FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: MARIA GALLAGHER, PPLF
January 16, 2018 717-541-0034
Pennsylvanians to Join Hundreds of Thousands at March for Life in DC
HARRISBURG, Pa. – Pennsylvanians are set to join hundreds of thousands of other Americans at the March for Life on Friday, January 19th in Washington, D.C. The event has been called the largest annual peaceful demonstration in the United States.
“It is highly appropriate that the theme of this year’s March is ‘Love Saves Lives,’” said Michael Ciccocioppo, Executive Director of the Pennsylvania Pro-Life Federation, the state affiliate of National Right to Life. “The pro-life movement has empowered women across the country to make loving and life-affirming decisions for themselves and their families. On the other hand, abortion has had a devastating effect on women, leaving countless numbers of mothers to grieve for the children they have lost.”
Statistics obtained from abortion facilities themselves indicate that almost 60 million unborn children in the United States have died from abortion in the years since the tragic 1973 U.S. Supreme Court decision known as Roe v. Wade. In Pennsylvania alone, over 30,000 unborn babies died from abortion in 2016, according to the most recent figures released by the Pennsylvania Department of Health.
“Nearly 100 children die each day from abortion in the Keystone State. That means we are losing the equivalent of about five kindergarten classes daily from abortion. It’s an unparalleled tragedy,” said Ciccocioppo.
Still, the abortion rate would be much higher were it not for a number of important developments. “Pro-life pregnancy centers, the miracle of 4D Ultrasound, the closing of abortion centers, and the prevalence of social media have all combined to bring down our abortion rate over the past few decades,” said Ciccocioppo.
As many as a half-million people are expected for the March for Life—the majority of them high school and college students and young professionals. Chapters of the Pennsylvania Pro-Life Federation, along with a number of church groups, have organized bus trips to the annual March, as they have for decades.
“Our dream is the day when we no longer have to march—when abortion is not just illegal, but unthinkable so that the lives of all preborn children are protected and their mothers are saved from the heartache of abortion,” Ciccocioppo said.
Note: If your news organization would like to know about buses to the March for Life from your area, please contact Maria Gallagher at 717-541-0034 or at gallagher@paprolife.org.
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The Pennsylvania Pro-Life Federation is a grassroots right-to-life organization with members statewide. As the state affiliate of National Right to Life, PPLF is committed to promoting the dignity and value of human life from conception to natural death and to restoring legal protection for preborn children.