I take a lot of walks, particularly during challenging periods like this past week. Between predictable December stress and unpredictable, incomprehensible headlines, I make time for significant doses of fresh air. Yesterday, my kids and I escaped to a local pond, sped around it a couple times, then stopped to catch our breath. I wasn’t angry, but I suddenly felt the urge to throw a few rocks, to toss weighty emotions into the deep. To my slightly befuddled kids, this was the coolest idea I’d ever had. Before you could say “green bean casserole” they’d picked up their stones. We hurled them out over the pond and watched its stillness erupt into countless ripples.

There’s a whole world that we just cannot control. But in that moment at the pond, we each made quite an impact. And we left, no longer feeling powerless but filled with potential. 

Ripples came to mind as I sat down to write this and heard It’s A Wonderful Life playing on the basement TV. Six years ago, as a newly-elected Massachusetts Citizens for Life president, my Christmas email touched on that beloved movie, its pro-life themes and, most importantly, how our supporters live them out. Since 2019, a lot has happened to us all, personally and professionally. Gain, loss. Growth, humility. Dreams, acceptance. Big ideas, realistic goals. Victories that ripple through the lives of others. 

In the next 10 days, we’ll highlight some pretty incredible accomplishments MCFL achieved this year, because we are blessed with some pretty incredible allies, like you. Today, I’d like to note four specific individuals whose acts of service, akin to pebbles tossed into a pond, quickly touched countless lives—our own George Baileys, you might say.

In September, volunteer Victoria Cohen learned about the state’s Baby Safe Haven law at our Big E booth. She knew her town didn’t have Safe Haven signs alerting women of this humane way to surrender a newborn baby. So Victoria set out to have them installed. She contacted her police and fire departments and also obtained permission from her local hospital (each site is a designated Safe Haven, since they’re staffed 24x7). After ordering three signs from us, delivering them and ensuring their installation, Victoria managed to prompt front-page coverage in the Attleboro Sun Chronicle.

An editorial praising her work, and the life-affirming Safe Haven law, soon followed. 

We may never know just how many lives Krystle Arce influenced when she spoke during one of our Young Adult Chapter events and, later, at our annual banquet. Her son is alive today because of Krystle’s decision to halt the chemical abortion she’d started and instead continue her pregnancy through Abortion Pill Reversal (APR). According to Heartbeat International, more than 7,000 babies are alive today because women like Krystle found the “choice” they desired in APR. 

And speaking of APR, I am excited to partner with Chairman-Elect Paul DeBeasi when he steps into this leadership position in June 2026. In the last two years, Paul has not only served as an MCFL Executive Board member, but he initiated and co-developed APRScience.org, an educational non-profit project of Massachusetts Citizens for Life.

The website assists clinicians and researchers seeking access to Abortion Pill Reversal medical evidence. It is the first global resource of its kind, and it’s seen tremendous traffic increases just since launching in January 2024. Paul succeeds Chairman David Franks, who has faithfully held the office for more than 14 years, influencing innumerable lives throughout his tenure. 

These four humble volunteers, men and women who simply felt a need to do something, to speak for those who cannot, courageously partnered with MCFL and threw their gifts out over the deep. What blessings we get to witness in the resulting ripples! There are plans for several undertakings already in the works for 2026 that, I promise, will ripple through our communities and inspire change.

My 2019 Christmas email, which I titled "George and Clarence and you," follows below. In it, I recall a few folks who shaped my life, as George shaped those around him. Invite those around your Christmas or Hanukkah table to name a seemingly random but Providentially significant person whose life altered theirs. Perhaps even ask for three events that would not have taken place if not for that person. The activity won’t end abortion. It won’t change every mind. But it is sure to warm hearts and nourish a pro-life worldview that may ripple far beyond your holiday celebration.   

Thank you for partnering with Massachusetts Citizens for Life this year, and for your contributions of time, talent or treasure. No cause is as worthy as honoring the dignity of each human life, most especially unexpected infant lives, like the one Christians joyously revere next week.

Wishing you a holiday filled with love and hope for a bright 2026,

Myrna

Sent on December 21, 2019: "George and Clarence and you"

"One man’s life touches so many others, when he’s not there it leaves an awfully big hole." - Clarence, It’s a Wonderful Life

A meteorologist, a homeroom teacher, and a nun. No, they didn’t all walk into a bar. 

Instead, by living what they may have considered “ordinary” lives, they influenced the direction of mine: As a little girl, I was determined to grow up to be like the chirpy, snow day-predicting blonde I watched on TV, which eventually prompted my early career path; a one-page study abroad handout my high school teacher shared erased my homesickness tendency and led to my love of travel; and, after 18 years in the Midwest, Sister Deanna recruited me for her volunteer program in far-off New York City, where I met my husband (who actually did walk into a bar).

I’ve lost track of the meteorologist and my teacher. But I still send a Christmas card to Sister Deanna each year, and, as I slide photos of my children into the envelope, I inevitably shake my head. “These four human beings would not exist if it weren’t for her.” 

It’s a similar feeling that moves seemingly insignificant George Bailey when, in the Christmas classic, It’s a Wonderful Life, Clarence the angel shows him what the world would be like if George had never been born. 

Perhaps you, too, have seen that movie a hundred times over the years. But as I’ve become involved in pro-life advocacy, it’s now more than a holiday tradition. As January closes in, with its somber anniversary, the film’s premise reminds me of those Americans who never existed outside the womb, more than 60 million of them, and their certain influence and impact we cannot begin to imagine, and which we will never know. 

So what do we do as we watch the movie this season? 

First, no matter your profession, income, or age, let’s recognize that none of us is insignificant. Thank you for what you have given to our movement this year! Because of your support, you have improved, perhaps even saved, the lives of others. Yours is a wonderful life! 

Second, George Bailey began to see the true value of his “ordinary” life because of the patient, determined, and clever Clarence—whose name means “clear.” In 2020, let’s provide our own sort of clarity for the George Baileys of the world. That is, let’s pull a Clarence. To those who, on this issue, must have their eyes opened, let’s show them how their lives have touched countless others, as will those of men and women yet to be born. 

Together, let’s lovingly demonstrate to those who shout for “rights,” the profound potential of life in the womb. We might not have Clarence, but we do have the clarity of heaven’s light. Our many accomplishments in 2019 stand as proof of that. And you’ve been with us. You helped us direct that light. For that, my MCFL team and I are sincerely grateful. 

Like George gleefully running through snowy Bedford Falls, passing not ordinary but monumental people in his life, I heartily wish you a Merry Christmas. And Merry Christmas to those who influenced you, who made you who you are, who brought you to your wonderful life. 

Peace,

Myrna