Crusade for Life*  

* This is an excerpt from the 6/95 version of the booklet These Men They Call Knights. Published by the Supreme Council and provides a fine overview of and introduction to the Order.  The entire text is available on the State Council Web site (see link provided below)

With some 1.5 million unborn babies being killed by abortion each year in North America, Knights believe that there is no more important objective they could have at hand than a Crusade for Life. Since the infamous Supreme Court decision of Roe v. Wade in 1973 the Order has been in the forefront of organizations seeking to defend the lives of the innocent unborn. It is for the sake of these 1.5 million who cannot defend themselves that our Order must intensify its campaign to turn the abortion mentality.

The Crusade for Life asks each state and local council to appoint a Pro-Life chair couple. The state councils will organize pro-life Masses and participate in the national marches for life or organize similar demonstrations in their jurisdictions. The chair couples schedule and conduct pro-life sessions in their local councils.

The main thrust under the Crusade for Life is twofold. The first goal is to help pass legislation which would provide for the right to life of the unborn. The second thrust is to overturn the Roe v. Wade decision in the Supreme Court. This can be done by pressing for the confirmation of justices, with all other things being equal, whose track records might indicate that they would favor a pro-life position. If our members can help pass pro-life bills in the legislatures and can press for the confirmation of pro-life judges we will have made inroads against the plague of abortion in our countries.

The Order continues to help fund the pro-life activities of the United States and Canadian Bishops. The Order also continues underwriting the entire budget of the United States and Canadian Bishops efforts to promote natural family planning. In addition we provide funding to the natural family planning program of the Mexican Conference of Bishops.

The Order has made two grants of $250,000 each to the Pope Paul VI Institute for the Study of Human Reproduction in Omaha, Nebraska where research is done to study natural family planning techniques in accord with the Church's teaching.

By way of assistance to the Bishops in their teaching mission, the Order has underwritten periodic seminars on life-death issues which are faithfully attended by members of the hierarchy of the United States, Canada, Mexico and Central America. These workshops are held in Dallas, Texas, and provide the Bishops with presentations on current moral issues; allows them the opportunity to share experiences with one another; and also enables the Bishops to get to know one another better.

The Knights of Columbus profile of the pro-life work shows how Knights are striving to protect the lives of the innocent unborn. The Knights have donated millions of pieces of literature to Pro-Life groups and have provided office space and manpower for Birthright, Right to Life and other agencies through state and local councils. Committees on the state and local levels coordinate members' efforts through ongoing programs, whether manning display booths at regional fairs, sponsoring speakers' nights or hosting baby showers for Birthright.

Individual councils also honor legislators, governors and other civic officials who take a pro-life stand; set up educational booths to stress the sanctity of human life at various fairs; sponsor essay contests for high school students; promote respect for life proclamations and organize special memorial Masses on January 22, the date of the heartless Supreme Court decision allowing abortions, in memory of the hundreds of thousands of unborn innocents killed each year.

In addition to these pro-life endeavors, the Crusade for Life seeks to enlist all potential Catholic men as members of the Order to become part of this campaign.