By John Rohlf, The Message assistant editor
Pro-life advocates and supporters gathered at Old National Events Plaza in Evansville for the annual Right to Life of Southwest Indiana banquet.
The theme for this year’s banquet was “One Generation to Another.” Speakers at this year’s event included guest speaker Dr. Anthony Levatino, a former abortionist turned pro-life advocate; and keynote speaker Seth Dillon, CEO of the Babylon Bee.
During the banquet, Brian and Sarah Bohrer, parishioners of Annunciation Parish in Evansville, were awarded $5,000 in grant funding from the Right to Life of Southwest Indiana’s adoption assistance fund. Right to Life of Southwest Indiana Executive Director Jeff Ferguson presented the check to the Bohrers “as they approach the finalization of their adoption.”
“We pray that this is a blessing for both of you,” Rochelle Ferguson said. “And we just want to say thank you for choosing the path of adoption. Parenting is hard … But what you’re choosing to endeavor is really God’s heart. We just want to say thank you.”
At the beginning of the banquet, Bishop Joseph M. Siegel offered a prayer. During a portion of the prayer, Bishop Siegel said they gathered Aug. 14 to recognize and support the crucial work of Right to Life of Southwest Indiana. He said we ask God our Father to continue to guide and bless them and all efforts in defending the dignity of human life from the moment of conception until natural death. Help us to never tire of working to provide greater protections to the most vulnerable among us, especially all those threatened by the culture, he said in the prayer.
Jeff Ferguson said in the 1970s, a group of volunteers from Evansville knew something needed to be done to advocate for life and Vanderburgh County Right to Life was born. Decades later, Roe v. Wade was overturned in 2022. Since then, abortion was banned in the state of Indiana in 2023 and this year, Planned Parenthood was officially defunded.
“If it couldn’t get better than that, three weeks from today, on Sept. 4, thanks to the many prayers and commitment of you in this room, the Evansville location of Planned Parenthood will be closed after 88 years of tyranny in this city,” Rochelle Ferguson said. “That is something to celebrate tonight …”
During his homily at the Vigil Mass for the Feast of the Assumption Aug. 14 at St. Mary Church, Sts. Mary and John Parish, in Evansville, Bishop Siegel said while we can celebrate the strong pro-life laws in Indiana and be grateful for the closing of the Planned Parenthood clinic here in Evansville, we know there is still so much work to be done. He said for all too many people in our country and even in our communities, life has become something cheap and disposable, especially for the lives of the weak, defenseless and those who have no voice.
Bishop Siegel said thousands of children continue to die each day due to legalized abortion in our country. He noted in contrast to Indiana, many nearby states have actually enshrined abortion rights in their state constitutions. Local and federal judges overturned pro-life laws that had been passed.
He said in response, we must continue to be committed to changing hearts and laws to protect the right to life of each child. He said we are committed to serve others and children in need, especially women facing crisis pregnancies. We must minister to the other victims of abortion, including the women who have suffered the emotional, spiritual and psychological scars as a result of having had an abortion, he said in his homily.
Bishop Siegel stressed the need for human life to be safe from the womb to the tomb. He specifically referenced the elderly and sick who are threatened by attempts to legalize assisted suicide, the poor in our country and the world, refugees escaping violence and persecution in their native land, the innocent victimized by crime and the condemned who are executed for their crimes in an attempt to bring about justice. With God’s grace, we continue to seek ways to better serve those in need, build a culture of life and to protect the most vulnerable, Bishop Siegel said in his homily.
