By Tessa Remond and Lillian Eline
Kentucky Today
Pro-life Kentuckians rallied at the State Capitol on Wednesday to peacefully advocate for unborn children.
While young and old from across the state were united in a desire to celebrate the gift of life and affirm the value of both born and unborn humans during the third annual Kentucky March for Life, the event highlighted disagreement over how protections for unborn children should be enshrined in state law and impact pregnant women.
“We stand here for unborn children and also stand beside women and families with compassion and support,” said Addia Wuchner, executive director of Kentucky Right to Life in opening comments. “While many here deeply care about protecting life, and we unite our hearts for protecting life, there are some groups with us today, guests with us” whose mission “may not always reflect our vision of Christ.”
Wuchner recounted the John 8 account of the woman caught in adultery: “In the gospel, when a woman is brought before Jesus to be stoned, He bent down and he wrote in the dust and said, ‘Let the one among you who is without sin cast the first stone.” And to the woman he said, ‘Neither do I condemn you. Go and sin no more.'”
Wuchner then asked attendees to lower signs urging support for House Bill 714, the Prenatal Equal Protection Act, which would allow women who abort their babies to be prosecuted for homicide. Supporters of the bill cheered at the mention of their signs, which also said “Preborn Human Rights.”
Wesley Russell said he understood why Wuchner would request the signs to be removed but didn’t think there were legitimate reasons to do so. Wuchner wrote an opinion piece for the Courier Journal last week asserting HB 714 could not move forward as drafted, stating that “the pro-life movement has never supported criminalizing mothers.”
“We simply believe that it should be illegal for anyone to murder anyone else. That’s kind of our thesis, that it should be illegal for anybody, no matter…race, gender, political ideology. We think that humans should be protected from being murdered by any other human,” said Russell, who pastors Immanuel Baptist Church in Pikeville.
“I want equal protection for the unborn as for the born because the scriptures say that God hates unequal weights and measures,” added Tanner Cartwright, a pastor at Reformation Church in Shelbyville. “It should be the same for a mother that murders a two-year old, that murders her six-week-old. It should be the same thing.”
Supporters of HB 714 continued to raise their signs throughout the rally and the March down Capitol Avenue and conversed with other march attendees while handing out information about the bill.
“We’re not here to co-opt,” said Peyton Bowman, pastor of Maretburg Baptist Church in Mt. Vernon. “We’re here to march for life.”
John C. Iffert, bishop of the Diocese of Covington, said that women who have abortions are victims of those abortions.
“Our approach to women who have an abortion has been to accompany them, to walk alongside them—both women who have taken this action and women who are in danger of taking this action,” Iffert told the crowd, adding that the approach taken by the Catholic church is “rooted in the healing ministry of Jesus.”
“I see your signs; no one’s ignoring you,” Iffert said to HB 714 supporters. “We simply disagree with your approach.”
His remarks drew cheers from the crowd, including numerous students representing Catholic schools across Kentucky. Groups from Sacred Heart and Mercy Academy in Louisville, St. Patrick High School in Maysville and St. Francis District High School in Erlanger were among those in attendance.
“The bishops speaking together have determined for our Catholic house, for our household of Jesus Christ, for me and mine, we will serve the Lord through reconciliation, not anger. And I call on you all to do the same,” Iffert concluded.
Stories of life and loss shared before the march
The pre-march rally also featured families who chose life for their children in difficult circumstances — including Mary, who resisted calls to “reduce” her twin pregnancy; Chrystal York, who was conceived in rape; and an older sister who saw her mother carry to term a younger sibling diagnosed with Trisomy 18.
Matthew and Rebecca Seifried shared the story of their daughter, Lucia Iris, who was killed by a drunk driver when she was eight months old.
“There will come a time where you have your worst day, and in that moment the piece of advice that we would give is lean into your faith,” Matthew said. “Lean into your faith, declare out loud, hold onto God and let him help you through the moment.”
The Seifried’s founded The Lucia Iris Foundation in honor of their daughter to walk alongside grieving families who have lost children. Wuchner presented the foundation with a donation during the rally.
Andrea Bliss, president of West Kentucky Right to Life, highlighted the unity that the March for Life yields for pro-life Kentuckians.
“I think it’s really important that we unite and show how many people are pro-life, to get the message out there to other pro-life people that you’re not alone and we can unite for a good cause.”
David Walls, executive director of the Family Foundation, said he was thankful for everyone who stood for life at the March because “the reality is there are still pre-born Kentuckians that are losing their life every day.”
“I believe each and every person this year, whether they’re supporting one bill or the other, recognizes that there are still innocent lives being lost,” Walls said. “And so, while there may be differences about what the best way to address that is, I take it as encouragement that at the end of the day, there’s a growing recognition that while we are incredibly thankful for the laws that have been passed, while there are still preborn Kentuckians losing their lives we have to be saying what’s the next step that we can be doing.”