Catholics for Choice Brings Abortion Rights Messages to the National Shrine on Eve of the March for Life
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Thursday, January 20, 2022
Contact: John Becker, Press Secretary
Phone: (202) 203-0931
Email: jbecker@catholicsforchoice.org
Catholics for Choice Brings Abortion Rights Messages to the National Shrine on Eve of the March for Life
WASHINGTON – Tonight, Catholics for Choice projected onto the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C., offering counter-programming to the March for Life. The projections ran for 90 minutes while the National Prayer Vigil for Life was being held inside.
Photos are available online here.
Below is a statement from Catholics for Choice President Jamie L. Manson:
“This evening, Catholics for Choice proudly stood for pro-choice Catholics and pushed back against the anti-choice activists participating in tomorrow’s March for Life. Our message: 1 in 4 abortion patients is Catholic. Stop stigmatizing them. Start listening.
“The March for Life twists our faith to villainize people who seek abortion services and silences the 68% of Catholics who do not want to see Roe v. Wade overturned. That’s why, during the “Vigil for Life” at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C., we prominently projected our message to Catholics who support legal abortion access and those who have abortions themselves: no matter what the Church hierarchy tries to make you think, you are not alone.
“We took our message to the largest Catholic Church in the United States to remind religious leaders that many of the faithful have had abortions, and will have abortions, and that they participate in the life of the church. We must embrace this reality by hearing their stories and breaking the silence and shame that the hierarchy has created around this issue.
“Like the majority of Catholics in this country, the so-called ‘March for Life’ does not speak for me. I support abortion access because my Catholic faith teaches that healthcare is a human right, and that includes abortion. It commands me to follow my conscience in all matters of moral decision-making and respect others’ right to do the same. And my Catholic faith tells me to honor and defend human dignity and freedom. Abortion bans like those sought by the organizers and participants of the March for Life – which force folks to give birth against their will and disproportionately harm people who already broken and crucified by the sinful structures of systemic racism, gender inequality, economic insecurity, and immigration restrictions – are the antithesis of my Catholic social justice values.
“Opponents of abortion rights like the U.S. bishops and the March for Life have spent decades trying to roll back abortion rights, and this year, with the Supreme Court poised to overturn Roe v. Wade, they very well may succeed. No matter how bleak things become for reproductive justice, Catholics for Choice will never stop shining our light on behalf of the pro-choice, faithful majority for the fundamental constitutional and human right to abortion – as a matter of justice, a matter of freedom, and a matter of faith.”
Catholics for Choice shapes and advances sexual and reproductive ethics that are based on justice, reflect a commitment to a person’s well-being and respect, and affirm the capacity of all people to make moral decisions about their lives.
