March for Life speakers note multifaceted support for women and children
ICR PHOTO | VERO GUTIÉRREZ
By Emily Woodham
Assistant Editor
The pro-life movement is not “just pro-birth,” said Catherine Glenn Foster, keynote speaker at the March and Rally for Life, organized by Right to Life of Idaho, on Jan. 20 in Boise.
“We love, we serve, we set up resource centers,” Glenn Foster said. Pro-life advocates and resource centers provide free resources not just to pregnant women. “We have organizations like Stanton right here in Boise serving women, babies, partners, families, refugees ... serving all of those vulnerable, disenfranchised who come to us and say, ‘What do I do?’”
Catherine Glenn Foster is a constitutional attorney and international speaker who served six years as president and CEO of Americans United for Life. She has testified and advised at the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives. She also spent seven years with Alliance Defending Freedom before founding and managing a law practice focused on respect for the sanctity of human life.
The three top reasons, Glenn Foster said, that a mother seeks help during pregnancy are financial issues, relationship problems and feeling unready to parent. The woman who goes to a resource center is often scared and feels alone. “We can encourage her and say, ‘You are strong enough. We’re with you. We’re beside you. God is with you. You’ve got this.’ We can encourage her and work to meet not just her baby’s needs, but her needs as well. We are here for the full spectrum of life,” she said.
“We’re here for the total whole life viewpoint, which includes workforce development, adult education, care for immigrants and refugees, and people with diagnoses and elder care. All of that is pro-life.”
Catherine Glenn Foster said she is passionate about supporting women because of her own experience with an unplanned pregnancy. She found out she was pregnant when she was 19. “I found myself pregnant and alone, and I had no idea where to turn,” she said. “The student health center that told me that I was pregnant gave me no resources, no game plan, no pathway, no options, no hope.”
When she searched online for information, she found only abortion facilities. Not knowing where else to turn, she made an appointment at an abortion clinic. “I wasn’t even planning on getting an abortion, but I knew that I needed to talk with someone. I needed some kind of healthcare. From the time I went in there, everything changed. There was no more autonomy, there was no more choice,” she said.
They would not let her see the images when they performed an ultrasound. “They turn the screen away from you because they know that if we see that ultrasound, we will choose life. So they don’t let you see it; they just move you on to the next room. There is nothing like the feeling of walking out of an abortion facility with an empty womb and an empty heart.”
The abortion industry doesn’t trust women, she said, and keeps information away from women. “Now, 20 years later, we would have children, we would have a relationship, we
would have love instead of a hole in our hearts.”
Glenn Foster applauded the Idaho legislature for their protection of pre-born children. Earlier this month, the U.S. Supreme Court allowed Idaho to continue its pro-life laws while they wait to hear arguments in April. They put a lower court ruling on hold that
blocked the Idaho laws in hospital emergencies based on a lawsuit filed by the Biden administration.
Right to Life of Idaho (RTLI) gave its annual Pro-Life Warrior award to State Rep. Barbara Ehardt of Idaho Falls. Rep. Ehardt has been a part of the state legislature since 2018. “She has been very vocal in protecting our freedoms, especially our freedom of speech and our freedom of religion, and she has been especially vocal in protecting the rights of the unborn child,” said Kerry Uhlenkott, a lobbyist for RTLI.
Lobbyist and attorney Megan Wold also spoke about the efforts of Rep. Ehardt and the Idaho legislature. Because of the efforts of RTLI, Rep. Ehardt and other pro-life individuals, she said, Idaho enacted a law criminalizing “abortion trafficking” in Idaho.
“Abortion trafficking occurs when an adult in Idaho recruits, transports or harbors someone else’s child to obtain an abortion without parental consent and with the purpose of concealing the abortion from the minor’s parents,” Wold said. “Idaho’s law addresses the real-world harm of predatory adults. Sometimes men and women guilty of sex trafficking or rape seek to obtain and conceal an abortion from a minor’s parents.”
The law protects a parent’s right to make medical decisions for their child and to know their medical history. “This law is even more important because some of Idaho’s neighboring states do not require parental consent or notification before a minor receives an abortion,” she said.
Rep. Ehardt thanked RTLI and pro-life supporters for their work in protecting human life and their advocacy of the law prohibiting abortion trafficking. “This certainly wouldn’t have happened without Kerry and Megan, who are phenomenal people, and all of you,” Rep. Ehardt said.
Left, more than 700 attended the March for Life, sponsored by Right to Life of Idaho, in Boise on Jan. 20.
Participants marched from Julia Davis Park to the Capitol for a rally, at middle, with keynote speaker, Catherine Glenn Foster, a constitutional attorney and international speaker for sanctity of life issues.
Right, The March and rally were well attended despite the rain and cold. “It is very ironic that Roe v. Wade was in the middle of winter,” said Emily Naugle, who emceed
the event. “It was so bleak and and dreary then. But the Dobb’s decision was in June, the height of the sun’s light. It’s a beautiful thing.”
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