Midwest March for Life participants stress that God is in charge
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Heavy rain pounded nearby areas, but sunshine and a refreshing breeze carried the day in the Capitol City for this year’s Midwest March for Life.
“God was so gracious,” stated Kathy Forck, the annual event’s co-organizer. “Despite an 88-percent probability of rain and thunderstorms predicted the evening before the March, only a few drops fell twice during the whole March and Rally.”
The May 1 event was a prayer-soaked, if not somewhat tear-stained, celebration of human life and of Missouri’s efforts to safeguard it from its earliest stages.
The tears were from Missouri Constitutional Amendment 3 — which narrowly passed last November, enshrining abortion-on-demand in the state’s constitution and calling many state laws restricting abortion into serious question — as well as from testimony of people whose lives are still shaped by abortions that occurred long ago.
“Our God is a gracious God, and our theme was that it was the Lord’s battle, not ours,” stated Mrs. Forck, a member of St. Andrew Parish in Holts Summit.
State lawmakers and officers attended the rally on the Capitol steps before returning to work on legislation inside.
Stated priorities included getting a new constitutional amendment passed to restore long-fought regulations on elective abortion in this state, as well as acknowledging and addressing the medical risks of chemically induced abortions.
Presenters — including David Bereit, executive director of the Life Leadership Conference; Christina Bennett, a Live Action correspondent; Missy Martinez-Stone, president and CEO of the Center for Client Safety; Toni McFadden, pro-life advocate and author; Brandy Meeks, president of the Vitae Foundation; and state Attorney General Andrew Bailey — spoke passionately about Missouri’s decades-long commitment to protecting innocent human life in the womb.
Bishop Edward R. Rice of Springfield-Cape Girardeau gave the opening prayer, introduced by Father Anthony Viviano, moderator for pro-life ministries in the diocese.
Gov. Mike Kehoe, a member of Cathedral of St. Joseph Parish in Jefferson City, had issued an official proclamation declaring May 1, 2025, Sanctity of Life Day in Missouri.
“They kept coming”
The bells in the nearby Proto-Cathedral of St. Peter gave a three-toned coda to St. Stanislaus School fifth-grade teacher Connie Andrews singing of the National Anthem.
Students from near and far attended — including delegations from Helias Catholic High School, Fr. Tolton Regional Catholic High School in Columbia and St. Stanislaus School in Wardsville, which received Team P.L.A.Y.’s Pro-Life School of the Year Award.
Also receiving a raucous ovation was Jim Imhoff, who was given the Pro-Life Champion of the Year Award.
Mr. Imhoff, a member of Ss. Peter and Paul Parish in Boonville, has spent countless hours praying silently outside Planned Parenthood in Columbia while sidewalk counselors share helpful information about alternatives to abortion.
Presenters at the rally spoke of the importance of supporting women in crisis who are experiencing unplanned pregnancy.
They also reasserted the need for the fathers of unborn children to give clear encouragement and support to mothers and children.
More than 30 life-affirming exhibitors will have displays and information throughout the Capitol grounds.
As the March got under way just before noon, people in colorful clothes — mostly red, but also shades of blue — passed through an arch of bright pink and blue balloons on the Capitol Circle.
Leading them were a Knights of Columbus Fourth Degree Honor Guard, banner-bearers from St. Stanislaus School, men bearing a weathered cross, and children carrying relics from the True Cross and the Blessed Mother’s garment.
The March continued in sunshine past the Governor’s Mansion, through downtown Jefferson City and back to the Capitol.
Mrs. Forck said she was delighted by the size of this year’s crowd at the March.
“The way that it kept filling up,” she stated. “It just kept filling up. More and more people.”
Pray and accompany
Every seat in the St. Peter Pro-Cathedral across the street from the Capitol was filled for the Closing Mass with Bishop Rice.
Joining him at the altar was Monsignor Robert A. Kurwicki, pastor of St. Peter Parish and vicar general of the diocese, and Fr. Viviano.
It was the feast of St. Joseph the Worker.
“It is under the patronage of St. Joseph that we are called to compete the work that God has given to us, with a special regard to the sanctity of human life: to work for and build up a culture of life,” Bishop Rice stated in his homily.
He emphasized the importance and power of prayer — especially the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.
“As Catholics, we gather in the greatest way possible this side of heaven,” he said. “it is here where the veil between heaven and earth is lifted. It is here where each one of us united ourselves to the offering of Christ to the Father as His priestly people.”
Catholics must also put those prayers into action, he said.
“Without concrete action, this is all fluff, and today will come to an end with nothing accomplished,” he stated.
“We need to work in every diocese and every parish, providing the resources necessary so that abortion becomes unthinkable,” said Bishop Rice.
He called on each parish and each diocese to consider more intensely what is looks like to walk with moms in need.
“This is where the rubber hits the road,” he stated.
Gifts from God
Young people speaking about what they’d heard and seen at the March recalled the stories of the woman whose mother had skipped an appointment with an abortionist, and another who suffered severe health complications from a chemically-induced abortion, followed by years of regret.
They recalled the message of how men need to be like St. Joseph, steadfastly protecting mothers and babies.
Mrs. Forck lauded the members of the March’s organizing committee, who carried out much of their work while she was recovering from injuries sustained in a car wreck.
“It just shows that even though we’re dealt some serious blows, we can still work for the Lord,” she stated.
Mrs. Forck pointed out that prayers, presence and helpful alternatives continue to turn the tide, one mother and baby at a time.
“We have to keep remembering that all life, no matter how conceived, is a gift from God,” she stated.
“And it’s our duty as Catholics to help these mothers and these innocent lives — whether that means praying on the sidewalk, volunteering at a crisis pregnancy center, joining the Life Runners, or whatever else it takes,” she said.
Standing on the sidewalk for many years, the 40 Days for Life team has seen women walk out of the abortion clinic sad and broken.
“We’ve also seen babies saved,” said Mrs. Forck. “I’ve held babies who were scheduled to be aborted.”
