The ‘March for Life’ marches on

Following the death of  Kathy McEntee, the organization’s leader and co-founder, advocates draw inspiration and optimism from her legacy
 
WESTERN WASHINGTON
BY JENNIFER SOKOL

The seeds for abortion legislation in Washington state and the March for Life were sown in 1967.  Among the proponents of terminating “unplanned” pregnancies were doctors, lawyers and politicians, who eventually became known as the Washington Citizens for Abortion Reform.

In 1969, they introduced a measure in the state Legislature that appeared on the ballot the following November as Referendum 20.   On Nov. 3, 1970, Referendum 20 became the first voter-approved state law legalizing abortion in the nation.

In 1973, when the U.S. Supreme Court’s landmark Roe v. Wade decision made legalized abortion the law of the land, abortion rights leaders hailed it as “a triumphant moment.”  Others, such as Kathy McEntee of St. Charles Borromeo Church in Tacoma and a member of the opposition group, Voice for the Unborn, called it a disaster.

“My mother couldn’t believe that abortion would actually be legalized,” says Noreen McEntee Hobson, daughter of the pro-life champion who died Jan. 12 after suffering a stroke.  “She thought the law would be overturned within a short time.”

She wasn’t alone.

An up-front leader
The first March for Life in Washington, D.C. was organized and took place in 1974, one year after the Supreme Court handed down the Roe decision.

In 1978, Kathy McEntee was among those who founded the affiliate March for Life in Washington State.

Her husband Dick McEntee recalls the moment.

“Kathy and five other women got together around our dining room table one day and came up with the idea,” he said. “From then on, Kathy went from being behind the scenes to an up-front leader.”

In 1979, 300 people participated in the first March for Life in Olympia. Every legislator was invited, but none attended. The second year, one legislator joined the crowd of 1,000 marchers and the numbers have increased ever since.

“The most important purpose of March for Life is to speak directly to the legislators,” explains McEntee’s daughter, Noreen, who has assumed the role as the organization’s president. “We gather annually on the anniversary of Roe v. Wade because the Legislature is in session. We want to make a difference in law.”

Human Life of Washington CEO Dan Kennedy was among those who worked with McEntee on the front lines of the prolife movement for decades.  He said that while her leadership in the March for Life will be missed, McEntee herself would predict the continued success of the effort.

“Kathy would be one of the first to say we’re not alone in this,” Kennedy said.  “She’d scoff at her leadership, but she was prominent and was inspirational because of her courage to stand up publicly with compassion and talk about abortion.  She certainly was one of the leaders in the state, and an early leader.”

Father Mel Strazicich, Parochial Vicar of St. Charles Borromeo Parish, where Kathy and Dick McEntee were parishioners,  is an example of a new generation that has taken up the pro-life cause.

An evolving mission
Father Strazicich has been a participant in the March for Life in both the nation’s capital and in Olympia.  He says the pro-life movement is producing results.

“Statistics show that abortions among the youngest mothers have now dropped from 1 in 2, to 1 in 5,” Father Strazicich said. 

While attending Mundelein Seminary in Chicago, Father Strazicich said he met Dr. Alevda King, an outspoken pro-life advocate and niece of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

“She enlightened me about the racist attitude among the pro-choice movement, and now counsels black women not to have abortions like she did,” said Father Stazicich.  “Overturning abortion, she believes, is the civil rights movement of our day.”

Moving into the  future, the younger McEntee said the vision of March for Life is evolving.
“We’re currently forming a new team that will develop a Web site, work with other pro-life groups and train speakers who will speak in churches and at college debates,” she said.  “We would also like to make more use of the media.”

As March for Life and other groups face ongoing opposition and challenges in the future, McEntee said she often recalls the encouraging words of St. Paul to the  Romans: “Hope makes for endurance, and this hope will not leave us disappointed.”

For those who have longed waged the battle against abortion, Father Strazicich offers another example.

“If Mary, God’s Mother, bore the brunt of social rejection while accepting her ‘unplanned’ pregnancy, we must ask her to help us to understand the mystery of life and of motherhood,” Father Strazicich said.  “She can guide our steps back to Jesus and show us the value of human life in the light of his.”