NAPLES, Florida (LifeSiteNews) — The Law of Life Summit is holding its second annual Pro-Life Retreat and Summit at New Hope Church in Naples, Florida, from March 20-24, during which committed pro-lifers will come together to learn about, brainstorm, and refine strategies for more effectively advancing a pro-life culture.
Law of Life Summit events are geared toward fostering community and an “atmosphere of camaraderie that encourages relationships on a national level, uniting organizations and advocates” and “energiz[ing] pro-life activists” to “impact pro-life legislation, the media, frontline organizations, and ultimately our culture.” With the abortion lobby pursuing a multi-pronged approach to preserve abortion “access” following the fall of Roe v. Wade, and finding alarming success with state constitutional amendments, the group considers it vital to strengthen the pro-life movement’s strategy and coordination to match the opposition.
The Naples event, the second of its kind in the city, will feature a variety of training, learning, and worship excursions, as well as panel discussions, workshops, and speakers who will be covering everything from campaigns to sidewalk counseling to the legal and media dimensions of pro-life issues. Among the topics will be best practices for pro-life pregnancy centers, and participants will have the opportunity to visit an actual maternity home and see for themselves the help they give women facing crisis pregnancies.
“This is an incredible opportunity to energize and motivate people to get more involved in the pro-life movement, and not just be complacent because Roe is overturned,” Linda Freire, Regional Programs Manager of Sidewalk Advocates for Life, told LifeSiteNews. “I’m excited to share with people the effectiveness of the Sidewalk Advocates for Life philosophy of outreach, with amazing examples from where I live and work in South Florida – including the permanent closure of an abortion facility, thanks in part to the persistent, peaceful, prayerful presence of Sidewalk Advocates. I can’t wait to gather with everyone to strategize and collaborate on how the pro-life movement can grow stronger and reach the hearts and minds of even more women and families contemplating abortion.”
The full list of speakers has yet to be revealed, but those confirmed so far include Father Michael Orsi, spiritual advisor to Action for Life; Lisa Barnette, executive producer of pro-life leader Abby Johnson’s next film Unthinkable; Scott Baier and Pam Stenzel of Community Pregnancy Clinics in Naples; First Care Women’s Clinic executive director Beau Heyman; Leadership Institute Senior Director of Coalitions Dena Espenscheid; Choose Life Marketing founder and president Nelly Roach; and Nate Robertson and Linda Freire of Sidewalk Advocates for Life.
Jean Marie Davis, executive director of Branches Pregnancy Resource Center in Vermont, will be a special guest at the event. At the 2024 March for Life, Davis shared her story of being a victim of human trafficking starting at just two years old, setting her on a life path of horrific abuse that eventually left her pregnant and homeless – until she crossed paths with Phyllis Phelps, through which she turned her life around and got into the business of life-affirming alternatives to abortion and support for women in need.
“The Law of Life Summit is a vital opportunity to open people’s eyes to the reality of post-Roe America,” said Nate Robertson, vice president of Sidewalk Advocates for Life. “With a weaponized DOJ, misleading ballot measures in state elections all across the country, and governors of abortion-destination states advertising across state lines, we need people to understand that the movement to save lives and end abortion did not end with the Dobbs decision. We need to work together more than ever before. We need to reach out to women more than ever before. We need to be more alert and adaptive than ever before so we can connect with the abortion-vulnerable and offer them the real help and hope they need to leave the abortion facility and choose life.”
“The Summit is an opportunity for pro-life leaders from around the country to recharge their batteries with like-minded people in sunny Southwest Florida,” Orsi told LifeSiteNews. “Guest speakers will share their stories and ideas for establishing a Culture of Life in the post-Roe and now Dobbs era. I will especially emphasize the importance of pro-life groups to work together in order to marshal resources for the challenges being presented in the various states of our nation.”
“Now, more than ever we need to be aware that all politics is local, as local as each human heart,” he stressed. “It is the Gospel and not the ultrasound that is going to win the battle for life by changing hearts! That’s why this is a religious retreat first and foremost […] the three-day experience will build relationships, intellectually stimulate and aid participants in their spiritual life.”
Orsi added that on the final day of the conference, Pastor Grant Thigpen of New Hope Church will join him in a “discussion regarding the future direction of the pro-life movement” and the challenge to “encourage an ecumenical outreach to counteract the culture of death now pervading America.”
“Unity is needed in the pro-life movement, perhaps now more than ever,” said Nelly Roach. “These state constitutional battles represent a tremendous force coming at us. If we do not link arms, we will be blown over in a flash and our opportunity to build upon Dobbs will be lost for this generation and maybe the next.”
“As an organization that is dedicated to protecting and preserving the sanctity of life from conception to natural death, Action for Life is pleased to provide programs such as will be presented at the second annual Pro-Life Retreat & Summit, where ideas are exchanged and where like-minded people can learn about alternatives to abortion and euthanasia,” said B.C. Cloutier. “We expect several hundred people to converge on Naples for three days of team building, fellowship, learning and growing together. The Naples Pro-Life Retreat & Summit is a truly memorable and worthwhile experience.”
Additional details, including future updates and how to register for the Pro-Life Retreat and Summit, can be found at the event’s website.