About 1,200 people join ‘March for Life’ in Salt Lake City
Around 1,200 people came to the Utah Capitol in Salt Lake City Saturday morning to participate in the Utah March for Life.
Utah Rep. John Curtis, Bishop Oscar Solis of the Catholic Diocese of Salt Lake City, the Respect for Life ministry, the Knights of Columbus, Latter-day Saints for Life and other notable figures and organizations sponsored and attended the event.
Curtis commented on the importance of compassion within the pro-life movement in Utah and said he appreciates the renewed focus on empowering every human life. He added lifting and caring for mothers helps communities and saves lives.
At the event, keynote speaker and director of development at Pro-Life Utah, Merrilee Boyack, said, “I cannot even begin to tell you what it feels like to see these little babies born and think, ‘I contributed a little bit to that little baby being alive today.’ It is the best investment you will ever make.”
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Boyack gives Utah abortion stats
Since Roe v. Wade was enacted in 1973, 180,000 abortions have been performed in Utah, Boyack said. Over 4,800 abortions have been performed in the state since it was overturned in June 2022.
“I encounter so many people who think we don’t have elective abortion in the state of Utah at all. How wrong,” Boyack said. “Approximately nine babies are killed in the state of Utah day after relentless day.”
She continued, “It is time to stop the slaughter. It is time to stop being nice and accepting this issue. It is time for outrage.”
Boyack compared the number of lives lost to abortion to the number of U.S. soldiers lost in the Vietnam War, saying, “We’ve lost triple that number in the state of Utah to elective abortion, and yet people in Utah continue to accept it, and baby deaths continue.”
Boyack encouraged Utahns to “draw a line in the sand” and commit to the pro-life cause in the form of time or donations.
‘What do you do for women?’
Boyack has been involved with Pro-Life Utah for the past three years. She told the Deseret News a common question she is asked as a pro-life advocate is, “What do pro-life organizations do for women?”
Pro-Life Utah parked their mobile clinic on the steps of the Capitol during the event. Before the program began, workers welcomed the public to sit inside the vehicle and learn about resources they offer “abortion-minded mothers,” as Boyack described.
LeeAnn Evans works in this van three days a week. She explained the van is typically parked outside abortion clinics and workers greet women entering the buildings, offering free ultrasounds, free pregnancy tests and counseling options.
They also hand out care packages that include a pair of socks, candy, chapstick and various brochures with information ranging from the Life Grant Program to “post-abortion healing.”
She said the mothers she’s met in the mobile clinic come from all walks of life. She continued, “A lot of time, they feel like their only option is to abort because of their circumstances, but in reality with all of the resources that are in our community, there are lots of options.”
“We’re not there to judge; we’re there to support.” Evans said. “We are there to just meet them in the circumstance they’re in and find out how we can support them and help them”
Pro-Life Utah President Mary Taylor said her work “takes compassion.” She told the Deseret News, “I had one volunteer drive 5 1/2 hours in a blizzard and 5 1/2 back to get a woman away from a boyfriend who was trying to force her to have an abortion.”
She added, “They’ll literally do anything to help our clients, and it’s just so heart-warming to watch.”
The shift in the pro-life movement
Taylor told the Deseret News when she was a young adult, “the pro-life community was justifiably angry,” but their anger “was not beneficial to the movement.” Since then, the movement has become more about uplifting the moms, she said.
She added, when Utah held its first March for Life eight years ago, 35 people attended. This year attendance estimates ranged from 1,200 to 1,500 people.
In 2023, Pro-Life Utah “saved 70 babies,” Boyack said, adding that since the beginning of 2024 they’ve “saved 14 babies.”
Many women seeking an abortion feel as though they have no other option, Boyack said. “When they come (to the mobile clinic), we tell them the things we’d help them with: financial support, baby supplies, safe housing, etc.”
Of the women intercepted by workers in mobile clinics or online, 82% “change their minds and choose life,” she said.
Abortion-related legislation in Utah
In 2020, the Utah Legislature passed a trigger bill making elective abortion illegal, with some exceptions, if Roe v. Wade was overturned. On Friday, June 24, 2022, Roe was overturned, but by Monday morning, the law was enjoined by District Court Judge Andrew Stone.
Currently, Utah bans abortion after 18 weeks.
At the federal level, Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, recently announced “four bills to protect the unborn,” including the Abortion is not Health Care Act, the Protecting Life in Health Savings Accounts, the Protecting Life in Foreign Assistance Act and the Guaranteeing the Unborn Access to Respect and Dignity (GUARD) Act, as the Deseret News previously reported.
