Right to Life Owensboro founder dies

Don Wilkins, Messenger-Inquirer, Owensboro, Ky.
Updated ·2 min read
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Apr. 18—Virginia "Jenny" L. Corley, who founded the Right to Life of Owensboro, passed away Saturday. She was 83.

Corley began the local organization in 1973 inside her home in response to the U.S. Supreme Court's Roe v. Wade decision in January of the same year that made abortion a constitutional right for the next five decades.

"She took action immediately and wanted to be the change," said Stacey Davis, Right to Life of Owensboro director. "And now here we are 50 years later. We still exist because she had a heart that said 'this is wrong; I want to make a difference'."

Throughout the years, Right to Life of Owensboro would host local walks and rallies against abortion. It has grown to more than 400 members.

After stepping down as the head of Right to Life of Owensboro, Corley remained as a volunteer.

Davis said Corley's tireless activism ensured the pro-life cause would never fade away from public consciousness.

"Everything that Right to Life stands for is because of the belief and the vision she had, and it's grown," said Davis, who added that Corley was a volunteer when she became director in 2013. "I think now, for Right to Life, we have to go forward doing everything that would honor her."

Over the years, Roe v. Wade became a divisive political issue among pro-life and pro-choice supporters.

Ed Hoskins, a former board president of Right to Life of Owensboro, said in the 45 years he knew Corley she was always able to voice her stance while being civil about it.

"I just remember her being unapologetically pro-life; she worked most of her adult life helping to protect the unborn," Hoskins said. "She was never abrasive about it when she approached individuals who were pro-choice about it. She approached them in an open-minded sort of way and in a kind way to be pro-life. She wasn't pushy about it, but she was certainly a pro-life individual."

Pro-life supporters received a major victory last year when the U.S. Supreme Court voted 5-4 on June 24, 2022 to overturn Roe v. Wade, placing abortion back into state jurisdiction.

"I'm so glad that Roe v. Wade was overturned before she passed from this earth," Hoskins said.