WASHINGTON, D.C. (LifeSiteNews) — Father Mike Schmitz, the Minnesota-based Catholic priest behind the massively popular Bible in a Day podcast which has topped the charts in the United States and overseas, took the stage as the keynote speaker at the Washington, D.C. March for Life on Friday, sharing his personal connection to the pro-life movement and driving home the simple truth that every human life matters.
Beginning his address at the 49th annual March for Life, Father Schmitz said the first speech he ever gave was about the dignity of human life “and the evil of abortion and euthanasia” which he delivered while he was only in eighth grade.
Schmitz noted that his focus on the sanctity of human life could be traced back to his home life, and described three images his mother had put up on the refrigerator which made an impact on him.
“The first one was of a baby that was only weeks old that had died because of an ectopic pregnancy,” he said, explaining that although the child “had just been conceived weeks before,” it was obvious that the tiny infant was “a human person that mattered.”
The second image was of a cartoon which pointed out the absurdity of a left-wing secular perspective which could denigrate human life in the womb while lobbying to “Save the whales.”
“And the third image was an image of a garbage bag that was wide open,” the priest continued. “And in that garbage bag were the remains of children that had been aborted and were being thrown away in the trash. But some pro-lifers had rescued the remains of those babies to treat them like people. Because those babies matter. Because people matter.”
Schmitz became noticeably emotional when he told the audience about his grandmother, a head nurse at a Twin Cities hospital who walked away from her position in 1973 when her administration began ordering the nurses to help perform abortions.
“So she went to the board of directors and said, ‘This needs to stop. Either you stop doing abortions or I’m leaving,’” Schmitz said, adding that “in that moment, Helen stood. And they said, ‘You can leave.’ And in that moment, Helen walked.”
“And that matters,” Schmitz continued. “Because every person matters. Every life matters.”
Schmitz said that being forced out of a career she loved broke his grandmother’s heart, and argued that broken-heartedness also inspires the participants in the March.
“I think we’re here because abortion and what it’s done has broken our hearts,” he suggested.
“And I know, so many people here are standing here because you know the dignity of human life,” the priest went on, adding that many participants in the March have found themselves “at one point in a place where it seemed like life was an impossible choice.”
“I know that we’re surrounded by men and women who have chosen abortion, and listen, here’s what you need to know: You’re supposed to be here,” he said. “You matter. You belong here. No matter what your past is, you are still loved. You need to know this.”
Father Schmitz then recounted a story of a young woman who recently reached out to him, encouraging him share with the March for Life the same redemptive message he had shared with her 12 years earlier, when she came to him amid a crisis pregnancy and he encouraged her to choose life for her unborn baby, assuring her that regardless of her past, God still loved her.
“That young woman, 12 years ago, she gave her son to a couple who adopted him, and have loved him,” Schmitz said. “And he’s blessed their life and they’ve blessed his life.”
The priest then spoke about the importance of showing up to the March for Life to demonstrate support for the unborn, noting that when his grandmother walked away from her nursing job, her individual decision may not have changed the law or the culture, “but it changed her.”
“And it changed her sons, and it changed her daughter, my mom. And that willingness to stand, that willingness to walk, it has echoed into my life,” he said.
“Every child matters. Every woman matters. Every person matters. And no matter what [the March for Life] does, no matter what this changes, your being here standing, your being here walking, changes you. And you matter,” Schmitz concluded. “God bless.”
The 2022 March for Life may be among the most consequential for the pro-life movement.
Pro-life and pro-abortion advocates alike recognize that Roe v. Wade, the infamous 1973 Supreme Court ruling which found a “constitutional right to abortion,” could be overturned as early as this spring if the Court rules in favor of the pro-life side in the much anticipated Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health case.
The Supreme Court heard oral arguments in the Dobbs case in December, 2021. The justices are expected to render their decision by June.