DES MOINES, Iowa (LifeSiteNews) — Members of the world’s largest pro-life team were on hand as pro-life Iowans joined together to celebrate the end of federal abortion law.
Coinciding with the second anniversary of the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization Supreme Court ruling overturning Roe v. Wade, the second Iowa March for Life took place at the State Capitol on June 22, and LIFE Runners was part of the pro-life gathering.
LIFE Runners uses prayer, devotions, and teamwork to evangelize about the sanctity of human life. The group’s “REMEMBER The Unborn” jerseys reference the scriptural passage from Jeremiah 1:5, “Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you.” These jerseys are well-recognized at pro-life events.
Running is optional for membership, and the group currently has 23,500+ teammates in 3,500+ cities across 47 nations.
The Iowa March for Life was sponsored by Pulse Life Advocates, Dubuque County Right to Life, Iowa Right to Life, Knights of Columbus Iowa State Council, The Family Leader, the Iowa Catholic Conference, and the Coalition for Life of Iowa.
An estimated 300 pro-life advocates came to the event, which was part of the national March for Life State March program. This was begun prior to the Dobbs decision to show the fight for pro-life laws at the state level.
The Iowa March kicked off with pro-life displays in the Capitol Rotunda, followed by speakers including Des Moines Bishop William Joensen, Rev. Dr. B. Keith Haney, Pulse Life Advocates Executive Director Maggie DeWitte, Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird, pro-life advocate Hope Miller, Tamra Call from the Obria Pregnancy Resource Center, and Pastor Dave Olson.
Iowans anticipate a ruling from the Iowa Supreme Court on the state’s heartbeat law, an imminent decision as the court is set to adjourn before July.
Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds signed the heartbeat bill on July 14, 2023, and three days later it was blocked by a Polk County District Court judge. Planned Parenthood and other abortion providers had sued to block the law. Attorney General Brenna Bird filed an appeal to uphold the law last November.
LIFE Runners President and founder Dr. Pat Castle remarked on the continued fight to defend life post-Dobbs.
“The first duty of government is to defend we the people,” Castle said. “LIFE Runners will continue to wear our ‘REMEMBER The Unborn’ witness until every baby and mother is protected from abortion as intended in our nation’s founding documents which clearly include the right to life as self-evident, inalienable, and God-given.”
READ: Iowa House passes pro-life personhood bill that could criminalize IVF operations
The Iowa March for Life was emceed by Iowa Right to Life Executive Director Kristi Judkins, who underscored for the crowd that it is important now more than ever “to speak loud and clear that life has inherent value.”
Judkins shared a statement from Gov. Kim Reynolds, who was unable to attend.
Addressing the opinion that the pro-life movement should back down in the current political environment, Reynolds stated, “Our response is simple: we will never back down.”
“All life is precious and worthy of the protection of our laws,” she added.
Bishop Joensen quoted the 1995 papal encyclical Evangelium vitae (The Gospel of Life) of St. John Paul II, saying:
The acceptance of abortion in the popular mind, in behavior, and even in law itself, is a telling sign of an extremely dangerous crisis of the moral sense, which is becoming more and more incapable of distinguishing between good and evil, even when the fundamental right to life is at stake. Given such a grave situation, we need now more than ever to have the courage to look the truth in the eye and to call things by their proper name, without yielding to convenient compromises or to the temptation of self-deception.
AG Brenna Bird lauded pro-life grassroots activists and leaders for making the Dobbs ruling possible.
She thanked pro-life state lawmakers who passed the state’s heartbeat law, not just once, but twice.
“We know that the unborn are worthy of our protection,” she said. “Nothing is more precious than life, and we know who the Creator with a capital ‘C’ is.”
Bird stressed the importance of remembering that humans are made in the image and likeness of God, and said this was brought home for her as she reflected on being a parent herself and defending the heartbeat law in court.
As important as her work as Iowa’s attorney general is, Bird said, it ranks third for her after being a wife and mother.
Bird celebrated her office’s joint efforts with other state AGs to call out the Yelp online directory for its mislabeling of pregnancy centers and YouTube for misinformational abortion videos that put women at risk by playing down the risks of chemical abortion.
Supporting life is about more than just that celebratory day, she said.
“It’s about protecting every innocent unborn child. It’s about caring for every mother. It’s about caring for every person and respecting their basic human dignity and treating them as someone who is made in God’s own image.”
Pulse Life Advocates’ Maggie DeWitte described pro-life efforts in the state in glowing terms.
“Now is the time of boldness and truth, as well as compassion and love. That is how we win this battle,” DeWitte said. “We are exposing the extremism of the other side and speaking with moral confidence.”
The pro-life vision is that abortion is not the answer, DeWitte told the crowd.
“Killing an unborn child in the womb will not solve anything,” she continued. “It won’t end poverty but create more poverty. It won’t end inequality but create more inequality. It won’t end mental health issues but create more mental health issues.”
“It’s never the answer, and it’s never the solution.”
DeWitte told her audience that creating a culture of life starts with each of them and exhorted all in attendance to “be the voice.”
Following the speakers’ presentations, the pro-life crowd marched around the Capitol and to the Iowa Supreme Court building and back to proclaim support for the unborn.
READ: Iowa pregnancy center helps mother save unborn baby with abortion pill reversal program
Lisa Bourne is a LIFE Runners teammate and a former LifeSiteNews journalist who performs contract communications for Pulse Life Advocates. Photo credit; Lisa Bourne.