By Garrett Riley |

An enthusiastic, large crowd exclaimed in unison, “Everyone deserves a birthday!” The takeaway for anyone truly listening to all the speeches and observing the diversity of people and many organizations participating in the Arizona March for Life is that abortion is not merely a political issue. Every abortion decision involves layers of complicated, emotional, and often unexpectedly difficult circumstances. Every abortion choice is deeply personal, not political, and ultimately prevents the celebration of a birthday as it ends the life of an innocent human being.

Labeling those who stand for life as “anti-abortion groups” is a tiring old tactic used by activists and allies of Planned Parenthood (the mainstream media) to cast a biased label on a multifaceted pro-life movement. This narrative fails to capture the essence of what we represent and stand for. What the mainstream media doesn’t show or tell you about us is proof that it is not objective and is nearly universally supportive of on-demand abortion.

The gap between the portrayal of the pro-life movement and its true intentions was evident following the Arizona March for Life, held near the state capitol last Friday in Phoenix. More than 3,000 citizens gathered to express a collective commitment to “Walk With Every Woman, For Every Child,” aiming to shift the conversation toward making abortion unthinkable and highlighting support for women facing unplanned pregnancies.

With a radical abortion rights initiative underway in our state, this topic necessarily received the right proportion of the rally’s content and agenda. This was especially important given the stark reality that the broad language in the proposed constitutional amendment could eventually lead to the elimination of Arizona’s common-sense abortion restrictions and regulations, effectively allowing for legalized abortions through all nine months.

As the election cycle unfolds in 2024, heavy press coverage on this subject matter is understandable.

Unfortunately, most of the media limited their coverage to this aspect of the event, organized locally by the Arizona Life Coalition. This narrow lens, which seems intentional, failed to show the wide range of engagement from nonpolitical people and organizations. People from all regions of the state, from every walk of life, showed up to advocate for life. More than 30 exhibitors were present, including abortion healing groups, churches, schools, pregnancy help centers, medical, adoption, and foster care organizations.

General media bias through exclusion was evident, with virtually no mention of the other powerful speakers, including former nurse Kim Owens, whose beliefs were transformed by the profound realization of the humanity of an unborn child during an abortion procedure. Her testimony, along with that of Life Choices Women’s Clinic director, Sheila Riely, and her client, holding her beautiful baby in her arms, told the story of how she changed her mind and gave birth instead of aborting. Finally, Pastor Mike Goodwin from Emanuel Baptist Church in Tucson, encouraged compassion and forgiveness as perhaps the better way to change more hearts and minds about abortion, underscoring the rally’s deeper spiritual and moral dimensions.

We rallied and marched for life last Friday to confront the lies of abortion with truth. It’s a lie that elective abortion is women’s healthcare. It’s deceptive to define abortion as a medical procedure that terminates a pregnancy.

The truth is, “terminating a pregnancy” is just a euphemism for the reality that abortion intentionally destroys the innocent life of a helpless unborn baby.

The truth is abortion is the most blatant human rights violation in the history of mankind. In the last year, there were 11,530 abortions in Arizona as reported by the Arizona Department of Health Services. That’s an average of 221 innocent and defenseless babies killed by abortion every week in Arizona.

This deeply saddens me, but it was encouraging to see children, young adults, and seniors rally. I met one passionate woman who is 91 years old. What’s more, giving me great hope was the huge turnout of homeschool kids, local high schoolers, and groups from Grand Canyon University and Arizona Christian University, all marching for life. There were even students who wrote essays, created posters, and made pro-life videos for a contest sponsored by the Arizona Life Coalition. All these committed young pro-lifers make up generations of a society that will someday absolutely respect and protect the rights of ALL HUMAN BEINGS, born and unborn.

The press and general media’s skewed representation of the pro-life movement cannot diminish the power of personal resolve and the collective spirit that drives our cause. We stand on a foundation of science, reason, morality, and faith. So, it is imperative that we elevate the conversation beyond political divisions. Don’t be swayed by shallow narratives but instead, contemplate the truth, that indeed, everyone deserves a birthday.

Garrett Riley is the executive director of the Arizona Life Coalition, with a mission of inspiring pro-life choices through charity, education, and unifying collaboration.