BIRMINGHAM, April 19 /Christian Newswire/ -- The following is submitted by Priests for Life:
* The Freedom Riders of 1961 took their lives in their hands to protest the injustice of segregation. This summer, Priests for Life and its supporters will stage Pro- life Freedom Rides along those various routes. This time we will be speaking up for the lives of the unborn.
* The Freedom Riders took their action to test a Supreme Court ruling that struck down segregation laws. We will ride to protest a ruling by that same court that legalized the murder of a whole class of human beings.
* The Freedom Riders sought to change the culture of racism in the U.S. We seek to transform the culture of death into the culture of life.
Join us as we kick off this campaign with a press conference on April 27.
WHO:
Dr. Alveda King, Director of African American Outreach for Priests for Life and niece of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Father Frank Pavone, National Director of Priests for Life
Janet Morana, Executive Director of Priests for Life
Dean Nelson, Executive Director of the Network of Politically Active Christians
Rev. Clennard Childress, Director of the Life Education and Resource Network
Rev. Sam Mosteller, Georgia State President, Southern Christian Leadership Conference
Catherine Davis, Director of Minority Outreach, Georgia Right to Life
Rev. Stephen Broden, Senior Pastor, Fair Park Bible Fellowship, Dallas, Texas
Day Gardner, Founder, National Black Prolife Union
Fr. Denis Wilde, Associate Director of Priests for Life
Fr. Peter West, Associate Director of Priests for Life
Fr. Scott William Daniels, Pastoral Associate of Priests for Life
Jim Pinto, Pastoral Associate of Priests for Life
Jerry Horn, Senior Advisor of Priests for Life
Darrian Summerville, Christian recording artist
WHERE:
Kelly Ingram Park
5th Avenue N. at 16th Street
Birmingham, AL
WHEN:
April 27, 10:30 am
"My Uncle Martin had a dream that Protestants and Catholics and Gentiles and Jews would join together and sing the age old spiritual 'Free at Last,'" stated Dr. Alveda King. "At Priests for Life, we will be singing and praying on the Pro-life Freedom Rides. We urge all people of good will to join us as we link the Civil Rights Movement of the 20th Century to the heart cry for life in the 21st Century."
"This gathering of pro-life and civil rights leaders is a unique partnership," said Father Frank Pavone. "By joining hearts and hands and voices in this way, we can help convince Americans once and for all that abortion is the ultimate violation of human rights."
The rides have been endorsed by African-American and pro-life leaders across the country. Catherine Davis of Georgia Right to Life noted, "In 1857, the Supreme Court, in the Dred Scott case, labeled blacks as property, denying them citizenship. The United States said no to this notion and restored personhood to blacks with the 14th Amendment. In 1973 the Supreme Court in the Roe v. Wade case again took personhood away from a class of people -- the unborn. We are riding and calling on all Americans to again reject this notion by restoring the right to life to the unborn."
The April 27 press conference will set the stage for the first Pro-life Freedom Ride, set for July 23-25. National and local pro-life leaders will gather in Birmingham for a major concert and rally - exact location and venue to be announced. A prayer vigil will take place outside an area abortion mill and then those traveling with the riders will get in the bus for the ride to Atlanta.
Join us as we begin this historic undertaking. Millions of babies are counting on us to ride for their lives.
For more information -- www.prolifefreedomrides.com
Priests for Life is the nation's largest Catholic pro-life organization dedicated to ending abortion and euthanasia. For more information, visit www.priestsforlife.org.
