Abortion pill highlighted as key life issue at Cardinal O’Connor Conference on Life

The 27th annual Cardinal O’Connor Conference on Life emphasized chemical abortion as the most prominent issue facing the pro-life movement today.

“Pro-life sentiment is rising among your peers,” said March for Life President Jennie Bradley Lichter during her keynote address at the Jan. 24 event at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C.

“But we shouldn’t kid ourselves that everything is rosy, and we shouldn’t be too quick to pat ourselves on the back,” she said, noting that the number of abortions taking place across the country is actually on the rise, in large part due to the rise in popularity of the chemical abortion pill.

Founded in 2000, the Cardinal O’Connor Conference on Life is the largest student-run pro-life conference in the U.S., according to its website. It is named after staunch pro-life advocate Cardinal John O’Connor, the late archbishop of New York and founder of the Sisters of Life.

Speaking on the future of the pro-life movement and its challenges, Lichter emphasized the need for pro-life advocates to speak the truth boldly, invite people in through the transcendentals, seek increased protections for babies in the womb and other pro-life policies, and to walk with pregnant women and moms.

“What should we be advocating for?” she asked. “First and foremost right now is that we have to keep up this ramping up of advocacy for safeguards around the chemical abortion pill, and eventually for it to be pulled from the market altogether.”

Lichter noted U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner Marty Makary have confirmed the FDA is conducting a study on chemical abortion pills. “We need to watch that safety study closely,” she said.

Lichter further encouraged students to remember that bringing down abortion rates can take place irrespective of state laws by simply being present for and supportive of pregnant women and mothers. She also noted that the pro-life movement “cannot simply be against something.”

“We have to show the world what we’re for, that we’re for the beauty of motherhood, for the courageousness of fatherhood, for the gift of children, and for a world where no woman stands alone,” she said.

The conference awarded its annual Rev. Thomas M. King, SJ, Award to the Collegiates for Life at the University of Mary in North Dakota.

Lichter further praised the efforts of Georgetown Right to Life and its president, Elizabeth Oliver, for advocating and supporting mothers on campus.

“I understand that a couple of years ago, Georgetown Right to Life wrapped around a fellow student who was unexpectedly pregnant, providing her with emotional support, friendship, as well as tangible support,” she said.

Oliver herself told EWTN News during the event that she hopes students leave “with a new spirit, a new fuel, and a new fire for the pro-life movement.”

“We have a whole host of speakers on a range of pro-life issues, from conception to natural death, talking about foster care and adoption, even euthanasia [and the] death penalty,” she said.

The conference featured panels and breakout sessions with speakers such as Springs of Love Executive Director Kimberly Henkel, Dominican Father Gregory Pine, Andrew Kubick, and more.

“All these life issues are so, so important, and we want to inspire our attendees to go out and proclaim the truth into the world,” Oliver said. The Georgetown senior has led Georgetown Right to Life for the past three years, during which, she noted, its membership has “tripled in size.”

“Our conference has grown from one breakout session in the year 2000 to now hosting almost 700 people every year, which is a huge testament,” she said.

In addition to the speakers and a panel moderated by “EWTN News In Depth” anchor Catherine Hadro, the event included opportunities to pray a Holy Hour, browse over a dozen sponsorship exhibits, and participate in Mass at the conclusion of the event.

Oliver described the widespread availability of the chemical abortion pill as “devastating,” noting that colleges and universities across the county allow for access to the drug regimen on campus.

“I hope that the current administration can impose restrictions on access to these very dangerous bills,” she said. “The chemical abortion pill really is the fight that we need to focus on today, since that is where most of the abortions are happening.”

What is most “tragic” about the chemical abortion drug, she said, is that “the abortion pill is something that happens with a mom and her baby: The world doesn’t see it.”

“Something like slavery or the Holocaust that we can see with our own eyes why it was so awful, it’s easier to understand why it’s bad,” she said.

“Whereas abortion, the fact that it’s this silent genocide, doesn’t allow for people to see the truth. And so, we need to do a better job at sharing why the abortion pill is so harmful and humanize the lives of these little babies.”