Gray skies made for a somber looking afternoon, but the hundreds who gathered for the Illinois March for Life and preceding rally were anything but somber. Participants were eager to march and then share their prolife message with lawmakers inside the State Capitol.
The rain held off as they stood in the shadow of the statue of President Abraham Lincoln listening to Bishop Thomas Paprocki of the Springfield Catholic Diocese as he quoted from the 16th U.S. president’s House Divided speech, “A house divided will become one thing or another.”
Like Lincoln, Paprocki said he did not expect the house “to be dissolved, but to become one thing or another.” (The house this time being a metaphor for the State of Illinois.) He urged marchers not to harden their hearts in the fight for life.
The Illinois March for Life, previously known as the Chicago March for Life, was held annually in the city each July. Last year’s event, which took place after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade with the Dobbs ruling, was held as planned but the decision was made in November to move the event to Springfield. Organizers felt meeting on the Capitol steps while the legislature was in session would give marchers the opportunity to speak with lawmakers about their cause.
Prolife advocates have a growing task. While many states have restricted abortion, Illinois lawmakers have made it more easily accessible. Governor J.B. Pritzker and many others in state government “have unequivocally expressed their unabashed desire to expand abortion rights and make Illinois an abortion haven,” Paprocki stated.
According to statements from abortion providers they have been successful. In December, Planned Parenthood of Illinois stated nearly a third of patients at its 17 clinics were coming from 31 other states, including Kentucky, Missouri, Tennessee, Texas, and Wisconsin. Choices, another group of abortion clinics now in Illinois, reported it served women from 14 states in October and November of last year.
Noting the many progressive abortion laws the General Assembly has passed since the Dobbs decision, including repealing the parental notice of abortion for minors and tax-payer funding of abortions for Medicaid recipients, Paprocki said, “nothing is impossible with God.”
A small, but loud, group of counter protestors could be heard from their position at the end of the block. March for Life organizers reminded event attendees not to engage them and that local and Secretary of State police were onsite for their protection.
Church, private school, and college groups were represented by their distinctive banners, hats, and shirts. The High School of Saint Thomas More in Champaign brought its marching band, and mothers with children in strollers walked in the downtown march.
Michael Mohr, president of the Central Illinois District, Lutheran Church (Mo. Synod), described Planned Parenthood’s new mobile abortion clinics as “uninspected, parked in empty lots by the border.”
“Women of this state and those who travel here from out of state deserve better,” Mohr told the crowd from the steps under Lincoln’s gaze. “We can do better.” He appealed to government leaders to roll back the state’s progressive abortion laws to let Christians show mercy.
Rally speakers encouraged marchers to speak to their legislators about Senate Bill 1909 and House Bill 2463, the Deceptive Practices of Limited Services Pregnancy Centers Act, which would force prolife pregnancy resource centers to make abortion referrals to clients or face fines of up to $50,000. Proponents of the bill claim is necessary, alleging pregnancy resource centers spread false information and fail to adequately train their staff.
Mohr told the marchers to remember Blind Bartimaeus and his faith in Jesus (Matthew 10:46-52). With faith for healing Bartimaeus called out for mercy. Mohr urged marchers to do the same in faith. “Lord, have mercy on us!,” Mohr called out. The crowd responded, “Lord, have mercy on us!”
“Our true foe is not a politician or a political party,” said Mohr. “The battle is not with flesh and blood but is spiritual.” He urged the marchers “to put on the full armor of God.”