Canadian Lutherans join annual March for Life

Some of the Lutherans who participated in the 2019 National March for Life in Ottawa.

CANADA – Thousands of Canadians gathered on Parliament Hill on May 9, 2019 for the national March for Life, with a number of Lutherans among them.

Prolife Canadians converge on Ottawa every year to express their concern over issues like abortion, physician assisted suicide, and euthanasia. Lutherans for Life-Canada (LFL-C), a prolife organization and listed service organization of Lutheran Church–Canada (LCC), regularly coordinates a Lutheran presence for the event.

“As Lutherans, speaking the truth about life from conception to natural death should be part of our daily conversation in the home, at work, and in the public forum as opportunity is presented to us,” said Rev. Juritsch, President of Lutherans for Life-Canada. “However, our first and foremost goal, as Christians living in the world, is not to use legislation to make people behave themselves. Our primary goal is to show how all of us fail to value life as we daily fail to love and trust God so that we do not hurt or harm our neighbour in his body, and daily fail to help and support him in every physical need.”

He continued: “Our goal is to point people hurting from the fear of an unwanted pregnancy, of a past abortion, of suffering (physical, mental and/or spiritual), to Jesus Christ who came into the world, suffered (physically, mentally, and spiritually), died and rose again so that He in love can take our sins from us and give us forgiveness, peace, and hope, both temporal and eternal.”

St. Luke Lutheran Church in Ottawa hosted an early morning breakfast and 10:00 a.m. prayer service led by Rev. Richard Juritsch at St. Luke Lutheran Church. Local organization was handled by Rev. Paul Pollex. Following the service, the Lutherans—with participants in attendance from seven different parishes—joined the March on Parliament Hill, which began at noon. The National March for Life first began in 1998, and has grown to become the largest annual protest on Parliament Hill.

Lutheran participants in the Edmonton March for Life.

Smaller gatherings also took place in other cities across the country. Lutherans for Life-Canada also took part in the Edmonton March for Life, with LCC members in attendance from two Albertan congregations and one British Columbian congregation. Rev. Keith Haberstock organized the Lutheran presence, with the Lutheran group gathering for prayer on site a half hour before the march began.

2019 was a particularly poignant event for participants in the March for Life as it marks the fiftieth year since the legalization of abortion in Canada (the full decriminalization of abortion would not take place until 1988). Since that time, more than four million children have died in abortions in Canada, with estimates of about 100,000 abortions taking place in Canada ever year.

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