National March for Life in Slovakia: If we love someone, we want them to be protected. Love is pro-life
40 000 people participated in the National March for Life on Sunday. The event called for the protection of every human life, including unborn children. Pope Francis sent a special greeting to the participants: I march with you today!
Košice, Slovakia, 24th September 2024 – The fourth National March for Life was held in Slovakia on Sunday, September 22nd, with the aim of achieving the protection of life from conception to natural death. Organizers estimate that 40 000 people took part in the march.
According to the event’s spokeswoman, Rebecca Lukáčová, the protection of life is first and foremost a question of love. Participants gathered „to publicly express that they want the good of every human being, including unborn children.“ The march’s motto, „Love is pro-life,“ is meant to express that.
The demand of the march, according to spokesman Patrik Daniška, is the protection of the life of every human being, especially unborn children in this day and age. He described the law legalizing abortion as unjust because it „deprives unborn children of the protection that is rightfully theirs.“ Abolition of the abortion is therefore the main goal of the march. „If we love someone, we want them to be protected,“ he added to explain this political demand.
Number of abortions in Slovakia has continuously declined since 1989 when communist regime collapsed. This changed in 2022, when more abortions were performed in Slovakia than in the previous year. According to the National Centre for Health Information, an increased abortion rate was also recorded in 2023, when 5,420 abortions were performed, which corresponds to 4.2 abortions per 1,000 women in reproductive age. At the same time, the birth rate in Slovakia has declined significantly in recent two years.
The march was attended by 17 Catholic bishops of Slovakia, who served holy mass in 17 churches on Sunday morning and most of them appeared together on the podium shortly before the start of the march.
Pope Francis also greeted the marchers. Greeting was delivered by Nuncio Nicola Girasoli, who stressed that Pope Francis joins the National March for Life with all the Slovak bishops: „Pope Francis marches with you today! Let it be a march of joy and enthusiasm, let it be a real march for life. Let it be a march of hope. Be always supporters of life. Life is a gift of God. Be always proud and ready to protect life. Receive from Pope Francis an embrace full of peace and hope.“
The Commissioner for Children, Jozef Miklosko, also spoke in defence of the rights of unborn children, saying that he considers himself a commissioner for all children, including the unborn children. In his speech, he cited the Convention on the Rights of the Child. It states that the child, by reason of his physical and mental immaturity, needs special safeguards and care, including appropriate legal protection, both after birth and before birth.
Abortion was legalized in then Czechoslovakia in 1958 based on an instruction from the Soviet Union. The sharp increase in abortions came in 1987 when more permissive legislation was passed and abortion for any reason was permitted up to twelve weeks of pregnancy. The highest number of abortions was in 1988, almost 50 thousand.
Susan Lashkay, a Ukrainian living in Slovakia who runs a helpline for pregnant mothers in Ukrainian and Russian, also spoke. „It is barbaric, cruel and unfair to lie to a pregnant woman in a difficult life situation that abortion is the solution. How is it that in our free countries, under the guise of so-called women’s rights, abortion practices that totalitarian regimes excelled at are not only maintained but expanded?“
The theme of healing after abortion was also a recurring theme in the speeches. Daniela Obšajsníková from the Rachel’s Vineyard is dedicated to helping women after both induced and spontaneous abortion. According to her experience, together with the child, the woman is the second victim of an abortion. On Sunday, she addressed the marchers saying, „Friends, post-abortion syndrome is real.“ During her eleven years in this ministry, she has seen personally that abortion causes suffering for mothers and fathers, distorts their lives and their family relationships. But where others see a hopeless end, „we see infinite hope,“ she concluded.
Participants were greeted by guests from the UK, Emmet Dooley from the Society for the Protection of Unborn Children (SPUC) and Robert Colquhoun from 40 Days for Life, as well as by organizer of the marches for life and family in Poland, Mr. Marcin Perłowski from the Centre for Life and Family.
Slovak National Marches for Life were held in 2013 in Košice and in 2015 and 2019 in the capital city Bratislava. They are among the most massive events in the country since the fall of communism in 1989. The manifesto of the first National March for Life was the impetus for defining marriage as a union of a man and a woman in the constitution. This became a reality in 2014.
The National March for Life is organized by pro-life associations and the event is under the auspices of the Bishops‘ Conference of Slovakia.
Patrik Daniška and Rebeka Lukáčová
Spokespersons of the National March for Life
Time-lapse video by Postoj, the conservative daily:
OUR VISION
We dream about Slovakia paying honour to life. We dream about country where goodness, generous esteem, understanding and righteousness take their place. A place where life and dignity of every human being is protected from its very beginning to ist natural end. Where solidarity dominates and help is given to the most miserable, vulnerable or innocent.
Dream the dream with us and come to National March for Life to say YES to life protection. Help us change Slovakia to pay respect to life.
OUR GOAL
Goal of our National March for Life is to reach social legislation for life protection from the conception to the natural death of every human.
OUR MISSION
The mission of March is to spread the desire and demand of life protection of every person overtly all around Slovakia.
Let´s march in honour of 1,4 million unborn children who died due to abortion law existing in Slovakia from 1957 to 2017.
HISTORY
The first National March for Life took place in 2013 in Košice, second one in 2015 in Bratislava, the third one in 2019 in Bratislava. All three were ones of the biggest public meetings being organised after 1989. All in all there were over 200 thousands participants.