Both are usually held in conjunction with the national March for Life in Washington DC.

"After a consultation process that involved dialogue with other dioceses, ministry leaders, and the partners who assist the archdiocese in hosting the annual rally and Mass...[we have] decided not to move forward with hosting the larger multi-diocese rally."

Five months ago, the US Supreme Court overturned Roe v Wade, the 1973 landmark case that legalised abortion nationwide. The annual March for Life, which is now in its 50th year, began in opposition to Roe.

"During this consultation process, we heard from many dioceses who shared that they are turning their efforts to their state's March for Life now that Roe v Wade has been overturned," the Archdiocese of Washington said in a statement.

The archdiocese says the Youth Rally and Mass for Life had been held for over 25 years.

Its youth ministry website says the Youth Rally aims to "encourage the youth participating in the national March for Life in their witness as disciples of Christ and promoters of the Gospel of Life."

The Youth Rally is the archdiocese's largest annual event.

The archdiocese says last year, the Holy See granted a plenary indulgence for any Masses that were held in the archdiocese during the March for Life.

"As difficult a decision as it was to cancel, we encourage groups travelling to Washington, DC, to participate in the National March for Life at the National Mall and to attend the Vigil Mass at The Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception," it says.

"Wilton Cardinal Gregory, archbishop of The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Washington, would like to express his deepest gratitude for the support and participation of archdiocesan youth and young people who travelled to Washington, DC, over these past 25 years," the statement says.

Youth from the Archdiocese of Washington have been invited for a Mass of Celebration and Thanksgiving at the Cathedral of St Matthew the Apostle on 20 January 2023.

Source

• Catholic News Agency

The pro-life institutions NEOS (the Assembly of Associations for Life, Liberty, and Dignity) and the Every Life Matters Platform organised the march which included more than 200 civil society organisations.

The march started at the Bilbao roundabout and ended at Plaza Colón. Jaime Mayor Oreja, a member of NEOS, said during a presentation at the march that "the repeal of abortion in the United States shows us that the debate on the culture of life is by no means over. We are going to be more present, united and active than ever."

About 40,000 people participated in the "Choose Life" rally on May 21, the Italian daily newspaper La Repubblica reported.

"We are here to reaffirm the right of children to come into the world. They do not get to ask for it," Father Andres Bonello told Adnkronos, an Italian news agency.

"We do it in a peaceful way, singing and dancing together with many young people," said the Argentine priest who is a member of the Institute of the Incarnate Word.

Participants in the pro-life rally marched from Rome's Piazza della Repubblica to the public square by the St John Lateran Archbasilica.

Read More

The WHPA "would enshrine into federal law abortion on demand until the moment of birth, and it would nullify state laws — new and existing - that protect unborn children and their mothers" Jeanne Mancini, president of the March for Life, warned ahead of the vote.

The February 28 vote, with 46 for and 48 against the WHPA, needed 60 votes to proceed. It fell largely along party lines, with only one Democrat (Sen Joe Manchin of West Virginia) voting against proceeding with the bill that would override states' pro-life laws and remove restrictions on abortion up to the point of birth in some cases. No Republicans voted in support of the WHPA.

Read More

The event celebrates the value of life and the unborn child and offers a peaceful protest against New Zealand's abortion laws.

"Forty-three years ago, Parliament passed a law that said not all unborn children have a right to life," organisers say.

"Under that law more than half a million pre-born children were aborted.

"Abortion not only takes the life of a human being, it wounds women physically, emotionally, and spiritually; and families are negatively affected.

"New Zealanders love both women and their unborn children, and we want the law to reflect that love."

Among the organisations at the March for Life was Gianna's Choice Mobile Life Centre, a Family Life International programme.

Its founder/director spoke of the pro-life movement's willingness to serve and support mothers when they most need help.

"When people see the Centre, a whole new world of possibilities of reaching abortion-vulnerable women is opened up for them," said Colleen Bayer.

Another organisation at the march was South Auckland's ProLove. In the few months since it was founded, ProLove says it has distributed 500 boxes of goods to mothers and babies in need the local community.

Former National List MP Agnes Loheni spoke when the March reached parliament grounds.

Loheni, who sat on the Abortion Legislation Committee, said although the State will protect some vulnerable, pre-born babies are not included.

"History ... will not judge the passing of this Abortion Legislation kindly."

The coming restrictions on speech about abortion are concerning, Loheni said.

It "is only a short jump from banning speech outside an abortion clinic to banning speech that is anti-abortion," she said.

Pro-life politician, Simon O'Connor, acknowledges the difficult decision made by women who have had an abortion.

"To those mums ... we stand with you, we love you, we support you," he stated.

He challenged fathers who pressure women into abortion "to love them and to love your child ...".

Recognizing "that much death has been legislated" this year, he encouraged the crowd to: "Have those conversations ... In a few years' time we will ... celebrate that life has once more returned to Aotearoa."

A message delivered via video by Lila Rose, the founder and director of Live Action, an educational and activist pro-life group in the United States was broadcast to the crowd.

There are three important tasks to continue with now the March for Life has been held, she said: education, involvement and prayer.

"The movement isn't just today," she stated. "The movement is throughout the year until we reach victory, which is the complete ending of abortion and the rebuilding of a culture of life."

A small group of counter protestors were also present during the event.

They followed the March for Life from Civic Square to Parliament where they had booked lawn space.

Here, March attendees were able to positively interact with some of the protestors, who were generally young.

Source

• Family Life International
• Image: Scoop

The march comes after a Labour-led Government's proposal to remove abortion from the Crimes Act, as well as a Law Commission report into the topic earlier this year.

It's the second year the March for Life has been held in Wellington - last year's marked 40 years since the passing of the Act that allowed abortions to become more easily available.

Organisers say this year the crowd was double the size.

Radio New Zealand reported that about 1200 people, including former prime minister Sir Bill English, were at the rally.

They assembled in Te Ngakau Civic Square and then marched through the central city to the grounds of Parliament to listen to a number of speeches by family advocates and National Party MPs, including Simon O'Connor and Alfred Ngaro.

O'Connor said people should stand up for what they believed in.

"I hope with your voices, we will not be silent. We will always stand for life - a consistent ethic of life.

We will be proud, and we will never stop fighting."

Family Life International NZ's spokesperson Michelle Kaufman said it was that "health issue" idea that had sparked the protest action.

"Abortion is not healthcare ... Healthcare is about providing the medical needs of patients.

It does not end the life of one for the convenience of the other," she said.

"Today we march in defence of the right to life and proper health care of pre-born children and their mothers. Today we offer hope."

The New Zealand abortion rate increased slightly in 2017 to 13.7 abortions per 1000 women, compared to 13.5 in 2016, according to Statistics New Zealand.

In total, 13,285 induced abortions were performed in 2017, an increase of 462 (3.6 per cent) on the previous year.

About one in every five pregnancies ended in abortion, the data showed.

Source

• stuff.co.nz
• radionz.co.nz
• Image: stuff.co.nz

The charismatic octogenarian, once described by Cardinal Sean O'Malley as the "Joan of Arc" of the pro-life movement, was a ubiquitous figure at the Washington event for 38 years, introducing the many luminaries who addressed the crowd of several hundred thousand during the rally before the march.

Gray was a lawyer and former federal employee who devoted herself full-time to the pro-life movement after the Supreme Court's 1973 Roe v. Wade decision.

This "tugging at her heartstrings" ultimately led her to retire from law and devote herself to the pro-life cause.

She used the phrase "no exceptions, no compromise" to sum up her belief that life begins at conception and that no abortion should be legal.

Father Frank Pavone, former national director of Priests for Life, recalled that Gray was in many respects an unwitting founder of an event that was destined to transform the pro-life movement by drawing hundreds of thousands of enthusiastic pro-life advocates to Capitol Hill every year.

"She never expected or planned to start a March for Life," he said. "She would often tell me with a humorous recollection, ‘You know Father, they just wanted to have a meeting, and some of us came together, and we decided to use my house for the meeting, and we thought we would have one march and that would be it.

"And before you know it, I was in charge of this march. And it's not something that I wanted or anticipated, but we came together, we did it, and before we know it we had to do it a second time and one thing led to another."

Sources:

LifeSiteNews

Associated Press

Image: LifeSiteNews