ABC District President addresses March for Life participants

CANADA – May 11, 2017 marked Canada’s twentieth annual national March for Life. Ever year, thousands of Canadians march through the streets of downtown Ottawa to draw attention to life issues including abortion and physician assisted suicide. The March for Life is the largest annual demonstration on Parliament Hill, though it generally garners very little media attention. This year’s theme was “Life, We Stand on Guard for Thee.”

While the Ottawa march is the largest in Canada, it is by no means the only march. On the same day, Canadians across the country gather for local marches to bear witness to the sanctity of life and call for greater protections for the most vulnerable.

One such march takes place in Edmonton. This year marked the tenth annual Alberta March for Life, and among the speakers at this year’s event was President Glenn E. Schaeffer of the Alberta-British Columbia District (ABC) of Lutheran Church–Canada. President Schaeffer spoke to a diverse crowd gathered at the Alberta Legislature.

“All lives, from conception to natural death, matter to God,” he said during his speech. “We are of infinite worth and value to our God, so much so that God shared in our humanity! Ponder this wondrous mystery for a moment: Jesus, who Christians believe was God in the flesh, was a zygote, an embryo, an infant, a toddler, a youth, a grown man! God gives all human life dignity and worth simply by the fact that He shares in our humanity.”

“But there was another reason why God’s Son became a man,” he continued. “The Bible says, ‘This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his for us’ (1 John 3:16). Jesus died on the cross to forgive us of our sin. Jesus came to ‘heal the brokenhearted and bind up their wounds’ (Psalm 147:3). If you ever wonder if you are loved, look to the cross of Christ. If you are in search of renewed life and hope, look to Jesus who conquered death by rising from the dead.”

That knowledge of God’s love is the foundation upon which we stand as we confess that all human life is sacred, President Schaeffer explained. “All lives matter from conception to natural death to our Creator—to our Saviour, Jesus Christ—and therefore, all lives are of infinite value and worth to us! And that’s why we are here today. We are the voices for the unborn who cannot speak. We march. We speak the truth. We pray. We petition those who make laws in our land to break free of the delusional spell they’re under that some lives don’t matter.”

You can read President Schaeffer’s full address here.

In addition to his service as President of the ABC District, Rev. Dr. Glenn E. Schaeffer is a former President of Lutherans for Life-Canada (LFL-C), a Listed Service Organization of Lutheran Church–Canada. LFL-C’s mission is to “witness to the sanctity of human life through education based on the Word of God.” You can find pro-life resources through their website at www.lutheransforlife-canada.ca/, and through the website of their American counterpart www.lutheransforlife.org/.

The next March for Life is scheduled for May 10, 2018.

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