Protect life! Save the Babies! Pro-Life, Pro-Woman! Protestors bearing signs poured into the Illinois Capitol’s rotunda for a pro-life rally March 20. An estimated 3,600 of them turned out, so many that security shut down admission due to safety fears as lines of people waiting to get in formed outside.
The unusually high turnout was in opposition to the Reproductive Health Act (HB 2495 and SB 1942), legislation that would legalize abortion in Illinois through all nine months of pregnancy. The pending bill has proven to be a lightning rod among conservatives concerned about Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s plans to broaden abortion in the state.
Speaking at the rally, Bishop Thomas Paprocki of the Diocese of Springfield compared the struggle against expanding abortion laws to the battle between David and Goliath. He equated the pro-abortion forces to Goliath and described them as being represented by Planned Parenthood, the mainstream media, and the Democrat supermajority, along with some members of the Republican party.
He told the crowd, “We can’t let ourselves be discouraged.” He reminded them how British Prime Minister Winston Churchill urged his people, “Never give up!” even as enemy forces threatened to invade their nation.
To the cheers of the crowd in the rotunda, Paprocki said, “Like them we can never give up. We must face Goliath with the strength and conviction of David, and never give up!”
The energized crowd heard from more speakers, including a one woman who shared her regret over an abortion she had. Sharing painful details, the woman said no one had explained to her what the procedure really involved. In front of me stood a woman holding a toddler, gently rocking and kissing the child as she listened to the testimony. The toddler’s grandmother reached over and caressed the child’s head as tears ran down her cheeks.
Ultimately, the influence of the rally won’t be known until the General Assembly acts on the Reproductive Health Act. Most media took little notice of the rally, but God did, and hopefully so did the legislators.