(CNSNews.com) – This year’s March for Life theme confronts the falsehood that abortion is “a means of female empowerment,” Rep. Diane Black (R-Tenn.) said ahead of Friday’s event in Washington.
“Election cycle after election cycle, the abortion lobby tries to silence pro-life leaders and manipulate American voters with its ‘war on women’ narrative,” Black, a registered nurse, told CNSNews.com.
“I am pleased that this year’s March for Life theme directly confronts that false attack. The fact is that abortion is not a means of female empowerment. It is a heartbreaking choice that ends one life and damages another,” she said.
“That is the true war on women and it is being waged every day by Planned Parenthood and others like it who play to women’s fears while lining their own pockets.”
The theme of the 42nd annual March for Life is: “Pro-Life and Pro-Woman Go Hand in Hand.” Black and several other pro-life congresswomen shared some thoughts on it with CNSNews.com this week.
“The dignity and intrinsic value of every human life is a message that transcends gender, age, religion, and politics and it is a message that will be on full display this Friday,” said Black, who last summer proposed a bill to defund Planned Parenthood.
Black in September invited House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi to watch undercover videos showing Planned Parenthood officials discussing the harvesting of body parts of aborted babies.
Rep. Jaime Herrara Beutler (R-Wash.) told CNSNews.com this year’s March for Life will share the message that many women fight “to make sure everyone can live life to the fullest.”
“During my career as an elected legislator, I’ve always worked on the side of preserving life. In my own experiences, I’ve learned personally that human life is worth fighting for at every stage,” she said.
Beutler’s first child, Abigail, had Potter’s syndrome, causing her to be born without kidneys. Beutler found a doctor willing to give her daughter saline injections prior to birth to fight the rare condition. Abigail is thriving today although still in need of a kidney transplant. She is believed to be the only baby to survive birth without her kidneys.
“I just had to decide that this baby is going to be a miracle,” Beutler toldMarie Claire last year. “I’m sure it confused people, because they’d come up and say, ‘I’m so sorry for your loss,’ and I would be like, ‘Thank you, but I believe she’s going to be OK.’”
Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) told CNSNews.com that this year’s march theme sends an important message.
“As a mother and grandmother, I firmly believe that pro-life and pro-women does indeed go hand-in-hand,” she said, adding that “in order to rise and meet our commitment to stand for life, we must protect the most vulnerable in our society – particularly those who cannot protect themselves.”
Ernst is the first female senator from Iowa and the first female military veteran to serve in the Senate. The outspoken pro-life advocate introduced a bill to defund Planned Parenthood this past summer.
Rep. Vicky Hartzler (R-Mo.)said she stands for “the women whose lives are forever devastated due to abortion.”
“It is my great privilege to stand as the voice for the citizens of Missouri’s Fourth District in Congress,” Hartzler told CNSNews.com, “but I also stand as the voice for those not yet born. I stand as the voice for the defenseless. I stand for the women whose lives are forever devastated due to abortion. I stand as the voice for life.”
At the announcement of the march’s theme earlier this year, Hartzler was moved to tears recounting stories from her time as a teacher, when students came to her after being pressured into abortions.
Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) said the march turns the nation’s attention to the issue of “standing with the first constitutional guarantee, life.” She expressed her gratitude to event organizers, who will have to brave wintry weather Friday, according to predictions of record snowfall over the weekend.
“They willingly come to Washington, D.C. to do their part in turning the nation’s attention to the importance of standing with the first constitutional guarantee, life,” she said of the volunteers.
Blackburn was selected last fall to chair the House Select Committee investigating Planned Parenthood.
March for Life in explaining this year’s theme says it challenges the notion that being pro-women means being “pro-choice.”
“It has been said – politically and culturally – that for one to be pro-woman one must be pro-choice. But nothing could be further from the truth. Sadly, there are so many confusing messages regarding women and the issue of abortion, compounded by the false ‘war on women’ rhetoric,” it says.
“The truth is that life is the empowering choice for women.”
Diane Black (AP photo) 
