Honesty, empowerment, mercy to be recurring themes at 2026 MidWest March for Life, April 30 in J.C.
How does a cradle Catholic become an award-winning manager of three abortion facilities?
How does she find her way out of all of that, accept healing and reconciliation from God and commit to helping other people make better decisions?
“The Divine Mercy is for me!” said Mayra Rodríguez, former abortion promoter and now a prominent pro-life advocate. “The greater the sin, the greater the mercy!”
Ms. Rodríguez will be one of many speakers giving uplifting and compelling testimony at the 17th annual MidWest March for Life (midwestmarchforlife.com) on Thursday, April 30, 2026, in Jefferson City.
Thousands are expected to attend all or some of the all-day event on and near the Missouri State Capitol grounds.
The purpose will be “to honor and glorify Jesus Christ and defend innocent human life.”
Participants are encouraged to wear red.
The power of objective truth and of God’s compassionate mercy will be on full display.
“I received the mercy of God, and the Lord is doing something with my story, with my healing, with my journey,” said Linda Freire, senior regional programs manager for Sidewalk Advocates for Life. “I try to extend that merciful hand to everyone.”
She will speak about how she came to have a abortion, how she found healing and reconciliation and how she now helps train people to offer assistance and resources to women as they enter and leave abortion facilities.
“This is where we get to be the hands and feet of Christ,” she stated.
Crystal Lane, leader of a local Save One chapter, will speak about going to the Columbia Planned Parenthood and being referred for a late-term abortion in Kansas City.
She’ll also discuss how she became driven to help other women avoid the years of pain and regret she has experienced as a result.
“People don’t talk about it or share enough about it — the fear and shame that’s attached to it,” she said. “Discussing it openly opens the door to hope and healing.”
Ms. Lane’s is a journey of pain and redemption.
“I think people need to know that while it’s still tremendously painful, there are so many opportunities for healing,” she said.
She’s convinced that if the safeguards and regulations Missouri lawmakers spent years enacting in the time since her abortion, which were placed in serious jeopardy with the passage of a pro-abortion amendment to the Missouri Constitution in 2024, “I probably wouldn’t have gone through with it.”
Amendment 3, which will be placed on a statewide ballot this November, would restore many of those safeguards.
“People need to be educated about what we’re fighting for,” said Ms. Lane. “I think about my little girl. She didn’t get the opportunity to be born.”
Many opportunities
Most of the MidWest March for Life activities are slated for the Capitol South Lawn.
Information about a shuttle service is available on the website.
Over 35 life-affirming exhibits will open on the Capitol grounds at 8 a.m.
A Capital Prayer Walk led by Bonnie Lee of Open Heart Baptist Church will start at 8 a.m. on the first floor of the Capitol Rotunda.
Father Anthony Viviano, moderator of pro-life ministry for the Jefferson City diocese, will lead the praying of the Rosary and the Divine Mercy Chaplet at 8:30 a.m. on the Capitol North Lawn.
The Opening Ceremony will begin at 9:30 a.m., followed by a pre-march rally at 10 a.m.
Father Nicholas Reid, pastor of St. Martin Parish in St. Martins and St. Michael Parish in Russellville, will lead the opening prayer, followed by pro-life honors for the late Judy Bax of Osage Bend, who died last December, as well as an award for Calvary Lutheran High School in Jefferson City.
Rally speakers will address the assembly, followed by a presentation from Women in White Speak Out, representing women and men who have suffered from their experiences at abortion facilities in Missouri.
The march from the South Lawn through the streets of downtown Jefferson City will begin immediately after the rally.
The Columbia Life Teen Band, directed by Haydee Cullen, will perform from 11:30 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. on the South Capitol Steps.
A fundraiser lunch of grilled hot dogs and sides, prepared by the Knights of Columbus Precious Blood Council in Fulton, will be served from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Broadway, outside the St. Peter Proto-Cathedral. All proceeds will go to the MidWest March for Life.
Bishop James V. Johnston Jr. of Kansas City-St. Joseph will preside at and preach the homily during the Closing Mass at 1:30 p.m. in the St. Peter Proto-Cathedral, with Bishop Edward M. Rice of Springfield-Cape Girardeau concelebrating.
“The A-word”
The first 300 people to arrive at the Capitol grounds will receive a free gift bag from Students for Life America.
Many state lawmakers will welcome constituents in the Capitol.
People will be able to tour the mobile units belonging to the Pregnancy Help Center of Jefferson City and Reach Reproductive Healthcare of St. Louis.
First-class relics of St. Carlos Acutis, St. Dominic Savio and St. Maria Goretti will be available for prayer and veneration, along with an exhibit on Eucharistic miracles.
Afternoon workshops will be held from 12:15 to 1:15 p.m. in the Selinger Centre, next to the St. Peter Proto-Cathedral near the Capitol.
Reagan Barklage, vice president of operations for Students for Life of America, and Paige Schulte, president of Turning Point USA in Columbia, will lead the workshop for young people, whom Ms. Barklage refers to as “the Pro-Life Generation.”
All who register for an adult workshop given by Dena Espenscheid of the Leadership Institute will receive a free Chick-fil-A lunchbox. Look for registration information on the website under “Activities.”
Ms. Barklage was in fourth grade when she heard a priest make mention of “the A-word” during a homily at Mass. She later asked her mother what he was talking about.
“That’s when my Mom explained abortion to me,” she recalled. “I became so sad and angry. That really lit the fire for me.”
Upon becoming a student at the University of Missouri, Ms. Barklage found no resources being promoted on campus for young women who were pregnant and didn’t want to have an abortion.
“I decided that if school wasn’t going to do it, I would have to,” she said. “That’s how I found my calling, and I’ve been tied to it ever since.”
She’ll help young people understand Missouri’s unique position as the campaign to pass Amendment 3 gears up.
“We’re the most pro-life state, but until Amendment 3 passes, our laws don’t reflect that,” she said.
Ms. Barklage will offer young people resources for having hard conversations about abortion.
“We know it can be difficult or intimidating,” she said. “But if we can be confident enough to have these conversations with friends and loved ones, that’s how we turn the tide and ultimately abolish abortion in our lifetime.
She’ll also help dispel feelings of isolation.
“On campus, it can feel like you’re the only person with a pro-life viewpoint,” she said. “Being in a room filled with people who have the same conviction gives us courage to know that we do not stand alone.”
“We have to keep our eyes on the prize of every individual person being protected from conception to natural death,” she said. “We have to know in our hearts and minds that we’re going to make this a reality.”
Love and truth
At the rally, Ms. Rodríguez, former abortion-facility manager, will talk about how there’s always hope for changing hearts and minds.
“I worked for Planned Parenthood for 17 years and become one of the most prominent directors, and they gave me the employee of the year award,” she said. “I’ll tell you how I turned away and came to understand what abortion does to women and society.”
Dr. Sarah Florence, a board-certified family medicine physician in the St. Louis area, will talk about how prevailing approaches to gender dysphoria contradict Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), the highest standard for addressing mental-health disorders.
“This is something we have to talk about, something we have to educate people about, so they know the truth,” she said. “Affirming gender dysphoria is not scientific, and it’s not good care.”
She will talk about the importance of offering truth and love at the same time.
“Our desire to love people takes a different approach,” she said. “Our way is deeper. It means having more difficult conversations, but it’s honest.”
Ms. Freire with Sidewalk Advocates for Life will reminisce about being present outside an abortion facility and meeting a woman whose story practically mirrored her own. Would this woman end up choosing life?
“It was a very powerful experience for me,” Ms. Freire stated.
She’ll also discuss the importance of having a heart filled with love for women who have had an abortion or are contemplating having one.
“Being merciful, nonjudgemental and nonconfrontational, and encountering them as Jesus would,” she said. “Not throwing stones, not condemning them but really loving them and helping them in their time of great need.”
“There are so many people hurting in this world, you just can’t imagine,” she said. “People need to be educated and also loved and to know that there is healing. God is always there with his arms wide open to heal you in your brokenness and woundedness, to set you free from that darkness you’re in.”
