There is a new lease of life in the pro-life movement, as will be witnessed at the March for Life in London this Saturday on 7 September, and by the increasing number of pro-life university societies recruiting at student Freshers’ Fairs this month.
Here, five young Catholic pro-life activists speak to the <em>Catholic Herald</em> about how they were inspired to join the cause, what it means to them and why they hope others will join them:
<em>Bede Teeton is a 19-year-old student and grew up Roman Catholic, though he has become “more proactive” in the last few years.</em>
<strong>When, why and how did you get involved in the pro-life cause?</strong>
My first formal introduction to the pro-life cause was attending the March for Life in 2022 after a close friend encouraged me to go. Following that experience, I became more deeply involved, feeling it was a calling from God.
Since joining university, this desire to help has been nurtured as I’m a member of our pro-life society and have volunteered for my local 40 Days for Life [a prayer campaign that meets outside abortion facilities].
<strong>What have been the reactions of your friends, family and the general public?</strong>
Reactions from my close friends and family were fortunately very encouraging. However, from some friends and people I didn’t know very well, lots of uncomfortable arguments occurred.
<strong>Isn’t campaigning against abortion a “lost cause” in our secular culture? Shouldn’t we focus on evangelisation instead?</strong>
Stating that abortion is a “lost cause” implies that the unborn children and their mothers are also a lost cause, beyond any form of hope. I find this profoundly disheartening.
Our commitment to evangelisation should not prevent us from helping those in immediate need. When someone is considering an abortion, they need support and guidance, therefore as Christians, it is our moral duty to be there for them.
To effectively reach the general public on the topic of abortion, I’d argue that we should primarily employ basic human reasoning as opposed to starting with evangelisation. Ultimately, lives are being lost because some deem the unborn unworthy of experiencing life, which is incredibly unjust.
While evangelism is a crucial aspect of our Christian lives, it shouldn’t be viewed as the only solution to the issue of abortion. We must be proactive, so that through the love of Christ, a day will come when every unborn child is granted the right to life.
<em>Eden McCourt is a 26-year-old “cradle Catholic” wife, mother and activist with Abortion Resistance, a non-religious campaign group for young pro-lifers.</em>
<strong>When, why and how did you get involved in the pro-life cause?</strong>
I became pro-life when I was 13 after learning that medical professionals pushed to try and abort my sister who had Patau Syndrome.
I actively got involved with the anti-abortion movement when I was 16, creating a social media platform and volunteering with many different pro-life organisations. I worked for the Society for the Protection of Unborn Children (SPUC) for three years before leaving and co-founding Abortion Resistance.
<strong>What have been the reactions of your friends, family and the general public?</strong>
My immediate family are all extremely pro-life so have been very supportive. Generally, my pro-abortion friends are accepting and up for a debate but in the past I definitely have lost many friends due to their disagreement with my position.
The majority of the general public I meet doing street activism are very kind and receptive, even if they disagree with me. However, online I receive a lot of hate and abuse for my pro-life views – which doesn't bother me in the slightest.
<strong>Isn’t campaigning against abortion a “lost cause” in our secular culture? Shouldn’t we focus on evangelisation instead?</strong>
I completely disagree. Abortion is the greatest human rights injustice of our day.
I am absolutely sick to death of Christians shirking away from their responsibility as children of God to help save his unborn children.
“And the King answering, shall say to them: Amen I say to you, as long as you did it to one of these my least brethren, you did it to me.” (Matthew 25:40). It says it right there. Christians will be held accountable for all the good deeds they failed to do; failing to stand up for our innocent, vulnerable unborn neighbours is failing to stand up for God.
If you truly call yourself a Christian, you should be doing pro-life work, it’s as simple as that. Imagine the progress the pro-life cause would make if all Christians realised this.
Finally, from my own experience, many people who I have helped along their journey to become pro-life have, off the back of that, converted.
<em>Paul Sapper is 26 and works at ADF International, the faith-based legal advocacy organisation. He came to faith while studying at Oxford and first worshipped at evangelical churches. He converted to Catholicism after being persuaded of its teaching on contraception, and now attends the Traditional Latin Mass.</em>
<strong>When, why and how did you get involved in the pro-life cause?</strong>
After becoming a practising Catholic, I decided to enter the world of media to witness to Christ's truth in the public square.<br><br>The message that all people, born and unborn, strong and weak, regardless of age or health, are created in God's image and likeness and have inalienable dignity, is a key part of that in the world today.<br><br><strong>What have been the reactions of your friends, family and the general public?</strong><br><br>I haven’t spoken with my brothers much about the issue. My parents are supportive. I live in a Catholic community house and my closest friends are Catholics and so they are very supportive.
I have had interesting conversations with people who are not like-minded on abortion. Many people are fair-minded and will consider logical arguments for the pro-life position.
However, some are unreasonable on this topic. I attended a prayer vigil outside an abortion centre earlier this year and there were some hostile reactions, particularly from women.
Unfortunately, I think many women today have internalised the lie that abortion is necessary for their freedom and flourishing.<br><br><strong>Isn’t campaigning against abortion a “lost cause” in our secular culture? Shouldn’t we focus on evangelisation instead?</strong>
Christians have always seen it as their duty to “seek the welfare of the city” (Jeremiah 29:7), to defend the weak and to stand up to injustice. It is impossible to do this if the pro-life cause is ignored because abortion is the most egregious human rights abuse of our time.
Indeed, it is one of the most evil things imaginable, as it is the killing of the most vulnerable human beings. And Christians should be unafraid to call it out as such. This can and should be done alongside evangelism.
There are also philosophical arguments for the pro-life position that do not require explicit appeals to Christianity that can be made.<br><br><em>Honor Roberts is 23 and has just finished a History of Art degree. She grew up in a Christian home and entered the Catholic Church as a young adult.</em>
<strong>When, why and how did you get involved in the pro-life cause?</strong>
Ever since I became a Catholic and started to live an intentional Christian life I was always interested in pro-life work. However, it was after attending a Society for the Protection of Unborn Children (SPUC) youth conference that my heart was really set on fire for the cause.
I set about starting up whatever I could locally to cultivate the pro-life community. By mustering together, strength and grace is multiplied and courage is increased so that we can go out confidently and proclaim the Gospel of life to those who live in darkness.
Together with friends I initiated a local SPUC branch, a monthly public prayer witness in the centre of Oxford and a 40 Days for Life Campaign. Our local group OxfordProLife also [takes action] regularly, taking on various pro-life life projects and doing community outreach.
<strong>What have been the reactions of your friends, family and the general public?</strong>
The reactions of my family, friends and society in response to my pro-life work have been mixed. Many people, including those close to me have been hurt in some way by abortion, whether directly or indirectly.
I am surrounded by many wonderful pro-lifers where I live, which is so edifying. However, many other reactions I have encountered show signs of deep wounds. Some have been very quiet, some not caring enough to do something, others aggressively on the defence.
<strong>Isn’t campaigning against abortion a “lost cause” in our secular culture?</strong> <strong>Shouldn’t we focus on evangelisation instead?</strong>
I see this as a cowardly cop out. Sharing the message of life is to share the Gospel, is to evangelise.
More to the point, abortion is at the apex of our current cultural war and the obstacle which impedes so many to the freedom of living for Jesus. This is the issue that needs to be addressed if we claim to be Christians who care about the salvation of souls.
I mention figures such as William Wilberforce, Hans and Sophie Scholl and Dietrich Bonhoeffer among many brave souls who stood up in the face of injustice at great cost to themselves. If anyone has any desire to be like them in their virtue and love of Truth then we must address abortion head on with the same love and courage as they showed in their time.
It doesn't take a Christian to see that abortion is wrong. I have seen and heard first-hand women's accounts, many of whom had no faith, sharing their stories of abortion. They are left traumatised, grief-stricken and wounded.
Don't sit on the sidelines: abortion is simply the greatest evil of our time. It is the greatest human rights crisis we have ever seen. One need not be a Christian to see this, one need only have a conscience.
However, if we are trying to earnestly live the Gospel, how much more urgently should the Christian seek to fight against the evil of abortion? To do so is to the only real way of loving others, including those women who have been traumatised by the horror of abortion.
We must believe that the truth of Christ's Gospel saves and if we believe this, how can we dare be silent, especially in the face of such evil?
<em>Theo Hepburn is a 22-year-old computing student who converted to Catholicism in his first year at university.</em>
<strong>When, why and how did you get involved in the pro-life cause?</strong>
I became sympathetic to the pro-life cause long before I became Catholic, but only became actively involved when I joined the pro-life society at university.
Last year, the position of society president became vacant, so I volunteered for the role after being encouraged by pro-life friends. I've also been involved in 40 Days for Life for the last two years.<br><br><strong>What have been the reactions of your friends, family and the general public?</strong>
I don't come from a religious background so most of my family and non-religious friends are pro-choice, but are happy to respectfully disagree.
I have also been in heated arguments with people who have been less polite, especially on the pro-life stall at the university freshers' fair, but have also been happily surprised by the amount of support we get.<br><br><strong>Isn’t campaigning against abortion a “lost cause” in our secular culture? Shouldn’t we focus on evangelisation instead?</strong>
I disagree because I was able to rethink the issue of abortion long before I became a Christian. The arguments that we use against abortion are entirely secular and you don't have to be religious to be convinced by them.
Furthermore, this issue is just too important to give up on: over 200,000 abortions take place every year in this country – that's over 200,000 innocent lives taken every year, and we must make every effort to end this.<br><br><em>Photo: collage of five interviewees; designed by </em>CH<em> staff.</em>
<em>Heather Tomlinson is a freelance Christian writer. Find more of her work at </em><a href="https://heathertomlinson.substack.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><em><mark style="background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)" class="has-inline-color has-vivid-cyan-blue-color">heathertomlinson.substack.com</mark></em></a><em> or via X (twitter) @heathertomli</em>
<strong>Saturday's March for Life begins at the Emmanuel Centre in London at 1.30 p.m, walking through Westminster and gathering outside the Houses of Parliament where speakers will include a former abortionist and an abortion survivor. Talks will take place at the centre from 10 a.m. along with a range of information stalls. There is a Mass at St George's Cathedral in Southwark at 11 a.m. The organisers have <a href="https://x.com/March4LifeUK/status/1828063376968225184" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><mark style="background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)" class="has-inline-color has-vivid-cyan-blue-color">said</mark></a> they are expecting five Catholic bishops to attend, and many more priests and religious will be present. More information including transport options from outside London is available on the <a href="https://www.marchforlife.co.uk/2024-event-page/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><mark style="background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)" class="has-inline-color has-vivid-cyan-blue-color">website</mark></a>.</strong>
