Recap: Pennsylvania and New Jersey Marches for Life
This September was a busy and inspiring month for Secular Pro-Life!
ICYMI: our Executive Director gave a training at a conference for pregnancy support professionals and volunteers; and (as always when Monica speaks) got rave reviews. You can read her in-depth recap here.
While she was preparing for and attending that, I had the pleasure of attending both the Pennsylvania March for Life and the New Jersey March for Life events.
Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania is my home state, and it was great to connect with so many pro-life friends from Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, and everywhere in between.
As you can see in the picture above, at the PA march, I was mostly surrounded by people of faith. The majority of the signs I saw read “Pray to End Abortion” in both English and Spanish. Every time this happens at a pro-life event, I can’t help but feel two things:
- Gratitude for those Christians who are inspired by their faith to stand up for the rights of unborn children and who are putting the work in to support moms and babies in their communities
- Frustration in knowing that if I didn’t show up, an explicitly secular message might not be present at this event at all
This tension highlights for me why Secular Pro-Life is so essential. Polling shows that millions of non-religious Americans are pro-life. That’s great — and we’re working every day to help more people recognize the truth about abortion, regardless of whatever else they do or don’t believe. But right now, we non-religious and non-traditional pro-lifers are underrepresented in pro-life activism.
That’s a problem for two reasons.
- Persuasion: If people perceive the pro-life movement is based entirely on a particular religion, it hurts our ability to reach and persuade people of every background to consider the pro-life perspective.
- Activation: We need everyone on board to fight this massive issue. There are countless non-traditional pro-lifers who might get more involved if they saw people or orgs they felt they could connect with.
That’s part of why it is so important for Secular Pro-Life to be able to create space where everyone feels like they can contribute to the pro-life movement.
New Jersey
In New Jersey, I got to reconnect with pro-life friends and allies from across the country. At the same time, I made new friends and connections: leaders of pro-life organizations, student groups, and more who are eager to collaborate in the months ahead. Stay tuned for some good projects that are coming down the pipeline.
The New Jersey March for Life was particularly encouraging. The whole time I was there, people kept coming up to me and thanking me for being there. I met several people who said they had followed SPL for years and that we helped them feel encouraged to speak out about abortion.
One student even told me that he keeps our Abortion Debate Index bookmarked on his phone to go back to every time he talks about abortion with pro-choice people.
Also in New Jersey, the first speaker on the main stage even made a point to shout out non-religious pro-lifers, affirming that everyone was welcome to help work to end abortion. That was the impression I got over and over again from attendees and organizers.
Thank you so much for supporting these trips.
When Secular Pro-Life has a presence at events like these, it strengthens the whole pro-life movement. It ensures that everyone who cares about human rights, regardless of faith, can find a place and a voice.
We are so grateful for our supporters who help make this work possible.
Bringing our voice to these two events cost us $58.63 in gas, $30.18 in tolls and parking, $31.20 in printing, and $19.09 in caffeine and chips for the road. This is just a little under $140.
Can you donate today to help cover the costs of these trips and to ensure that we can continue to commit to show up for the unborn around the country?
Thank you for standing with us and helping us build a more inclusive and effective movement for life.
Whether you’ve supported us with donations, volunteer time, referrals, or shares on social media, thanks for your help. We wouldn’t be able to do it without you.
Want SPL to bring our unique message to your community? Consider inviting us to give a presentation or training at your upcoming event. Visit secularprolife.org/speakers for more information.
