(NCR) As we round out an intense election year, it’s important to reflect on the state of the pro-life movement, remembering some of the most vital stories of the year. It’s only been two years since Roe v. Wade was overturned by the Supreme Court, and that historic day continues to fuel a new fire in our quest for all life to be protected, from the womb to the tomb.
Countless stories arose this year of babies fighting for survival in NICUs, pro-life advocates being jailed for praying outside buildings where babies are being killed and “suicide pods” being marketed to make assisted suicide look attractive, alongside stories of Catholic nuns doing all they can to help the elderly living with dementia. Amid the many tragedies permeating a society dwelling in a culture of death, there are glimmers of hope to be found.
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Here are seven pro-life moments from 2024 to remember as we venture into a new year with the March for Life on the horizon.
1. A harrowing year for Leah Darrow with the birth of her baby Sly at the premature age of 22 weeks now has a very happy ending, the model-turned-pro-life-activist shared on social media. Darrow chronicled the entire journey online, with so many people praying along with the Darrow family for Sly, marveling at the amazing advancements in neonatal technology. The darling baby, now 7 months old, overcame several hurdles and still has an uphill climb, but Sly’s future looks so bright — and is a beautiful testament to life in the womb that deserves to be protected at all costs. As his mom likes to say, “When a woman chooses life, she saves her own.”
Leah Darrow and Baby Sly are featured on the former model’s Instagram account.(Photo: Screenshots via NCR)
2. Ryan Anderson’s call for the pro-life movement to embrace fully a pro-family, pro-marriage perspective is a pivotal moment in the shaping of the future of life within the U.S. Focusing on not only the reality of life within the womb, but the necessity to build strong relationships to forge even stronger families is of utmost importance. “Our primary task isn’t to persuade people of the humanity of the unborn — anyone who has ever seen an ultrasound knows all about that — but to change how people lead their sexual lives,” Anderson wrote in First Things. “We have a pro-life movement, but could anyone seriously suggest that we have a pro-marriage or pro-chastity movement?” And as we look to how the pro-life landscape may change with more Catholics in the White House in the new year, Anderson’s advice has paved the way for more thought-provoking analysis on what a truly pro-life America just might look like.
3. The powerful pro-life message of Harrison Butker also reverberated for weeks across national media. The Catholic football player made strong statements for the unborn but also in support of family and motherhood in his commencement address on the campus of Benedictine College in Kansas. In an era where many young adults are told that settling down and marrying should be the last thing on their goals list, Butker praised the vocation of motherhood, pointing out that many of the graduates present that day “are most excited about your marriage and the children you will bring into this world.” The Kansas City kicker was also quick to point out “things like abortion, IVF, surrogacy, euthanasia, as well as a growing support for degenerate cultural values in media,” saying they “all stem from the pervasiveness of disorder.” Although there were many hot takes on his long commencement speech, the heart of his message was pro-life.
4. Countering the rise of assisted suicide and the first American traveling overseas to escape terminal illness by “suicide pod” was the moving testimony of Carmelite Sister M. Peter Lillian Di Maria, with her wealth of experience working with elderly patients suffering from dementia. She shared with the Register countless stories of how those who can’t remember the simple facts of how they spent their day still can recount prayers and verses spoken during Mass, offering a glimpse into the awe-inspiring plan God has for all of our lives. One granddaughter, Kate Fassbender, recounted to the Register: “It was a spiritual memory that cannot be described in any other form of memory. She never forgot her prayers, her faith nor the people that formed her ...” And in the year of Eucharistic Revival, Sister Peter shared a beautiful reality: “For cognitively impaired elders, even in their confusion, when they see the Host and chalice raised and are receiving Communion, they have a sense of knowing that Jesus is present.”
5. Widow Mari Kuhlman marked her one-year wedding anniversary this year with a beautiful tribute, reflecting on the real beauty that comes from the sacrament of matrimony. The single mother, who is raising her infant son, recalled the couple’s shared desire to “bring others closer to his Sacred Heart” even now from “different sides of the veil.”
Her words and witness remind us all of the many graces that are bestowed upon couples in marriage — most importantly the gift of life: “Raphael is everything we ever hoped for in a son — he’s absolutely perfect; truly the best parts of ourselves in a tiny human.”
6. Bishop Michael Burbidge of the Diocese of Arlington, Virginia, is working overtime to make all children with special needs feel loved and included. In an era where children with Down syndrome are almost obsolete, the shepherd of Arlington has taken it upon himself to make sure all children with special needs are granted every opportunity that all Catholic students receive in a warm and inviting environment.
All Catholic schools within the diocese “welcome children with disabilities,” Bishop Burbidge told the Register. And for him, it’s all about living the Gospel and following “the example of Jesus, who embraced all children and all people without exception.”
The prelate says a sense of purpose is so important in building a culture of life, making us “fully alive as human persons.”
Options students from St. Paul VI Catholic High School visit the Arlington chancery and strike a pose with Bishop Michael Burbidge.(Photo: Courtesy photo via NCR)
7. A self-written obituary of a 100-year-old man went viral this year, with countless Catholics from around the country paying their respects to Richard A. “Dick” Ruth, “who was influenced by the well-kept graves he saw in the cemeteries of Germany” to spend much of his time tending to a corporal work of mercy: praying for the dead. Working with soil around the headstones of his buried loved ones, he “worked hard through the years to keep the graves of his beloved dead well adorned with tulips in the spring and summer flowers throughout the rest of the growing season.”
We can learn so much from this self-proclaimed “feeble evangelizer of Jesus Christ.”
Richard A. “Dick” Ruth born June 13, 1924 — August 20, 2024 of Johnstown, Pennsylvania alongside his wife Dorothy.(Photo: Screenshots via NCR)
Editor's note: Reprinted with permission from the National Catholic Register – www.ncregister.com.
