Pro-lifers discuss strategies, get re-energized

By Joyce Coronel | Sept. 17, 2009 | The Catholic Sun

SCOTTSDALE — Speakers sharply criticized the Obama administration but were full of optimism for the pro-life movement Aug. 28-29 at the annual Arizona Right to Life conference.

More than 300 gathered at the Scottsdale Chaparral Suites to hear speakers like Dr. Mark Reynolds, a professor of philosophy at Biola University.

He told those gathered that there was an ocean of difference between those who advocate a culture of life ethic and those who promote a culture of death.

“In many ways, our opponents will appear wiser than the children of the age to come... they will never appear to be foolishly optimistic,” Reynolds said of pro-lifers’ positive outlook in the face of a stridently pro-abortion administration. “When we’re surrounded, we fight harder.”

Reynolds didn’t stop at merely criticizing the current political climate, but aimed instead at encouraging and motivating the crowd.

“We smile in the face of defeat, because the pro-life cause can never be a cause of sourness or pessimism... we stand on the rights that cannot be taken away: life and liberty. We stand on the side of history,” Reynolds said, adding that, “the temporal defeats of the moment are irrelevant. Our rights do not come from the government, so even when the government takes our rights away, we do not despair.”

Jinny Perron, president of Arizona Right to Life, told the group that “the new political landscape brings the most radical pro-abortion views, agenda, and staff appointments in White House history.” 

She encouraged attendees to learn from the various workshops at the conference that ranged from presentations on medical ethics to the nature of abortion and a session titled “How to Take Back Ground.”

Joseph Scheidler, the national director of the Pro-Life Action League, was on hand to tell of his more than 30 years as an activist in the movement.

Scheidler’s organization has drawn attention over the years for its tactic of displaying large, graphic images of aborted babies. He told the crowd, “We’re not liked very well,” but that, “when you see the victim your heart is moved. The babies that die have to be seen.”