Recognizing the Unsung Heroes
in the Fight for Life
By Maria Gallagher,
Legislative Director
Pennsylvania Pro-Life Federation
A
number of national news operations have conducted interviews with a Texas state
Senator who engaged in a lengthy filibuster of legislation designed to safeguard
the health and safety of women and to protect preborn children from the ravages
of late-term abortion.
I
understand the media fascination with the filibuster. One of my favorite movies is "Mr. Smith
Goes to Washington," in which the pivotal scene involves the late great
Jimmy Stewart saying, "I guess this is just another lost cause" and
talking about "Love thy neighbor" shortly before collapsing on the
floor of the U.S. Senate.
Television
anchors have questioned the Texas senator about how she stood for hours,
without eating, drinking, or using the facilities. A filibuster is a test of physical and
emotional endurance.
So,
though, is the largely unreported fight for life.
For
instance, each year, hundreds of thousands of courageous people - from students
to seniors - board buses headed for Washington, D.C. and the March for
Life. They endure sleep deprivation and
bitter cold, on their feet for hours on end, just for the chance to stand
before the U.S. Supreme Court to demonstrate their support for pregnant women
and preborn children.
Again,
we are talking hundreds of thousands of people. And they often receive little,
if any airtime from the major networks.
I don't know how many wear pink sneakers, but I do know I have never
seen their footwear profiled on the evening news. And they accomplish this
grueling physical feat year after year. Some have been doing it for decades.
Many
of the marchers are women, and I must confess I don't know most of their names,
but they are heroes to me.
And
then there are the women who rise in the dark of night to nurse the children
their boyfriends-who are long gone-wanted them to abort. They do this night
after night, with no TV cameras around to capture their sacrifice, and no crowd
of onlookers to cheer them on. Their stamina is unsurpassed, and their
selflessness is inspiring. But, again, I don't see them profiled on the morning
shows.
And
then there is the lovely octogenarian I know who has been providing love and
support to pregnant women, day in and day out, for forty years. Again, she has
been put to the test, physically and emotionally, for a lifetime. But away from
the spotlight, in the extraordinariness of ordinary life.
At
some point, these heroines for life were told they were engaging in a lost
cause-but they knew it was a cause worth fighting for, because they were
fighting for the lives of children and grandchildren, and for the true
empowerment of women.
Their
physical achievement far surpasses a day-long filibuster. And their legacy of
love lasts far beyond one lifetime.
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