Washington, DC, is only one of the battlefields in the struggle for the dignity of human life. In fact, one of the most powerful places you can stand up for the unborn isn’t even a real place. The virtual fronts of the internet and social media are places where advances for life are made every day. Your Facebook page, your Twitter feed and your Instagram photos can all change the way human life is valued in this country.

We were joined by pro-life activists from around the nation [Friday] morning at the FRC headquarters as we hosted our 12th annual ProLifeCon Digital Action Summit. The line-up of speakers, which included members of Congress, abortion survivors, activists and others, was one of the most powerful and impactful we’ve ever had.

Congressman Randy Hultgren (R-IN) came back early from the GOP retreat just to speak to our crowd. “What I get so encouraged by with the March for Life is how many young people are here. [It shows] that we are winning this discussion and this debate — and this change of mind that life is precious. All of life is precious. And it is vital that we do all that we can to protect every single life from the very beginning to the very end. What I think is going to be incredible too is just the clear contrast from just a couple of days ago of [the Women’s March] that I found so upsetting and hard to even difficult look at to something so different today, full of optimism and hope… We have a window of time that we have to take advantage of. We cannot waste this chance.”

Bishop Vincent Mathews, Jr. of The Church of God in Christ put it all in perspective: “How much is a life worth? Whatever it takes to save that life is worth it.” Catherine Szeltner of EWTN’s “Pro-Life Weekly” television show reminded us, “We need to talk with our neighbor and engage the culture, because it is culture that influences policy after all.”

We also heard the gripping story of Rebekah Buell, a mother who shared about her experience with the RU-486 abortion pill, the manipulative abortion industry and how she saved her son’s life. Brandi Swindell told us about how her group, Stanton Health Care, is providing real holistic health care for women — next door to Planned Parenthood. Brandon Buell (no relation to Rebekah) not only gave us an update on his son — the hero of the “Jaxon Strong” Facebook page – but brought Jaxon with him this year! Jaxon is a living, breathing example of what’s at stake in the life movement.

And that was only a few of our speakers. If you missed the high-powered on-line summit [Friday] morning, not to worry, you can catch up on the conference here.

Originally published here.

A Billion Reasons to Stop Abortion

When Donald Trump reinstated the ban on overseas abortion funding, it wasn’t a moment too soon. In a sobering new report by the Global Life Campaign, analysts have tracked and calculated the number of worldwide abortions for the first time — and the results are staggering. With more than 4,900 country years of data and a policy table for 196 nations, the authors — after more than 30 years of work on the project — have calculated that more than one billion abortions have been performed in the last century. That’s a loss of life triple the size of the U.S. population. Imagine wiping out the country of China, and that may be the closest anyone can come to grasping the enormous casualties of the culture of death.

“We now have nearly a century of evidence documenting what happens when governments authorize abortion: it does not become rare, but increases exponentially. Indeed, in less than one century, abortion has become the Greatest Genocide ever, far surpassing all wars and democides combined,” said authors at the Human Life Institute, one of the four sponsors of the study along with the Charlotte Lozier Institute, Global Life Campaign and Regent University.

FRC was proud to host the launch of the report, where our own Arina Grossu, who was one of the expert reviewers of the study, spoke about abortion’s tragic legacy. “This unprecedented report confirms the reality and also shows exactly what the abortion death toll looks like, country by country, throughout the years. The sheer number of lives, one billion babies, killed through abortion worldwide is heartbreaking. We are better than this. Abortion is not the answer. As a human family, we need to focus on policies that protect human life and promote human dignity.”

Originally published here.

March de Triumphe!

Before [Friday’s] March for Life even started, President Trump had already taken the first steps. Barely hours into its first term, the new administration made it clear that the long and deadly shadow of the Obama years was over. After eight years of taxpayers being shackled to the abortion industry by the policies of Barack Obama, Americans are starting to see the chains broken, one link at a time. Tackling foreign aid first, President Trump inked his name to an order blocking the flow of taxpayer dollars to groups that promote or perform abortions. A day later, the House brought the debate closer to home, passing a bill to ban taxpayer-funded abortion here in the U.S. Then, the president reiterated his promise to sign a measure defunding Planned Parenthood — and for an encore, he’s on the verge of appointing a pro-life Supreme Court justice.

Jeanne Mancini, president of the March for Life and former FRCer, is as blown away as the rest of the pro-life movement. “We are just delighted so far with what we have seen, in less than a week, from the Trump administration,” she told reporters. “We saw the Mexico City Policy reinstated. They have mentioned the March for Life in press briefings and in interviews all week long. We have never seen anything like this in our entire life.” That excitement was contagious on the sea of faces on the National Mall, where hope was in the air that the days of Roe v. Wade may finally be numbered.

Kellyanne Conway, part of the administration’s historic presence at the March, made it clear that this week was just the beginning of the White House’s commitment to the unborn. “Their impassioned defense of life as presidential candidates showed a nation that courage and commitment can overcome indifference and insults. Their decisive actions as president and vice president will further this cause. Allow me to make it very clear, we hear you, we see you, we respect you, and we look forward to working with you.”

Although the president didn’t attend the March, he did everything in his power to raise its profile. At the GOP retreat [Thursday], he blasted the mainstream media for ignoring the largest pro-life event in the world. [Yesterday], with the streets bursting at the seams with families, school groups and children, Trump tweeted, “The #MarchForLife is so important. To all of you marching — you have my full support!” And he proved it, sending Vice President Mike Pence to the podium to speak, the highest ranking government official to ever attend. For Pence, who spent years fighting for the unborn in Congress, it was a proud moment. “Life is winning again in America,” he said to cheers up and down the Mall. “Along with you, we will not grow weary, we will not rest until we restore a culture of life in America for ourselves and our posterity.”

Fifty-eight million children have been caught in the nets of “choice,” an injustice that only deepened under the avalanche of Obama’s radical abortion policy. Now, as the new administration starts to roll back those devastating decisions, pro-lifers are starting to see a light at the end of this eight-year tunnel. With record wins for states’ pro-life laws, the sea of faces at [Friday’s] March hopes to build on the progress with a commander in chief who makes the unborn a priority, not a target. Based on the energy in [Friday’s] crowd, we all look forward to the next four years when those grave errors are corrected — and a culture where all human life is welcomed and protected. Thanks to the new president, that moment is closer than ever.

Originally published here.

This is a publication of the Family Research Council. Mr. Perkins is president of FRC.