Staying Positive in the Fight for Life

Last week we celebrated the 48th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, the Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion in America. Last week America also swore in a new administration, which has promised to repeal a variety of pro-life policies. As we look back at the long fight for life and look toward the fight that still remains, how can pro-life Catholics remain positive and hopeful?

Angela Erickson recently stopped by Morning Air® to share her encouragement and perspective on how to stay positive in the fight for life. Angela spent a decade as a pro-life activist, directing a pregnancy medical center in Central Minnesota, and she is currently a homeschooling mother of four and co-host of the Living the Gospel Life radio show.

Angela offered listeners encouragement, saying, “The good news is that the pro-life movement has always been a grassroots movement, and it always will be. As we continue to fight abortion every single day I think we need to remain hopeful. Because we know how this ends. We’ve read the Book, we know how this ends, and the Lord will always triumph.”

Angela noted that when there is an administration that is more favorable to your position it’s easy to become complacent and comfortable. But pro-lifers must continue to be proactive, no matter who is in the White House.

“My hope is that … it will be a reminder to us of how urgent this issue is, and it will help us double-down on activism instead of apathy,” she said.

In the fight for life, pro-life Catholics know it is not just policies that are on the line, but real human lives. That’s why it is also important to look around our local community to see how we can move it from a throwaway culture to a culture of life.

“It’s important that we do these things because we need to change the culture and move the culture for life,” Angela said. “We won’t do that if we’re not putting ourselves out there in difficult situations to try to change the temperature, to move people’s hearts, and make this culture a pro-life culture. It’s not going to change through politics, it’s about changing the culture.”

Though it might be tempting to give in to discouragement or despair as the gains that the pro-life movement made are rolled back, Angela pointed out that there is no time to be discouraged. What can you do to build a culture of life in your local community? How can you help a mother in a crisis pregnancy? Who can you educate about the dignity and value of every human life? There is so much you can do to make positive gains in the fight for life – and that alone is a reason to remain hopeful.

“Like I said, we know how this ends and we need to rest our hope in that,” Angela said. “We should not be fearful, we should not worry about things that are outside of our control, but take what’s in front of us every day. We don’t have tomorrow promised, we can’t look back at yesterday. Take what we have today and be prayerful, intentional, and joyful.”

Listen to the full conversation below:

Morning Air can be heard weekdays from 5:00 – 8:00 a.m. Central on Relevant Radio® and the Relevant Radio App.

Stephanie Foley serves as a Digital Media Producer at Relevant Radio®. She is a graduate of Franciscan University of Steubenville, where she studied journalism, and she has worked in Catholic radio for 12 years. Stephanie is a wife, a mother of three boys, and in her free time she enjoys reading, running, and really good coffee. You can find more of Stephanie’s writing at relevantradio.com and on the free Relevant Radio mobile app.