Members of Hui Maluha (Guardians of Life), a Students for Life group based at Damien Memorial School (Photo courtesy of Dann Ebina)
By Patrick Downes
Hawaii Catholic Herald
You might call it a kinder and gentler March for Life, out from under the hostile shadow of the Supreme Court decision that provoked the annual protest. Roe v. Wade is gone, overturned last year by the same court. But the status of abortion availability in Hawaii remains the same. So work remains.
“Our goal is to rejoice and celebrate, celebrate the 50th anniversary of the March for Life” in the first such commemoration of the post-Roe era, said Valerie Streff, co-organizer of the march with her husband Deacon Gary Streff, addressing the estimated 500 gathered in the rotunda of the Hawaii State Capitol the afternoon of Jan. 20.
Absent were the usual kiosks promoting pro-life organizations and activities. “We are going to save that for another time,” Streff said. Instead, there was a single stage featuring religious musical groups.
“We want our music, our voices, to sing out loud for all the legislators and all the people who are in this area,” she said.
“We are here for the conversion of hearts and minds to believe in the preciousness of life, the sanctity of life,” she said, not to hear rhetoric or debates but “to rejoice by singing aloud, praising the Lord because without our Creator none of this would happen.”
Streff and her husband, co-directors of the diocesan Respect Life Office, promised more information in the future on new programs that help women in post-pregnancy.
Keynoter Bishop Larry Silva also suggested a change in approach to ending abortion.
Speaking without notes, the bishop said that, while he was “very happy” with the Supreme Court’s reversal, the State of Hawaii is not expected to outlaw abortion.
“Not yet. Not at this moment,” he said.
“But we are here because we are people of hope,” he said.
His suggestion for reducing the number of abortions in a state where it is legal: “dry up the market” for abortion.
“Even if abortion remained legal, if no one got one, that would be wonderful,” he said.
He admitted his solution — the elimination of extra-marital sex — would be “very unpopular.”
But not unprecedented.
“I grew up in an era when you only had sex in the context to marriage, because it was there you could be committed to each other, that you wouldn’t be afraid to have that child, and raise that child in the family.”
Clockwise, members of Hui Maluha (Guardians of Life), a Students for Life group Students from St. Elizabeth School in Aiea join the March for Life around the state capitol. (Photo courtesy of Dann Ebina)
Of course, today it is very different, he said. “We have an over-sexualized culture.”
“There are people who think you will die if you don’t have sex,” he said drolly. “I have yet to meet anybody who died because they didn’t have sex.”
“Now we need to say, sex is beautiful, it is a gift from God. If it wasn’t for sex, no one would be here today,” Bishop Silva said. “But it is a gift we need to use according to the plan of God.”
“We need to be committed to a greater education in chastity,” he said. “But this is a long battle and an uphill battle.”
“Sex is a very strong, powerful force. That’s natural,” the bishop said. “But we have to learn how to handle it, to make it a part of the goodness of our sexual being.”
“So I think if we commit ourselves to this education in chastity, then we will dry up the market for abortion,” he said. “There will be fewer unwanted pregnancies and more pregnancies in the context of family and marriage where children can be nourished and wanted and loved.”
“So we have much, much work to do,” Bishop Silva said.
“We thank God for the Supreme Court decision. That is certainly a great victory, but it is not the end of the road,” the bishop concluded. “We have many more miles to go before we achieve this goal of total respect for the life that God has given to every one of us.”
Teacher and singer Shanita Akana served as a lively emcee for the 3-6 p.m. event. Participants divided into two groups, the main one listening to the music and talks in the center of the capitol floor and those holding signs along Beretania Street.
At 5 p.m., the group paraded around the capitol carrying signs and pinwheels representing victims of abortion. The most common sign was a green and white poster with a positive message in big bold type, “LOVE LIFE, CHOOSE LIFE.”
At least one Catholic school, St. Elizabeth in Aiea, sent students. About a dozen Catholic priests attended, 15 or so religious sisters and a generous number of Knights of Columbus. Music was provided by the Basic Christian Community and other groups.
The March for Life was part two of a three-part observance of the Roe v. Wade anniversary sponsored by the diocesan Respect Life Office.
The first part was a Mass and a holy hour of adoration with Bishop Silva, Jan. 19 at the Co-Cathedral of St. Theresa. Part three is the “9 Days for Life” novena, Jan. 19-27, designed by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, to pray for the protection of human life. See 9DaysForLife.com.
The Respect Life Office seeks to convert hearts and minds on a wide range of life issues including abortion, euthanasia, embryonic stem cell research, human cloning, capital punishment and artificial contraception, and continue to support post-abortion healing, chastity education and ethical vaccines.
