Very often, people get intimidated by public pro-life activism. They are fine attending the March for Life and doing a LifeChain once a year, voting pro-life. While these are good things that we should be doing, there is much more we can do to help the pro-life movement. The vast majority of pro-lifers are ordinary people doing little things to change hearts and minds.

I cannot pinpoint when or how I got involved with the pro-life movement. I think it just flowed from my Catholic faith and Catholic social teaching. I attended the March for Life for the first time in 2018 and continued doing LifeChain. In July 2018, I decided to start a pro-life Instagram to share the pro-life message through fetal development posts, apologetics, and memes. Eventually, the page grew. I was able to help a young woman in a crisis pregnancy choose life by sharing information on fetal development and getting her in touch with a crisis pregnancy centre in her area. Today, that baby is just over a year old, and both mother and child are doing well. This experience only encouraged me to get more involved.

During the summer of 2019, I was an intern at Campaign Life Coalition. The internship showed me how important the work at CLC is, and allowed me to help by writing blogs and newspaper articles, planning pro-life events, creating social media posts, and doing street activism. Every week, we had a seminar during which CLC Youth Coordinator Josie Luetke would go over pro-life apologetics, or we would hear from speakers like Jeff Gunnarson, Jim Hughes, and the Sisters of Life. These seminars gave us the tools to do street activism like “Choice” Chain with abortion victim photography or the Question Abortion project. At first, I was hesitant about street activism because I am not the most outgoing person and abortion is such a hot button topic. But with the apologetics training and the prayer we would pray before going out, I had many fruitful conversations and maybe even planted the seeds of change. Eventually, I grew comfortable doing “Choice” Chain by myself, and this gave me the confidence to talk to pro-choice friends and acquaintances about the pro-life position. We also spent some time volunteering with a local crisis pregnancy centre, helping sort and fold baby clothes, and packing care packages to send to clients. The internship also allowed me to represent Campaign Life Coalition, both at Steubenville Toronto and Rise Up 2019.

The internship also led me to write this blog, so while at first, getting involved might seem daunting, there is always room for more people to get involved. We all have different talents and skills to advance the pro-life cause. We need all the help we can get because lives depend on it.

You don’t have to found a pro-life group and do undercover work like Lila Rose. You don’t need to have a dramatic conversion or pro-life story like Abby Johnson. You just need to believe that abortion kills a human being, that it is a human rights violation that needs to end.

So maybe this year, after the March for Life, contact Campaign Life Coalition, and see how you can help out in your community, start a pro-life club, learn pro-life apologetics, and talk to others about the pro-life position. There are many ways to get involved other than just the March for Life and LifeChain, so what are you waiting for?