Thousands of pro-life supporters from throughout the state are expected to participate in the first Ohio March for Life on Wednesday, Oct. 5 at the Statehouse in downtown Columbus.
A Mass for Life preceding the events at the Statehouse is scheduled for 9 a.m. at Columbus St. Joseph Cathedral, 212 E. Broad St., two blocks east of the capitol square. The principal celebrant will be Bishop David Bonnar of the Diocese of Youngstown.
The Mass will be followed at 10 a.m. by a pre-rally concert led by Damascus Worship at the Statehouse. A rally begins at 11 a.m., and the march will get underway at noon.
Speakers are expected to include Bishop Bonnar, Pastor David Forbes of the Columbus Christian Center, Dr. Alveda King of Priests for Life, Aaron Baer of the Center for Christian Virtue, Peter Range of Ohio Right to Life and Jeanne Mancini of the March for Life Education and Defense Fund.
The National March for Life is supporting the Ohio event and several similar marches in other states. Pennsylvania staged a rally and march on Sept. 19 in Harrisburg.
Organizers say the Ohio rally and march will provide opportunities to hear from elected officials and to learn about life issues in Ohio and how to become pro-active in advocacy for the unborn.
The Ohio March for Life is set to take place less than four months after the U.S. Supreme Court’s landmark ruling overturning the Roe v. Wade decision on abortion, which allowed an Ohio Heartbeat law to go into effect that bans taking the life of an unborn child once a fetal heartbeat is detected, usually at about six weeks’ gestation.
However, on Sept. 14, Hamilton County Judge Christian Jenkins issued a temporary injunction against Ohio’s Heartbeat law for 14 days, allowing mothers to procure abortions up to 20 weeks into a pregnancy.
In Columbus, the city put measures in place after Roe was overturned to fund abortion groups, investigate pregnancy help centers and deprioritize the enforcement of the Heartbeat law, allowing abortions to continue locally.
The Catholic Church teaches that all life is sacred and should be protected from conception until natural death.
For more information and to register for the Ohio march, visit www.marchforlife.org/ohio-march-for-life/. Registration is not required, but those who sign up will receive email updates.