Monroe County Right to Life eyes partnership, targeting youth
Monroe County Right to Life is leading an effort to unite and partner with pro-life organizations and pregnancy resource centers in the region to improve communication and messaging on crucial issues like the abortion pill, abortions in Michigan and support for women in crisis.
The Right to Life board discussed options and future steps on a recent movement to build a partnership with local organizations. The aim is to build and grow relationships with each organization and center and develop a community calendar of pro-life events, Robert Burke, president of the board, said.
“We all have the same message and goals – to protect the sanctity of life,” Burke told the board Thursday night and representatives from about a half-dozen organizations present. “We want to bring a unified voice for Monroe County to change the hearts and minds of people. This would … help each organization grow and make us aware of what’s going on.”
He said failure to defeat Proposal C at the polls in November signaled that what the pro-life movement had done successfully in the past was no longer working. Passage of the proposal enshrined abortion in the state’s constitution and created an unlimited, unrestricted right to abortion on demand.
“Proposal 3 confirmed our problem,” Burke explained. “All the organizations came together and fought hard against it in Monroe County. We defeated it here, but not in Wayne, Washtenaw and Macomb counties. It was a reality check.”
Passage of the proposal did not automatically repeal a ban on abortions in Michigan that had been in effect for the past 192 years, but since it was an amendment to the state constitution it nullified any existing bans. In March, the Democratic-controlled state Legislature voted to repeal the state's 1931 abortion ban as well as its sentencing guidelines. The bills were passed along party lines, with Republicans opposing removal of the ban.
Burke cited a “huge lack of education for decades” that led to Michigan no longer being the “No. 1 pro-life state” in America. A major stumbling block for pro-life advocates today, he said, is a “majority of people don’t share our values. They have believed the lies and misinformation that abortion is good for women.”
He said pro-lifers must do things differently to get their message out.
“We’re a partnership,” he told the board. “The first step is coming together and collectively, we can make a deeper impact on the county than separately. Many people don’t know we exist. We need more communication and know each other’s activities and events so we don’t overlap each other.”
Burke urged support for pro-life events such as the Monroe Walk for Life May 13, the Michigan March for Life Nov. 8 in Lansing, and a Baby Shower and Ministry Fair held April 23 in Temperance. Right to Life is sponsoring a bus to take county residents to the state march and is hoping for a “strong presence” from the county, he said.
The board discussed ways to target youth and its messages about what actually happens during an abortion and the dangers of mifepristone, commonly known as the abortion pill. Instead of requiring the pills to be supplied directly by abortion doctors, pharmacies are now able to fill prescriptions for the drug under a January ruling by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
Joe Boggs, a public school teacher and head of a Catholic youth group in Monroe, suggested that both a secular and Christian curriculum be adopted in the schools to make students aware of the sanctity of life and ethics and tools to build a good foundation of values for the rest of their lives.
“I’m passionate about this … we need to change the culture and teens,” Boggs said.
Other board members agreed and noted that what happens to a baby in an abortion isn’t being taught in schools.
Bill Terrasi, founder of the lus Vitae Foundation and coordinator for the Monroe Walk, said the partnership must find ways to reach women in crisis pregnancies. He said abortion supporters were united “in lockstep” to push for the wrong message and action. He said the partnership was a “perfect opportunity” to launch a united front of pro-life education models that are working in other states.
“These women are innocent as the baby in their womb,” Terrasi said. “Yet they are being pressured by men, their doctors and parents to have the abortion. We have to meet women where they are and tell the truth about the sanctity of life.”
Amanda Wuebben, board secretary, said one “desperate mom” who was taking care of four children sought assistance from a local pregnancy center.
“If the churches knew about this, they would help,” Wuebben said.
That prompted a suggestion that the partnership could also meet with area pastors to get their ideas for helping women in need.
Burke said reaching young people in the schools and colleges was a priority.
“We have to plant seeds to promote a pro-life ethic as they enter the workplace and marketplace,” he said. “We have to bring them a message they can understand and see actions and mercy you show them.”
Among the organizations represented at the meeting were Walking With Moms in Need, HeartBeat of Monroe, Saleh’s Center of Hope, New Beginnings Mercy House, Monroe Knights of Columbus and the Commission for the Protection of Life and Innocents.
The next collaborative meeting of the organizations and Right to Life will be held June 8 at Family Counseling and Shelter Services’ office, Suite 106, 14930 LaPlaisance Road.
This article originally appeared on The Monroe News: Monroe County Right to Life eyes partnership, targeting youth
