2025 Year in Review
Every year I sit down to write the final blog post of the year, I marvel at everything Secular Pro-Life has been able to accomplish in the past 365 days. 2025 is no exception.
We started the year with a strong presence at January‘s March for Life. We led an all-day Storytelling Symposium, in partnership with the Abortion Survivors Network and Leadership Institute, training people from around the country on how to share their personal experiences with pregnancy in persuasive ways that humanize unborn children. Our Executive Director, Monica Snyder, also spoke at the Law of Life Summit and the “Alt” March meetup, and networked extensively at the National Pro-Life Summit. Online, SPL appeared on the Centered Podcast and kept up our presence on TikTok (including this viral video). The theme of February was expansion: we hired the incomparable Herb Geraghty, fresh off his unjust FACE Act prison sentence for peaceful pro-life advocacy, as our Chief Communications Officer. (He promptly appeared on the Arms and Arguments podcast and the Dear Jane podcast.) We also hired a content manager, whose first order of business was to organize our vast amount of videos, images, and statues across social media. In March, buoyed by a New York Times exposé of Planned Parenthood, we joined a coalition letter demanding cessation of taxpayer funding to the abortion chain (which ultimately occurred, albeit only for one year). We also joined the pro-life coalition letter for a child-centered budget, specifically seeking expansion of the child tax credit, extension of paid family leave, inclusion of a tax credit to support donations to pregnancy resource centers, and immediate economic support for postpartum expenses. Monica spoke at the Oregon Right to Life conference. Herb went to D.C. for PAAU’s Justice for the Five Week of Action. And we had a blast while raising much-needed funds at SPL’s third annual trivia night.
In April, we submitted an amicus brief to the Supreme Court against censorship of sidewalk counselors (which received coverage in Reason), spoke out against a Georgia prosecutor’s unjust approach to miscarriage, and debunked widespread pro-abortion misinformation about maternal mortality. We also introduced our “Core Conversations” series for monthly donors, and Monica went on a speaking tour in Connecticut. May saw us extensively cover the Adriana and Chance Smith case. We also appeared on the American Association of Pro-Life OB/GYNs (AAPLOG) podcast, amplified a study showing that abortion laws have no discernable impact on where OB/GYNs practice, and discussed our own study of how pro-life and pro-choice people define the word “abortion” (full results here). In June, three years after Dobbs, we had over a million views on Facebook and Instagram. The Human Life Review published Monica’s essay on the many paths that lead people to oppose abortion. Monica discussed the Turnaway Study on the Pregnancy Help Podcast, delivered her “Building Bridges” presentation at the Mississippi Life Summit, and once again schooled a state on its insensitivity to the realities of miscarriage (this time West Virginia). SPL debunked misinformation about Kat Cammack, a pro-life politician who received standard life-saving ectopic pregnancy treatment under Florida’s heartbeat law. Herb had an op-ed in the Washington Examiner about Chance Smith’s birth. We marked Pride Month with a wide-ranging survey of the pro-life LGBTQ community, published in two parts. Monica and Herb concluded their whirlwind June by co-leading the Building Bridges Intensive in Washington, D.C.
July featured a webinar, in collaboration with Support After Abortion, on the unique needs of non-religious women healing from abortions. SPL launched the Fetal Remains Disposition Policy to assist hospitals and their patients during an emotionally vulnerable time. We hosted two livestreams and an event for our amazing volunteers. In August, Monica appeared on the Equipped for Life podcast and continued to publish timely videos on current events. We covered the trend of “period pills” (abortion drugs by another name), outlined our position against criminal penalties for mothers who abort in favor of alternative abortion prevention methods, and shared conflict navigation tips for pro-lifers stuck in majority pro-choice social circles. And we joined a coalition amicus brief supporting First Choice Women’s Resource Centers in its effort to prevent New Jersey from doxxing its donors. Across the pond, Herb was interviewed by the UK’s Society for the Protection of Unborn Children. Want to bring a Secular Pro-Life speaker to your event? That’s easier now thanks to the Speaker’s Page we launched in September. Monica spoke at a Florida conference for pregnancy center staff and volunteers. We went viral for our video educating people that mothers who seek abortion but give birth instead go on to bond normally with their newborns (that’s according to the pro-abortion researchers behind the Turnaway Study). Other videos published in September included an exposé of Washington Surgi-Clinic, an introduction to the secular pro-life movement, and a response to the stale “if you don’t like abortion, don’t have one.” Herb attended state-level Marches for Life in Pennsylvania and New Jersey; he also presented a webinar for our good friends at Rehumanize International.
The videos kept coming in October; here are two of our favorites. Monica recorded four more episodes for the Equipped for Life podcast, which will come out in 2026. She also appeared on the Bioethics Babe podcast. Herb volunteered with Virginians for Preborn Justice, which is working to defeat a pro-abortion ballot initiative. In November, we published our annual report. I spoke at the Rehumanize Conference on how pro-life organizations can get involved in amicus briefing. Monica answered the question “Is the pro-life movement anti-sex?” (short answer: no). Herb and Monica attended various ally organizations’ year-end galas to strengthen our ties. Herb was interviewed at Solid for America and shared his FACE Act story on TikTok. We hosted a Thanksgiving livestream on “Table Manners for Tough Topics.” One thing we were thankful for: Chance Smith grew to eight pounds! And Monica presented Building Bridges for our friends at Save the Storks. In December, the Supreme Court heard the First Choice Women’s Resource Centers case; although the opinion won’t be released for several months, the Court appears poised to rule in favor of pro-lifers’ First Amendment freedom of association. Monica interviewed Dr. Christina Francis of AAPLOG, and returned to the Equipped for Life podcast for a discussion of forensics and abortion. (Fun fact: Monica was a forensic scientist before joining SPL full-time.) Monica and Herb attended a comprehensive fundraising training to continue our momentum into the new year. And of course, we are preparing for the 2026 March for Life!
If you found our work valuable in 2025, please consider a tax-deductible donation. Thank you so much for your continued support of Secular Pro-Life’s vision. See you next year!
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