by Katie Schriner, Intern
On February 14th, EWTN hosted its weekly pro-life program outside of the White House in Washington D.C. Catherine Hardo, head anchor of EWTN, spoke to several different people about different subject matters within the pro-life movement. Some of those people include Melissa Ohden, Dr. Russell Moore and more who are involved in the pro-life movement. However, what makes this segment so unique is the opportunity that Melissa Ohden got with President Trump, Catherine getting a chance to have a conversation with Dr. Russell Moore about the roles of the pro-life movement, and how the Knights of Columbus donated their 1,000 ultrasound machines to pregnancy centers.
Melissa Ohden, an abortion survivor, got the opportunity to not only meet President Trump but also to have a conversation with him about her experience and the pro-life movement. She tells the story about how 41 years ago, her mother was forced to have an abortion done against her will. Melissa was soaked in a toxic salt solution for 5 days (normally this process takes 72 hours), and was “accidently” born alive. Melissa tells Catherine that meeting President Trump was “surreal” and she describes meeting him like she was meant to be here today to tell her story and how important survivors are in the pro-life movement. She also emphasizes how passionately he is committed to life and what he is willing to keep doing legislatively to protect life.
The discussion that Catherine Hardo had with Dr. Russell Moore, President of the Ethics and Religion Liberties Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention, was very effective, highlighting the Pro-Life Leadership. The highlights of the leadership in the Pro-Life Movement includes religious background, power that triumphs over vulnerability, the power in elderly and disabled, and most importantly the idea of seeing people in terms of their usefulness in the movement. But what makes this conversation so effective is what Dr. Russell Moore says about people who dismiss pro-life views (faith issues). What he says about this is “faith certainly informs the conscience but faith does not create the conscience out of nothing” and that the conscience “deeply knows that something is wrong here” which he says is the reason why people are self-protective about this movement.
Apart from this, the Knights of Columbus do tons of volunteer work within communities; one of their biggest ones is protecting babies. In Virginia, the Knights of Columbus has donated 1,000 ultrasound machines to a Catholic Charities clinic. Carl Anderson, Supreme Knight of the Knights of Columbus states about 10 years ago, “We began this program with just two machines, we didn’t know how large it would grow. Now we have more than a 1,000 machines and these machines are saving tens of thousands of babies, soon to be 1 million lives.” How this program works is that local knights raise HALF of the necessary expenses of an ultrasound machine through a variety of efforts. Then the Supreme Council Culture of Life fund matches that amount, which is valued around 50 million dollars. The Knights’ efforts ensure that there’s at least one Knight Sponsored Machine in every state in the U.S. and also in other countries such as Puerto Rico, Brazil, Canada, Jamaica, Peru and Africa.
The efforts of the pro-life movement are highly powerful when it comes to the communities all around the country. What we can remember is that in doing the work, we raise not just money but awareness of the pro-life movement. We show that it is so effective in protecting innocent lives and saving tomorrow’s future.