The Daily Signal - Pro-Life is Pro-Woman.

Episode Date: January 21, 2020

Life Empowers: Pro-Life is Pro-Woman. That is the theme of this years national March for Life in Washington, DC set to take place on January 24. Since 1974, March For Life has gathered in our nations capital to remember the lives lost since the passage of Roe v. Wade and to remind America that each life has value. President of March for Life Jeanne Mancini joins The Daily Signal podcast to discuss what to expect at this years march and where the pro-life movement as a whole is headed in 2020. Learn More about March March for Life: https://marchforlife.org/national-march-for-life/. Enjoy the show! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This is the Daily Signal podcast for Tuesday, January 21st. I'm Robert Blewey. And I'm Virginia Allen. On today's show, we share my recent conversation with March for Life president, Jeannie Mancini. The annual March for Life will take place this Friday, January 24th, in Washington, D.C. Jeannie gives us a sneak peek into what we can expect this year and what is ahead for the pro-life movement in 2020. We also share your letters to the editor and a good news story about how elementary school students are helping restore dignity to the homeless in their communities this winter. Before we get to today's show, Rob and I want to tell you about our favorite way to get the news every morning. It's called the morning bell.

In each weekday, the Daily Signal delivers the top news and commentary directly to your inbox for free. You'll be able to read about policy debate shaping the agenda, analysis from Heritage Foundation experts, and commentary from leading conservatives like Ben Shapiro and Dennis Prager. It's easy to sign up. Just visit DailySignal.com and click on the connect button in the top right corner of the page. We'll start sending you the morning bell tomorrow. Now stay tuned for today's show coming up next. I am joined by the president of March for Life, Jeannie Mancini.

Jeannie, thank you so much for being with me today. Well, thanks so much for having me, Virginia. Now, March for Life began in January of 1974, one year after the passage of Roe versus Wade. And March for Life really started out just as this small, peaceful demonstration, but it quickly grew into the world's largest pro-life event. The 2020 March is taking place on January 24th in Washington, D.C. Can you share with us what the theme is that you all chose for this year's March? I'd love to. And if it's okay, I'll just give a little bit of backdrop that every year we do a lot of thinking and discerning about the appropriate theme because with the March for Life being the only place, where all of the different pro-life groups come together annually,

it's an awesome springboard to message essentially about what we think are the most cutting-edge, most pressing issues in building a culture of life. And so themes in past years have included adoption and noble decision. Another year, in fact, last year we had pro-life as pro-science and really delved into the science behind embryology and some of the wonderful neonatal surgery. surgeries available, et cetera. So this year, our theme is life empowers, pro-life is pro-woman. And of course, this is the year where we celebrate the centennial anniversary of the 19th Amendment, which created a woman's right to vote. And so it's a great opportunity to go back and to look

at the suffragist, the early feminist, the early female leaders who recognize the inherent dignity of women and the inherent dignity of the unborn were not at odds with each other. And they had a really good understanding about that. And so we're having a lot of fun with this theme. And we're excited to be able to talk about that more next week. Absolutely. Now, who is speaking at this year's March? We've got a great, great, great lineup.

And stay tuned because there are more announcements to be made even tomorrow. So legislatively, we will welcome to the stage representative Chris Smith. as well as a state representative, state senator as of yesterday, Katrina Jackson. So Chris Smith is very well known. He's from New Jersey and just a stalwart on our issues. Katrina Jackson as well is very interesting because she's one of the few pro-life Democrats. And in particular, we're so interested to have her this year because she was the author of the bill in Louisiana related to abortion clinic regulations that then became a law. and now we'll go before the Supreme Court in March.

And so it'll be very interesting to hear from Senator Jackson. So those are some of our legislative speakers, and there's a few more to be announced there. We have Claire Colwell and Melissa Oden. They both have these incredibly inspiring stories. They both survived abortion, essentially, and their lives are such witnesses, and so they're going to share their stories. And of course, we'll link that very much to the Born Alive Discharge petition in the House right now. We've got Jim Daley from Focus on the Family, Marjorie Danenfellzer, head of Susan B. Anthony,

list a good year for Marjorie to speak with the theme. Another wonderful woman, she's a pro-life leader in New Mexico, Elisa Martinez. We also have a local pastor, David Platt, from McLean Bible Church, a very well-known church. a very well-known church here in the D.C. area, and he will be doing our closing prayer. And, like I said, we've got a few more announcements, and I should say our favorite speaker, at least when we do our surveys after the March for Life, is almost always the young person that speaks, because, of course, by and large, the participants in the March for Life are young people. And so our one specific designated young person who's speaking this year is Catalina Shider Galinanis,

and she is from Oak Crest, a school in Vienna, Virginia, and she's going to speak about why she's pro-life. Wow, so many amazing speakers. I really look forward myself to hearing many of them at the event on the 24th. Now, people come to March for Life in Washington, D.C., from states all across America. What is that message or motivation that you are really hoping that marchers will take with them back to their home states and their communities? The March for Life is very interesting.

in that it's a place to come and witness and testify to the beautiful inherent dignity of the unborn person. And yet, ironically, for those of us who participate in the March every year, it's an opportunity for our own hearts and minds to be changed even more about this issue. And so I'll just give you a quick example of that and then try to know. I'm kind of backing my way into the answer here. But I had a family member come and participate from out west last year, and it was the first time he had come. And he's always been pro-life. But, you know, it was quite a sacrifice to come. He and his wife and one of his children came and had a really beautiful time.

I think it really was just – his eyes were opened to the significance of the issue. And perhaps his heart was changed even more in the direction of life. And while he has a very busy schedule last year was having kind of a – I guess you could say a break from work for a few months as he was changing to a new job. this year, he's again coming because he realized how important it is. And it's like, again, his own experience was changed and then he wants to do more in his local community. So what I would say is that the March for Life, while, again, while it's a moment to testify and to give witness in the public square about the unborn, it also changes our own hearts and our deepest hope, as those of us who pull this event together, is that marchers go back home and make

a difference in their local community because if it's just, you know, one day that we're coming together and are really motivating an exciting day, then we're not doing our job. So the job is really, you know, recognizing that we each have a role to play in building a culture of life and to do that in the area where we are planted. And speaking of working in that area where you're planted, you all have also launched a number of marches across America in different cities. Why did you feel that it was important to not just have the national march, but also to have marches in states across America? Well, a few years ago, as a pro-life organization in D.C., we found that we were being tapped to do all things. And there was a bit of, I would describe, mission creep even within the

organization, not terribly so, but it allowed for some reflection after some time. I think we were all a little bit burned out. And it gave us an opportunity to really, you know, look interiorly as well as, you know, look up to God and really think about, you know, why was the march created and what do we bring to the pro-life movement and to building a culture of life that no other pro-life group brings. And so what can we do better and more of to end abortion, to change hearts and minds so that abortion is unthinkable in our country. And simultaneously, if you were to ask, ask us, what is the single thing that you get the most calls about or the most questions about? It was to help groups start marches in their states and in their local areas.

And we didn't really have the bandwidth to do that well. I mean, we had sort of a very informal toolkit, and we'd, you know, take calls and try to give technical assistance. But for the most part, we weren't really staffed up to be able to help groups do that in a powerful way. So all of that led to a lot of soul searching and deep discernment with the board. And we decided to try as a beta test a state march program. And so our first state march was in Virginia last year.

And it was in April. And we brought out over 7,000 people for it. And, you know, we're the lead story on the Richmond Times dispatch, which is the local Richmond paper. and for so many reasons it was a huge success, and we didn't quite anticipate that it would be as big of a success as it was. So this year, we'll have a second March in Virginia on February 13th. We'll also have a march in Pennsylvania. That's on May 18th and a March in Hartford, Connecticut on April 15th,

and stay tuned for more announcements. That's so exciting. Now, I do want to take just a moment to ask you to share a little bit about your own pro-life journey and how you got connected with March for Life. Oh, well, thank you for asking that. Well, let's see. I grew up in a Catholic family and social justice and just understanding human dignity was something that was ingrained in my understanding of life

and the most important things of life at a very early stage. And I came, you know, I was one of five, so we loved life, you know, my family and definitely lived in a way that was very respectful of life. However, so I went, after college, I did a volunteer corps. I did something called the Jesuit Volunteer Corps, and I worked with young people that were in a crisis setting. They were in a youth crisis shelter, excuse me. They were being moved either from a situation that wasn't safe for them to be in

or they'd been found on the streets, and there was a long-term search for more of a permanent home, whether that was going to be foster care or a residential treatment center or what have you. And so my time working with those young people was very informative. And I grappled a lot with the deeper questions about, would it be better if some of these lives hadn't been born? You know, is it unfair to bring some lives into the world when there's such a difficult scenario and such, you know, heavy crosses that these people carry that nobody's ever really

meant to carry? And so anyways, I did a lot of sort of introspection and, and I came out on the other side, you know, really recognizing that every life is a gift. And I guess realizing with humility, who am I to judge the value of someone's life because they've had some hard things happen to them. And so, you know, and then along the way, I've had different experiences, obviously, in life. I think for certain, one experience that's really been, I guess you, it weighs heavily on my heart is two people very close to me when I was in college decided to have an abortion. And they didn't tell me before.

They told me after. And in some cases it was a long time after. And just hearing the pain that they underwent was so sad. And even this terrible guilt that they were experiencing. And of course, there's always hope and healing. And I should say that to anyone listening to your podcast, anyone who's been involved in abortion. There's so many wonderful groups and people to speak with to find hope and healing after having been involved in abortion. But I just realized personally through these people who were close to me that,

women deserve so much better than abortion. And it was just, I guess, the lived experience of what I'd always believed, but I saw it in a very sad reality in these situations. So, and then each, along the way, there have been, you know, many different, I guess you could say epiphanies throughout my life. And you asked how I ended up getting to the March for Life. So this is a very long-winded way of answering that. But I was, I guess about eight, about 10 or 11 years ago, I was. was working with Family Research Council, and I was their pro-life spokesperson, and just loved that job. It was so fun, and I got to do a lot of policy analysis, which is really what I love to do. And so a few years into that job, I was asked to join the board of the March for Life,

and I did, you know, expecting just to be a board member for a period of time. But I never really made it to my first board meeting without a major happening. And that was that the founder of the March for Life, Nellie Gray passed away before I went to my first board meeting. And so my first board meeting was an emergency board meeting where we were coming up with a plan for how we were going to continue the march. And so in a short-term capacity, I and another board member Patrick Kelly took on the leadership and we thought we'd, you know, we had our plans for how that was going to happen. And here I am seven and a half years later still working with the March for Life and lots

has changed over that time, but it's just been a big blessing. Certainly. It's so neat just to hear that background and your story and kind of see how all those pieces came together. It's really, really neat. Oh, thank you. Well, you know, increasingly, unfortunately, we are seeing an attitude among the pro-choice movement that's really not only pro-abortion, but advocates flaunting abortion. And, you know, we see this through the shout your abortion movement, examples like, actress Michelle Williams and during her award acceptance speech at the Golden Globes, and we could go on and on. But what should the response of pro-lifers be to this really blatantly pro-abortion rhetoric?

Well, I think a couple things. One is to just have great confidence in what we believe. So to remember that reality is not arbitrary and that calling something, a certain name or saying that something shouldn't have stigma or shame or what have you doesn't make it so. Abortion, whatever you're going to call it, and if you're going to shout it, if you're going to tell your story about it, et cetera, abortion always takes the life of one and most frequently wounds the life of another.

And so calling it something different doesn't change that reality. And so I think just to A, recognize. that and then B, this might sound a little counterintuitive based on what I just said, but to take a very merciful approach. I mean, look, we are in a culture of what I would describe

as the walking wounded because so many women and men have been involved in abortion and that very much impacts their response to these kinds of things. There's so much woundedness around it. And so I think approaching any

conversations about this topic with a lot of mercy and love and tenderness is critical. And just to continue to, I feel that we don't ever have to kind of twist someone's arm behind their back to agree with us because we should have so much confidence. Life is inherently beautiful. And the pro-life message is so positive and attractive. And so we really just need to show it for what it is. instead of, you know, again, kind of twisting someone's arm behind their back if they don't agree with us.

And conversely, the more that we understand about the abortion industry and even abortion procedures, it's dark. I mean, it's really, really dark. And so to the extent that we can show that reality for what it is as well and certainly try to prevent people from any kind of pain and loss of life, I think that's important, too. President Trump is often referred to as the most pro-life president in history. Looking back at his first three years in office, what to you are some of the most notable pro-life victories of his administration? Oh, that's a great question. So in terms of really, you know, creating pro-life policy, I would agree.

He has done more for the pro-life movement than any president when it comes to enacting policy. So because of my job, I have to just start by talking about the March for Life. So prior to the Trump administration, we never had a president or vice president of the United States come to the March. In fact, a speechwriter once told me, and this was a former speechwriter, that presidents were counseled to go to Camp David around the time of the March for Life because they didn't want to be photoed with, you know, some graphic images or, something like that. And so, I mean, there's almost been a real fear at top levels to associate with something this important. And we've seen the opposite from this White House. And it's been incredible. I will never, ever, ever forget, you know, one week after being inaugurated, there was the

vice president in person at the March for Life in Kellyanne Conway, who'd, you know, run a successful campaign. And that was, again, the first time, it was a historic moment because it was the first time ever in the history of a march that a standing vice president had come and spoken in person. And then the following year, President Trump addressed the marchers about a mile away from the rally. So he was in the Rose Garden and there were a couple hundred young people there in the Rose Garden with him. And on big jumbotrons at the rally site, we broadcast that live. And that was very exciting. Last year, again, we had Mrs. Pence and the vice president. So it was, you know, it's just been incredible to have that level of support from the administration. But in terms of amazing policies that they've enacted, gosh, here's been so much. One of my personal favorite is the protecting life and global health policy that had been formerly called the Mexico City policy. But that's been reinstated and broadened. Well, another favorite, of course, would be Supreme Court appointments, nominations and confirmations of both Justice Gorsuch and Kavanaugh, and then all of the excellent judicial nominations,

I mean, at the appeals court and the district courts, I think there have been over 218 of those. I don't have the number right in front of me, but it's, you know, it's high. Returning Title X funding decisions to the state, launching an investigation into Planned Parenthood. I mean, there's again and again there have been so many really, really great, great things. Well, and just earlier this month, over 200 members of Congress signed an amicus brief asking the Supreme Court to reconsider Roe versus Wade. And like you mentioned, we've seen all of these great new policies and legislation come out of the Trump administration. We've also, though in 2019, did see some really devastating pro-choice legislation push forward. So what do you think we can expect in 2020?

Bonnie? It's a great question. Well, I think that some of the things that we need to think about are, first of all, the election. And the March for Life doesn't endorse candidates, but we do educate. And I think that elections matter. I know, you know, having worked in the office of the secretary at HHS and seeing all of the policies change, I was there during the Bush administration. And then in the beginning of the Obama administration, I just have to say the pro-life vote, makes such a different. So elections matter and to prepare well for the election ahead because it's going to be a big year. That's one thing. And then I know that something that we are very much focusing on at the March for Life this year is the born alive discharge petition and just the born alive truth. So you mentioned that there have been so many extreme laws enacted at the state. So of course, Illinois now passed the reproductive act, which makes it the sort of the most pro-abortion state in our country. New York, of course, did last year. Vermont passed another similar law. So, you know, essentially, it's just so critical that we're aware of these kinds of things and

that we do as much as we possibly can to message on the truth about things like the born alive, discharge petition or born alive bills at the level of the state, fight the ERA, et cetera, et cetera. So in some ways, I mean, you ask the question, and it's a little hard to know. So the elections are in front of us. We have a mixed Senate and House, so it's hard to pass the federal legislation right now. And then in the states, there's all sorts of different things happening. So to fight the extreme stuff, especially in places like Virginia, my own home state, and we're seeing the ERA is going to get voted on soon there, but to continue as much as we possibly can to pass good pro-life legislation.

like, for example, the Born Alive Act, which any person with common sense would agree with. And you recently co-authored a commentary for the Daily Signal titled Early Feminists were Right about Unborn Human Life. Can you tell us a little bit more about these American suffragists? I would love to. To the best of my knowledge, I don't think that there is even one suffragist who was pro-abortion. So we've got some fantastic quotes from, you know, for example, Alice Paul, who called abortion the ultimate exploitation of women. Elizabeth Cady Stanton was very strong in her views on this. Of course, Susan B. Anthony, et cetera.

But, you know, these early female pioneers, again, knew that a woman's capacity for fertility and motherhood wasn't a liability, but that it was a beautiful thing. I think they saw men and women as being equal in dignity but different, you know, not having to do away with the part of them that can make them mothers. So it's, it's, you know, wonderful to look back and to see sort of this first wave of feminist and where they were coming from and their understanding of these kinds of issues and then to see sort of where things are today and how far we've gotten from that. And for any of your listeners who have an interest in that, I cannot highly recommend enough coming to our conference the day before the March for Life. So our keynote is one of my favorite speakers especially on this topic. Erica Bakioki, she's a pro-life feminist and a legal scholar at the Ethics and Public Policy Center. And she's got so much to say about this. And herself has a tremendous testimony and story of coming from a more pro-abortion feminist perspective to,

where she is today. And then we have just a stellar lineup of panelists, very much speaking to different nuances about this. Sue Ellen Browder will be speaking. She's an author. She wrote a wonderful book called Subverted. Now she's got a book coming out called Sex and the Catholic Feminist, and she's essentially going to go into this question that you just asked me, what the early suffragist said and a history of that. You know, she'll read quotes and papers, et cetera. We also have a Christina Francis OBGYN, who's the chairman of the board of Applog, the American Association of Pro-Life OBGYNs.

And she's going to talk about the consequences of abortion and especially the physiological consequences. We also have Mary McCluskey, who works with Project Rachel Ministry, helping women and men who regret having been involved in abortion. And then Brandy Swindell, who's the founder and CEO of Stanton Healthcare, named after Elizabeth Cady Stanton, of course, in early suffragist. So I highly recommend coming and hearing about our theme. And how can our listeners find out more about the March that's happening in D.C.

And then the state marches that are going to be taking place throughout this year. Well, follow us on all of our different mediums on social media and check us out, particularly on our website at MarchforLife.org. And you can count down the hours, like you mentioned, Virginia, right at the beginning. Yeah. Thank you so much, Jeannie. We just really appreciate your time. Oh, thanks for having me.

It's been a pleasure. Americans have almost entirely forgotten their history. That's right. And if we want to keep our republic, this needs to change. I'm Jared Stepman. And I'm Fred Lucas. We host the Right Side of History, a podcast dedicated to restoring informed patriotism and busting the negative narratives about America's past.

Hollywood, the media, and academia have failed to do. generation. We're here to set the record straight on the ideas and people who've made this country great. Subscribe to the right side of history on Apple Podcasts, SoundCloud, and Stitcher today. Thanks for sending us your letters to the editor. Each Monday, we feature our favorites on this show and in the Morning Bell email newsletter. Virginia, who's up first? In response to Katrina Trinko's article titled Tense, Homelessness, and Misery, Nine Things I Saw in San Francisco, Heather Peterson writes, thank you for a well-written, objective article, very rare these days. I knew nothing really about San Francisco before reading this article, living on the East Coast my whole life. My children

and I were studying life in urban America and the problem of homelessness when we came across the article. Ideas have consequences, and bad ones have bad consequences. When we see the fruit of some of our beliefs, we would do well to reconsider the root rather than trying to hose off the sidewalks. The White's piece was excellent. You can find the full report at DailySignal.com. And in response to the same story, Elizabeth writes, excellent investigative and heartfelt reporting, so tragic and even laughable that the politicians,

clamoring for equality, have instead, by their own politics, created a vast gulf between their own entitled elitism and the poor and desperate. Wonder what would happen if all those millions spent on enabling more and more homelessness were instead invested in treatment for mental health and addiction. and only programs that infuse hope through self-responsibility. The left uses the drugged independent for their own political power. Compassion and productive solutions are not in the equation.

Your letter could be featured on next week's show. Send an email to Letters at dailySignal.com or leave us a voicemail message at 202-608-6205. Tired of high taxes, fewer health care choices, and bigger government, become a part of the Heritage Foundation. We're fighting the rising tide of homegrown socialism while developing conservative solutions that make families more free and more prosperous.

Find out more at heritage.org. Virginia, you have a good news story to share with us today. Over to you. Thanks so much, Rob. You know, there are estimated to be about half a million homeless people living in America today. And if you live in an urban area, as Rob, you and I do,

you are likely no stranger to seeing the homeless on a daily basis. Brothers Mike and Nick Fioreto were living and working in New York City in 2016 when they determined that they had to do something to help the thousands of homeless people in their city. So they found it Blankets of Hope, a nonprofit that provides a warm blanket and a handwritten note to anyone living on the streets. Blankets of Hope was created to fulfill a simple need. Provide a blanket to someone needing a little warm, and a little love.

But it's about so much more than a blanket. Blankets of Hope creates a meaningful connection with our brothers and sisters that are too often left behind. Attached to every blanket is a handwritten note written by students across America. This winter, Hillsdale Elementary

and Meridian, Idaho, decided they wanted to be a part of actively loving homeless people in their community. The fifth grade class has been writing letters to the homeless and is making sure that everyone who receives a blanket

knows that their life has value. My favorite part is writing the notes and thinking of the people that are going to give it to and just writing all these inspiring things on the notes. One of my favorite parts of the mission of Blankets of Hope is the focus that they place on restoring dignity to those living on the streets. Simply asking someone their name and handing them a blanket and a handwritten note can remind someone that they're more than simply just their circumstances. So if you want to learn more, learn how your local community can get involved with Blankets of Hope, visit Blankets of Hope.com.

Virginia, thank you so much for sharing that story with us today. Yeah, no, I was really encouraged by it. It's just neat to see one school getting involved in doing what they can and leading the charge for so many others. You're absolutely correct. Well, we're going to leave it there for today. The Daily Signal podcast comes to you from the Robert H. Bruce Radio Studio at the Heritage Foundation. You can find it on the Rurkishay Audio Network. All our shows can be found at Daily Signal.

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