(Oregon Right to Life) — Hundreds of pro-life advocates from across Oregon gathered outside the state Capitol building in Salem on Saturday, May 17 to participate in the annual Oregon March for Life. The theme of this year’s event was “Support Her. Protect Them.” to emphasize the pro-life movement’s care for both mothers and their babies.
The 2025 March for Life featured speeches by Portland Archbishop Alexander Sample, Oregon Right to Life President Melody Durrett, Road 2 Hope Maternity Home program manager Alayna Garcia, and Office and Marketing Coordinator Amber Sipe, Abortion Survivor and Occupational Therapist Amy Miles, Western Seminary Theology Professor and Grace Community Church elder Dr. Gerry Breshears, as well as ORTL Community Outreach Director Makyra Williamson and ORTL Executive Director Lois Anderson. Oregon Republican Representative Vikki Breese-Iverson emceed the event.
“The March for Life is a powerful coming-together that always renews my sense of optimism for ending abortion and building a culture of life in our state,” Oregon Right to Life executive director Lois Anderson said in a press statement. “It is deeply inspiring and encouraging to gather with so many people committed to compassionately advocating for mothers and their babies and calling on Oregon lawmakers to protect unborn lives.”
This year, as before every March, Oregon Right to Life displayed an animated counter on a jumbotron that depicted the heart-breaking number of innocent lives lost to abortion since Roe v. Wade: today, approximately 63 million. As the numbers added up on the screen and the crowd paused in silence, the bell tolled once for every million lives lost.
“It never ceases to have a deep impact on me when we see, visually, the real impact that the tragedy of abortion has had in our country,” Archbishop Sample said in his opening speech.
The Catholic archbishop went on to highlight the fact that even pro-abortion politicians historically used to recognize that abortion was a “sadness” and “not something to be celebrated.” He contrasted that older perspective with the modern radical pro-abortion position, exemplified by Oregon Governor Tina Kotek’s proclamation this year declaring March 10 “Abortion Provider Appreciation Day.” Archbishop Sample has decried the proclamation in a pastoral letter calling out the “spiritual blindness” of such a declaration, while affirming that “life – every life – is a gift” and extending the invitation of the gospel to all, “even for those who have celebrated abortion.”
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Following Archbishop Sample’s address and prayer, Oregon Right to Life Board of Directors President Melody Durrett expressed gratitude for the many ways that pro-life advocates take action to protect the unborn and support mothers in their communities.
“You are doing the real work of changing our culture so that abortion is not only illegal, but the reality of it unthinkable as a solution to any problem,” Durrett said. She underscored the fact that abortion is not simply one issue among many, or an individual choice, but a traumatic act that ultimately “sends a subconscious message to every person that human life is expendable.”
In contrast, Durrett said, “the message that we share is bold. It stands in stark contrast to the messages that most people hear often about the meaninglessness of life. We may be the first person to tell someone: ‘Your life matters. You have value.’ More than that, we believe that every human life has value… But the pro-life movement doesn’t just share this powerful message with our culture: we put action behind it.”
One pro-life advocate who has taken meaningful action based on her pro-life convictions is Alayna Garcia, program manager at Road 2 Hope Maternity Homes based in Beaverton. Garcia spoke to marchers about her organization’s work to provide safe housing, along with a robust network of care, support, and direction, for moms in need.
“If we’re truly pro-life, we need maternity homes,” Garcia said. “We need spaces where women can heal, where they can rest, where they can feel safe, and where they can dream again… Because when we choose to stand with them, we stand for more than just a cause. We stand for the promise of new beginnings, for the beauty of motherhood, and the belief that every life is worth fighting for.”
Joining Garcia was Amber Sipe, the organization’s Office and Marketing Coordinator. Prior to taking on her role with Road 2 Hope, Amber had come to the maternity home as a pregnant young woman suffering from abuse, trauma, addiction, homelessness, a past abortion, and the removal of her son into foster care.
“Road 2 Hope didn’t just offer me a bed, or a place to hide while I was pregnant. They fought for me. They believed in me when I had no reason to believe in myself,” Sipe said. “They walked with me through the long, painful road of healing, advocating for me to get my son back, to keep my daughter, and equipping me to be the mother I had always wanted to be but never thought that I could become.”
Oregon occupational therapist Amy Miles also shared her personal story with March attendees, describing learning that her mother had attempted to abort her but the abortion attempt failed. Born alive, Miles was given a loving home by her adoptive family. Now a wife and mother herself, Miles has since become a member of the international Abortion Survivors Network and has extended forgiveness to her birth mother.
“I love how God has redeemed my story,” she said. Miles suffers from cerebral palsy, but her condition doesn’t stop her from her work as an occupational therapist in which she helps children, including those with conditions like her own.
“If I had not been whisked away, as my birth mother reports, to be given life-sustaining care so that I could breathe, I wouldn’t be here today,” she said. “My two children would not be here today.”
“I have the opportunity now to share my story with moms, like my birth mother, and support babies like me,” Miles said.” I’m honored to speak up for our most vulnerable citizens. The ones that cannot speak up for themselves.”
During the speaker program, Makyra Williamson, Oregon Right to Life Community Outreach Director, also shared the results of this year’s March for Life Diaper Drive, which included a partnership with a pro-life diaper company. Nearly 200 boxes of EveryLife diapers, purchased through contributions from supporters, were displayed near the stage.
“We set an initial goal of gathering 10,000 diapers: one diaper to represent each life that was lost to legal abortion in Oregon in 2023,” Williamson said. “And then we partnered with EveryLife, the only pro-life diaper company, to order diapers to give to Oregon pregnancy resource centers and maternity homes. And your response has been incredible.”
“We blew that 10,000 diaper goal out of the water, gathering over 30,000 diapers to benefit women and families,” she said to overwhelming applause from the crowd.
Before giving the closing prayer, Dr. Gerry Breshears shared a story with marchers about a woman in an abusive relationship who had become pregnant and was “abortion-minded.” Breshears, along with other pro-life individuals who wanted to come alongside the young woman, helped to match her with a couple who could provide a loving adoptive home for the baby.
“I’m proud to say that she chose life because a whole circle of people, like many of you, gathered around her to support her in an extremely troubled pregnancy,” he said.
Immediately following the speaker program, participants began the approximately one half mile march around the Capitol, holding signs promoting the dignity and value of every human life, including at the earliest stages of development in the womb.
The crowd was made up of Oregonians of all ages and backgrounds, including parents, grandparents, women who have experienced unsupported or challenging pregnancies, pro-life politicians and candidates, and high school students, all united in a common desire to build a culture of life in Oregon.
March participant Jessie McGriff shared that she’s always been pro-life and decided to come to the Oregon March for Life because “I believe that children in the womb are humans, and I just want to protect and defend them.”
For Avi Kilpatrick, the journey looked somewhat different.
“I never thought I would be at one of these things,” Kilpatrick shared. “I grew up very secular, liberal, so I always thought that ‘pro-life’ was a dirty word… I used to also think that pro-life people didn’t really care about women. But I think, when I accepted Jesus into my heart, I started realizing the dignity of every single person, [and] I realized that that starts at conception. And the pro-life movement doesn’t hate women, it loves them. It’s the only [side] of this conversation that really does radically love women, because it doesn’t lie to them.”
Salem residents Tim and Dinah Smith said this is the third year they’ve come to the Oregon March for Life.
“We came to show our support for the most helpless and those who don’t have a voice,” Tim said. “And if we don’t speak for them, we’ll have to answer for it. So we want to lend our voice to that effort.”
“And because we love God and we love children,” Dinah added.
“All those who are in the womb have rights,” Isaac, a youth participant, told Oregon Right to Life. “In all scenarios, in all circumstances, the right [to life] of the most vulnerable is to be recognized.”
This is the second year the event was held in May, the month that Oregon legalized abortion statewide in 1969. In previous years, the Oregon March for Life took place in January to mark the anniversary of Roe v. Wade (1973) prior to the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2022 reversal of Roe.
Abortion is currently legal until the moment of birth in Oregon, with no protections for unborn human beings or explicit safeguards for newborns who survive abortion attempts. Taxpayer dollars currently pay for more than half of all abortions performed in the state. Oregon Right to Life is dedicated to promoting a culture of life in Oregon through grassroots action, political advocacy, and educational outreach.
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This article first appeared on the website of Oregon Right to Life. Republished with permission. All photographs are courtesy of Oregon Right to Life.
