By Brian Blackwell, Message Staff Writer
SHREVEPORT – U.S. Rep. Mike Johnson believes 2017 will be the most pro-life year in America in a half-century.
“We are just getting started, so buckle up,” Johnson told a record crowd gathered for the Louisiana Life March North Saturday, Jan. 28. “Thank you for standing for life. This is an important historic moment for our nation, for our state and for this community that all of us love so much.”
More than 9,000 people turned out for the fourth annual march to stand for life.
The theme for this year’s march was “Protect Them Both.” Organizers wanted to emphasize the pro-life movement values not only the unborn child but their mothers who have alternatives to abortion, such as crisis pregnancy centers in the state.
The march included speakers and musicians from various denominations, including a number of Louisiana Baptists such as Lane Moore, director of missions for the Northwest Louisiana Baptist Association. He told the Baptist Message after the march that he always is amazed at the diversity represented in the march.
“The young families with strollers and small children is encouraging,” Moore said. “The people that attended seemed to be more excited about the future of this issue. They seem to have the wind at their backs. I believe there is now an administration in Washington that is following this closely. As Vice-President Mike Pence stated at the March for Life in Washington last week, ‘the culture of life is winning in America.’”
Louisiana Baptist Convention President Gevan Spinney, who also marched, echoed the thought.
“It is pretty awesome when evangelicals can hold hands with Catholics and march for life,” said Spinney, pastor of First Baptist Church Haughton. “The best thing about the march is that it doesn’t matter where you worship on Sunday morning, we can stand together on behalf of the unborn.”
James Hester, pastor of Social Springs Baptist Church in Ringgold, joined thousands of others for the march because he wanted to make a statement for the unborn.
“As followers of Jesus Christ, we must defend the defenseless by standing for life,” Hester said. “To tolerate the shedding of blood of the unborn is to trample underfoot the shed blood of Jesus Christ. May we shine the light of His love in this dark world, and share the truth of the value of every life to all.”
According to the Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals, preliminary numbers for 2015 show 9,311 abortions took place, an average of 26 per day. The total represents a 10 percent decrease from the 10,211 abortions performed in 2014. That figure also is the lowest number of abortions performed in the state since 2012, when 9,225 were reported.
The march in Shreveport/Bossier City is one of several held this month in the state and nation. On Jan. 21, more than 1,500 people participated in the Louisiana Life March South in Baton Rouge. And on Jan. 27, more than 2,000 Louisianans joined 500,000 others from across the nation and world to stand up for the unborn in the 44th Annual March for Life in Washington, D.C.
For those who were unable previous life marches, one more is scheduled for Saturday, Feb. 4, in Alexandria/Pineville.
Starting at 10 a.m., the march will begin at Louisiana College in Pineville and end at the amphitheater in downtown Alexandria. The speakers will include state Attorney General Jeff Landry and Brian Gunter, pastor of First Baptist Church in Pollock.
For more information on the Louisiana Life March, click here or call 866-463-5433.
