We’re for the unborn, Oh can’t you see, We’ll never give up, ‘Til victory. -Thomas M. Harvey
According to ESPN, there are 44 bowl games this year. That means you and I have the opportunity to cheer on 88 teams and so presumably to belt out as many fight songs. Why not commit to memory just one set of lyrics instead? Thanks to MCFL member and longtime pro-life champion Tom Harvey, our movement gained a new fight song in 2021 (below). And while the last 12 months proved to be more challenging than we’d hoped, 2021 certainly redeemed itself on five important fronts, providing 2022 with remarkably good field position.
1. Before you even raised a glass last night, we surpassed our end-of-year fundraising goal. Cheers to that, my friend! Thank you to the many reading this who made a gift. As always, we will take good care to steward it well.
2. The Massachusetts pro-life network continues to strengthen and spread, as indicated by more than 75,000 certified signatures, collected by a significantly increased number of volunteers across the state, during the recent ballot initiative. Despite falling short of the 80,239 signatures which would have allowed voters to require lifesaving medical care to abortion survivors, 18,000 more Massachusetts residents signed the 2021 petition than in 2019. MCFL is proud to have teamed up with Tom Harvey and our partner organizations including MFI, Renew MA Coalition and MassGOP, and we anticipate similarly productive collaboration ahead.
3. MCFL drafted, obtained sponsors for and filed five bills at the start of the current legislative session. As 2022 unfolds, we call on you to review them and send a series of short but clear messages to your state senator and representative, encouraging their support. Likewise, forward this email to a friend and ask them to do the same.
4. Published in July, member Erika Bachiochi’s book, The Rights of Women: Reclaiming a Lost Vision, continues to receive widespread praise and, perhaps just as noteworthy, boisterous resistance. Due to the simple truth within its pages, namely that “original” feminists in the 18th and 19th centuries rejected abortion as the assault on women that it is, those flying the women’s rights banner today stand without even a breeze in which to fly it, their credibility widely and irrepably diminished. As Americans, this leaves us poised for unity around a single goal we could have been working toward since 1973. Bachiochi frames it perfectly: “Only by reestablishing the inherent dignity & value of each human being, the moral proposition to which our country has ever been called, will pregnant women & caregiving families receive the public support & commendation they, in justice, deserve.”
5. Later this month, MCFL enters its 50th year of pursuing that goal, focused on our mission within the Commonwealth “to promote respect for human life and defend the right to life.” Like you, our sights are set on the Supreme Court and its expected Dobbs ruling in June, a decision which could mean the demise of Roe v. Wade and actual progress toward legal protection of the unborn—even here in Massachusetts, though we will still have a rocky path to navigate.
Thank you for your continued faith in us and in our ability to prompt change in our state. There is much to celebrate this day and during the 364 ahead. On behalf of my MCFL colleagues, I wish you a healthy, wonder-filled and joyous 2022.
Peace to you and happy New Year!
Myrna
PS- I get to share not one but two fight songs with you. Earlier this week, I received a letter from a gentleman in Needham, who sent along lyrics to a rallying cry he knew a half-century ago, in MCFL’s very early days. Perhaps you also remember it:
Massachusetts, Massachusetts, Massachusetts Citizens for Life.
With all our might, day and night, we will fight for the right to life. . . .
For the young and the old,
For the strong and the bold,
For the weak and helpless, too,
We will fight for their right
To live their life even as we and you
Massachusetts, Massachusetts, Massachusetts Citizens for Life.
For LIFE.
THE PRO-LIFE FIGHT SONG
© 2021 Thomas M. Harvey
We’re for the unborn,
Oh can’t you see,
We’ll never give up,
‘Til victory.
Their lives are at stake,
So whatever it takes,
And day after day,
We’ll fight and we’ll pray.
Refrain
They’re human, they’re living,
They’re growing, they’re swimming,
They’re yawning, they’re kicking,
Their hearts are a’ ticking, And they’re unique,
Just like you and me.
The law allows them,
To suffer in pain,
And we will fight on,
‘Cause that is insane.
“Abortion is health care,” Well that’s a lie,
For how can it be,
When you make someone die?
Refrain
Their lives are in danger,
Like Christ in the manger,
They need our assistance,
We’ll be the resistance,
And we will fight,
On to victory.
We’re for the unborn,
Oh can’t you see,
We’ll never give up,
‘Til victory.