Nearly five months after Marylanders overwhelmingly voted to enshrine the right to an abortion in the state Constitution – and just weeks after Maryland lawmakers agreed to use a $25 million fund to help pay for abortions – hundreds of unwavering pro-life advocates took to the streets of Annapolis March 27 for the 46th annual Maryland March for Life.
Led by three motorcyclists from the Knights of Columbus, the marchers advanced through the capital, carrying signs with messages such as “Defund Planned Parenthood” and “God’s Gift. God’s Plan.”
Though met with some cheers from supporters, the marchers also encountered hostility. As they passed a popular downtown restaurant, several diners glared at them through large windows, flashing thumbs-down gestures. Outside, a woman mockingly shouted that she was on her way to undergo her fifth abortion.
Father Mark Bialek, pastor of St. John in Westminster and St. Joseph in Taneytown, said no matter the reaction, the witness to the dignity of human life from conception to natural death was “imperative.” That’s especially important in a state where more than 75 percent of voters favored last year’s constitutional amendment, he said.
“Every life has dignity, every life has value and every life is worth marching for until abortion and other threats to life are unthinkable,” said Father Bialek, who accompanied a group of 30 parishioners and other supporters from Carroll County. The group came to the march on a motorcoach organized by the Carroll County Right to Life and the Knights of Columbus at St. John.
At a rally outside the State House, speakers encouraged pro-life supporters to stay committed despite setbacks. Erin Getz, State March Program Director for the National March for Life, urged them to focus on the “long-term battle,” emphasizing that real change happens through one-on-one conversations in homes, schools, churches and communities.
Jeffrey S. Trimbath, president of the Maryland Family Institute, pointed to some victories including the continued failure of physician-assisted suicide legislation to gain traction in the General Assembly. This year marked the eighth time pro-life advocates successfully helped block the measure, he said.
Trimbath urged pro-life supporters to contact their lawmakers and ask them to vote against a bill now under consideration that he said would require hospitals to perform “emergency abortions.”
“What we think that will do is put pressure on pro-life doctors and nurses who do not want to do that,” he said. “So call your state delegates and tell them to vote no on Senate Bill 447, which is still very much alive.”
Many marchers were concerned about the proposal to expand abortion access with funding from $25 million collected from a surcharge on insurance plans sold under the Affordable Care Act. Both the Senate and House of Delegates approved versions of the proposal, which is expected to reach Gov. Wes Moore’s desk.
Maureen Stansell, a parishioner of St. John the Evangelist in Severna Park who has been attending the Maryland March for Life for decades, believes that money should be directed to help women in crisis pregnancies.
“I think they should be supporting women, supporting women so that women can choose life,” she said. “So many women say they have an abortion because they don't have a choice. They feel like they're pressured into having an abortion – and because maybe their finances aren't good or whatever. So a lot of that money could be used to help these women in necessary ways.”
In written testimony against the proposal, the Maryland Catholic Conference, the public-policy arm of the state’s Catholic bishops, underscored the disproportionate impact of abortion on certain demographics. The conference noted that abortion rates are significantly higher among non-Hispanic Black women compared to non-Hispanic white women, among cohabiting women compared to married women, and among women with some college education compared to college graduates.
“These disparities highlight the need for policies that support women and families rather than expanding abortion access,” the conference argued. “Abortion clinics do not provide essential follow-up care for women who may experience physical and emotional trauma from chemical or surgical abortions. Yet, this bill proposes using federal funds to expand abortion services instead of allocating surplus funds to labor and delivery costs or pregnancy centers that offer critical, life-affirming support.”
In her keynote address, Kelly Lester recounted how abortion affected her life. The nationally-known pro-life activist, who lives in Virginia, said she had been molested as a young child and raped while in high school. The trauma caused her to “look for love in all the wrong places,” she said, and she became pregnant at 15. Her boyfriend’s mother, the head of her Parent-Teacher Association and a Sunday school teacher at a large Christian church, encouraged her to have an abortion. It would become the first of two abortions she had in her life.
Now a mother of six, Lester asked pro-life advocates to be a voice of compassion.
“I want to tell each one of you, just like there was a woman who I trusted who led me to the abortion facility, each one of you have women and men in your life that you can lead in the other direction,” she said.
The march, which included the Archdiocese of Baltimore as a sponsor, began with a youth rally on the parking lot of St. Mary Church. Baltimore Auxiliary Bishop Bruce A. Lewandowski, C.Ss.R., celebrated a Respect Life Mass inside the church, with a Christian prayer service offered in the hall.
In his homily, Bishop Lewandowski drew from Scripture, emphasizing that all people are made in God’s image. All are children of God and have a heavenly citizenship, he said. In addition, everyone is called to missionary discipleship, which includes being witnesses to the sanctity of life.
The bishop encouraged participants to share their personal reasons for marching with others, noting that he was there in support of a woman he knows who faced multiple miscarriages before giving birth to a healthy baby. He also emphasized the importance of prayer, noting that the Respect Life Mass was the most important part of their participation in the march.
The throng of marchers, which again included a large representation from Mount de Sales Academy in Catonsville, made it to the rally on Lawyer’s Mall in about 15 minutes from St. Mary. Father Matthew DeFusco, associate pastor of St. John in Frederick and St. Joseph-on-Carrollton Manor in Buckeystown, gave the opening prayer.
“Before we can change laws and influence legislation we have to change hearts,” Father Bialek said. “Conversion takes time and we must accompany our culture until it remembers and cherishes human life once again. That journey is one heart, one soul at a time.”
