.460
So we need to continue to be a presence here where the laws are created for the nation
00:50:03.460
and then take that momentum back to the states so that we can make a difference in our states as well.
00:50:08.460
What drives you in this fight and what's your motivation?
00:50:19.460
They were taken away from their parents for a reason.
00:50:22.460
And I need to defend their lives and I need to defend the lives of all other children
00:50:27.460
that are possibly in situations that their life is at risk.
00:50:32.460
Now, you've got a Holy Spirit image on your jacket there.
00:50:38.460
How are you, how's your prayer life and how does that incorporate into your family and fight for life?
00:50:46.460
And because of that, the defense of life needs to be necessary.
00:50:52.460
I homeschool them all, homeschool them and the grandchildren.
00:50:55.460
I just keep grabbing that insanity gene from my mother.
00:50:59.460
But we just teach always that we need to defend everybody,
00:51:03.460
whether it's the unborn or the mentally or physically challenged, the emotionally unstable, whoever.
00:51:09.460
We need to defend them and we need to protect them.
00:51:18.460
We have 12 out here today, but our group consists of roughly 30 people.
00:51:31.460
Because it's warmer here than it is in Michigan.
00:51:34.460
Yeah, I'm from Canada, so I know what you're talking about.
00:51:40.460
I thought they just made it for me so I could feel at home.
00:51:44.460
For us, especially in Michigan, the fight continues.
00:51:48.460
Being here this past couple of days, we have met so many people from Michigan.
00:51:52.460
And it's because we have a big fight in Michigan.
00:51:59.460
And we get these kids involved and get them excited for the pro-life movement.
00:52:02.460
And we will overturn Michigan to become a pro-life state.
00:52:07.460
So why young people, if you don't mind, why are you involved?
00:52:12.460
I'm involved because it needs to start with the youth.
00:52:15.460
And if more youth get involved, then abortion will be ended.
00:52:18.460
So aren't there young people at your school or that you know your friends who might tease you for this?
00:52:29.460
Well, Jesus said, if they hate you, they hated me first.
00:52:33.460
So I have to follow in Jesus' footsteps and do what he says.
00:52:38.460
And have you found yourself a group of young people who are into it as well?
00:52:44.460
I love being with my friends that are involved in it.
00:52:51.460
And what's your favorite thing to do in terms of pro-life with your friends?
00:53:00.460
I love really being out there and like doing something.
00:53:03.460
I love standing up for my faith and I love standing up for babies.
00:53:08.460
That's an interesting answer because that's something that I think a lot of people would find...
00:53:18.460
So you're praying, you're praying the rosary, you're praying out there.
00:53:23.460
It just makes me feel good that I can stand up for these babies and that there's a voice
00:53:30.460
The power of Christ through the Holy Rosary, His Mother's Rosary, is so powerful but most
00:53:40.460
What in that do you recognize and how would you encourage young people to come to that realization
00:53:47.460
Just keep praying and keep going out there and follow Christ.
00:53:58.460
And so when old folks like us, we're very, very encouraged.
00:54:08.460
So what brought you all out here, this snowy kind of cold day?
00:54:15.460
Well, we wanted to stand up for all the unborn.
00:54:18.460
We're a whole group from St. Agnes Catholic Church and a few friends of St. Agnes.
00:54:25.460
And we pray our rosary for the unborn every day, Monday through Saturday after Mass for
00:54:39.460
No, I didn't see Bishop Strickland today, but I love Bishop Strickland.
00:54:49.460
And what is it that you love most about being pro-life?
00:54:57.460
Being pro-life because, you know what, I believe every single human being is unique
00:55:04.460
and has gifts from God and that every single human life is valuable, unique, and I just
00:55:16.460
And even though it's kind of hard and sometimes we feel like outnumbered, we know that we're
00:55:23.460
doing the right thing and that we're standing up for the unborn and that abortion is the
00:55:31.460
I just love saying the rosary for the unborn and we also at my parish, we continue with
00:55:38.460
the chaplet and we pray for the unborn, the protection of the unborn and the healing of
00:55:43.460
all mothers and fathers who've had an abortion.
00:55:48.460
We're here with our community in fellowship of what we believe in.
00:55:53.460
Now, are you guys involved in the movement for life back where you live?
00:56:01.460
All of our youth group is out here today in support of this as well.
00:56:04.460
And we pray rosaries for it and we have a whole month dedicated to it.
00:56:13.460
Making sure that life is supported from inception.
00:56:17.460
And that is the crucial piece in this movement.
00:56:20.460
And we have to fight for it for the right to win.
00:56:21.460
A lot of people around the world are praying for America right now.
00:56:34.460
After Roe versus Wade, we know there's going to be more fights coming.
00:56:37.460
We have to be prepared and ready for these fights.
00:56:40.460
And come together as a Catholic community with that.
00:56:52.460
I'm with the American Society for Defensive Tradition, Family and Property or TFB.
00:57:00.460
We have bagpipes and drums and the statue of our lady and the standards all over the place.
00:57:07.460
They're the most visible thing at the March for Life as the standards of the tradition,
00:57:13.460
here every year as far as i know for the past the 25 years that i've been here indeed i think they
00:57:18.980
have i think they have yes so i flew over with a small group from ireland this year myself but
00:57:23.460
five of us flew over this beautiful beautiful thanks for being here god bless you we are here
00:57:29.860
at the march for life with walker jones and this group here what's the group uh we're from saint
00:57:35.060
joseph's catholic school in greenville south carolina and you're part of this saint joseph's
00:57:40.740
no knights for life uh yeah well so our mascot at the school is the knight so we made these hats
00:57:46.260
to say knights for life awesome awesome and uh so what brings you out here on this such a cold day
00:57:52.820
you guys decided to come anyway uh yes we just we all felt like you know we wanted to come out be a
00:57:58.900
part of the march for life because it's so important you know we just love the experience and seeing
00:58:04.420
everybody here to support it how many of you are in your group um 35 ish is what my peers here are
00:58:13.940
saying but i'm not sure the exact number excellent and uh do you have a big pro-life group at your
00:58:19.620
school um yeah i'd say we have a pretty big pro-life here uh at our school every single year new guys
00:58:25.060
come and um new like high schoolers come and then the old seniors leave but yeah it's a pretty like
00:58:30.260
pretty large group where do you fall in the mix old senior what are you old senior no i'm just a
00:58:36.180
junior so i'll be here next year too don't worry excellent excellent and what makes you the spokesman
00:58:41.540
for the group everybody points to you as a spokesman i think it's because i was just interviewed like
00:58:45.940
five minutes ago also so they wanted to see me do it again but you know i'm happy to do it for my group
00:58:51.380
you know excellent he can do it god bless you guys thank you god bless you yes sir have a great day
00:58:57.460
what's your name my name is liam hart and liam what brings you out here uh life and supporting
00:59:04.260
those who are in need of it like you know i've come here for a long time but like every time i
00:59:09.460
come it reminds me again and again how important this event is just to the people who have like no
00:59:15.780
idea what's going on and like oh wait hold on abortion does kill people and it does do bad things
00:59:22.500
and it breaks up families and leaves mothers hopeless because like that's the part that nobody
00:59:28.260
mentions is like what happens afterwards and like just coming out here i know i don't do much i'm not
00:59:34.900
out there like on the front lines but i'll add one heartbeat to the countless other heartbeats around
00:59:40.820
here to say what's happening in those abortion clinics is wrong and i don't you know that's why i'm
00:59:47.380
out here where are you from uh lexington virginia and a lot of people are avoiding today because snow
00:59:57.140
and and and cold weather and so on what's your message to that uh i put more white powder in my
01:00:05.460
coffee in the morning and that's sugar than is on the ground right now so you know it's a little cold
01:00:11.380
sure but it ain't that cold very good god bless you man thank you so my friends we are just about
01:00:17.460
to head out and start the march after the rally we've talked to some great people here the numbers
01:00:23.380
are lower than we've ever seen before but given the weather given the maryland state of emergency
01:00:28.740
apparently we just heard buses cancelled we heard like six were cancelled from christendom it's unbelievable
01:00:34.420
but still many many many thousands have ventured out here in the cold in the snow to march for life
01:00:41.460
where are you guys from where are you guys from new jerseys new orleans from new orleans
01:00:48.020
north carolina good to see you guys how many is in your group uh 12 of you ah very good
01:01:18.740
not intimidated by the snow no i actually like it
01:01:23.060
we don't get snow off and this is like a really nice snow it's not hard it's just basically
01:01:35.220
good job we're kind of running hey guys where are you from
01:01:38.020
we're joined at the march for life with the sisters for life so i'm going to hand it over to
01:01:48.020
them the witnesses is wonderful hello my name is sister faustina maria field the sisters of life
01:01:53.700
we're here at the march 2024 and it's a grace and a privilege to witness to the sanctity of life
01:02:00.020
we're here first and foremost to glorify god the lord of life not only to be a witness of that so
01:02:06.260
others can hear that truth but also to claim it for ourselves so we can become more of a witness
01:02:11.220
not just today but the whole of our lives to witness this incredible gift of the sanctity of life
01:02:15.540
really hope that today even though it's bad weather we will be um part of that beautiful witness of
01:02:22.100
hope that this culture needs to know that they're good and seen and loved each individual heart no
01:02:27.220
matter what you've suffered whatever you've been through that god's love is bigger and deeper and
01:02:31.300
your life has value tremendous values his eyes god bless thank you sister this is this is quite