Arizona pro-life group engages in ecumenical outreach

The Arizona Life Coalition (ALC) is the major pro-life organization in the Grand Canyon State. ALC carries out its nonpolitical mission primarily by education, collaboration, and support for people and groups that share its convictions about the sanctity of innocent human life. While officially nonpartisan and without any formal religious affiliation, ALC has organized outreach efforts to Catholics and Evangelicals in the state, two of the largest and most active pro-life communities in Arizona.

Catholic World Report spoke recently with Garrett Riley, ALC Executive Director, about the Coalition’s religious pro-life partnerships.

CWR: How would you describe the ALC’s Church Outreach?

Garrett Riley: I became convinced a few years ago that the tipping point on the abortion issue in American society will arise out of the Christian Church… that is the “big C” Church (referring to the whole body of Christ). I know that many people have lost faith in the willingness of their church leaders to engage and talk about abortion. Many pro-life Christians are understandably extremely disappointed and frustrated by the obvious failure of Christianity in general and Catholics, in particular, to drive back “pro-choice” norms. That collective failure has exacted incalculable human costs and suffering.

But I still believe that Christians are a sleeping giant that, if awakened and stirred into action, can change the culture and shift majority opinion against abortion. Besides, God is with us, which Scripture makes plainly clear. For these reasons, we decided to launch our Church Outreach: let’s get more Christians off the sidelines and into the game. ALC’s Church Outreach builds unifying networks that offer education, motivation, and support to the pro-life community. They forge pro-life fellowship and unity. Right now, we do a Catholic and an Evangelical meeting monthly in Phoenix; we hope to expand to other parts of the state.

Ultimately the purpose of ALC’s outreach to churches at-large is to enable Arizona’s pro-life community to grow and be more effective. The collaboration and educational aspects of these meetings help us recruit new people and mobilizes them to get involved, finding their places in local efforts.

CWR: What does your Church Outreach look like, and how has it been received?

Garrett Riley: All of the Church Outreach meetings have been enthusiastically received from the very start. The Catholic events are called “First Saturday for Life… Mass, Brunch & Learn.” As a Catholic myself, I worked with ACL Board member Jill McCabe, who launched the program in spring 2021. Although only six people showed up for our first meeting, Jill and I knew from their enthusiasm that we were on to something. Attendance has steadily grown and now we average about 40 people per meeting each month, in large part thanks to Jill’s indefatigable efforts.

The meetings encourage people, especially the leaders of church-based pro-life groups like “Respect Life” or parish “Culture of Life Ministries.” Events are open to all, but the hosting church gets a little boost from the exposure it gets, raising its profile.

CWR: How has the effort expanded?

Garrett Riley: Last January, we launched our “Evangelical Connect & Learn” Pro-life Potluck Breakfast meetings, under the leadership of Susan Swafford, a longtime pro-life advocate. Post-abortive herself, she has a profound story that gives her a unique ability to change hearts. She is passionate about uniting like-minded believers from different churches and encouraging them to get more active in the cause of defending the unborn. And she does all this while running her own abortion healing ministry that is offered to pastors and churches.

Partnering with speakers and representatives of other pro-life organizations, such as local pregnancy centers, 40 Days for Life, adoption, or foster care programs gives participants new information. That, in turn, motivates them to get involved and become more active in the pro-life cause.

CWR: What have been some of the highlights of this year?

Garrett Riley: Our most strategic Church Outreach initiative currently is to invite people to talk to their pastors and ask them to speak to and disciple their communities about abortion. We want to encourage anybody whose pastor is silent on this topic to speak out, teaching the Biblical and moral case against abortion.

The next Catholic meeting takes place in Holy Cross Church in Mesa on December 2nd, 2023, beginning with Mass at 8:30 am. It will feature a local pregnancy center’s counseling programs for men (fathers) and its free parenting classes.

Providing men with separate peer counseling, when possible, is crucial. So many couples are not communicating well, and there are some dangerous misconceptions that are cleared up if a father is involved in the conversations. Offering men supportive counseling leads to more babies saved. A lot of men need encouragement to speak their intentions and desire for the baby’s birth because the culture has indoctrinated them to believe it is “her body, her choice.” Tragically, men have been canceled out of the process, and they either use it as an excuse to support an abortion choice, or they simply stay silent, believing that it is only the women’s choice to make alone. Women are much more likely to give birth when they know the father wants the baby and will support them. And when both parents view the ultrasound images together, it’s either a turning point or confirmation for a life choice, because it moves their hearts to a place of love and compassion; they see “their baby,” not “the pregnancy”.

The Evangelical meeting on December 2, 2023 will be held at Highlands Church in Scottsdale from 9:00 am to 10:30 am. Joe Infranco, Adult Education Pastor, will address this potluck prayer breakfast on the topic: “The Role of the Church: A Pastoral Perspective on Life and Healing.”

ALC is sponsoring two Christmas-themed projects in December. “Christmas Cards for Life” invites K-12 students to create cards for their ‘yes’ to life. The cards of encouragement are delivered to moms and staff at a few local maternity homes and pregnancy help centers. On December 16th, we are co-hosting (with 40 Days for Life) a “Christmas Carols for Life!” Pro-lifers will be singing hopeful and joyful carols on the sidewalk in front of a busy (for-profit), late term abortion facility in downtown Phoenix.

On January 18th, 2024 ALC’s Healing After Abortion program is hosting a seminar, ‘Post Abortion Trauma in the Church: What Pastors Need to Know.” The program is intended to educate pastors about the weight and significance of the emotional and spiritual devastation that churchgoers labor under from past abortion experiences. We are aiming to help pastors fully understand the reality of post-abortive women and men in their churches as well as the need for Abortion Recovery ministries. The follow-up to this event is offering pastors advice and support on how to implement a healing or recovery ministry at their home church.  (There’ll be more info on our website about the venue.)

CWR: Some people say right-to-life work should be nonreligious. Our opponents claim we have no scientific foundation, that everything we do is just theology. How do you navigate between those two extremes?

Garrett Riley: There is room for both religious and non-religious views on human life issues. We need both because not everyone believes in God the Creator. Advancements in the science of biology confirm the humanity of unborn children from conception. This bolsters the secular case for the human rights cause to protect children in the womb from being killed.

These two perspectives are not incompatible. I’ve never heard a convincing scientific case that proves God doesn’t exist and that He is not the creator of life. The secular pro-life arguments are solid and so if you don’t believe in God, believe in science. Believe in human nature; believe in logic and reason! The humanity of the unborn is an indisputable scientific fact. Unless all humans—born and unborn—are granted human rights, then we really don’t believe in human rights.

For those who have religious convictions and believe in God, they should be pro-life, and if not, their faith in God is not properly formed. The most perplexing group out there are those who claim to be Christian and “pro-choice.” These people are not only denying science and reason, but their views are also aligned with the Satanic church. And they obviously do not believe God’s word revealed in Sacred Scripture related to the humanity and the sanctity of children in the womb.

CWR: How have you been received by churches?

Garrett Riley: Although many churches are with us, not all pastors are receptive to ALC’s Outreach. One pastor called me “judgmental” and demanded to be removed from our mailing list. There are churches with us and churches against us. Our aim is to expand our connections with the churches and pastors in the middle: they are not “pro-choice” but are sitting on the sidelines, silent.

This is the greatest area of potential in the movement, the sleeping giant of American Christians and pastors. We want to expand beyond the Phoenix area: there are over 3,000 churches in Arizona, so we’ve just scratched the surface.

CWR: In the post-Dobbs world, concrete outreach to mothers in need has become even more important. How can churches fill that niche?

Garrett Riley: One simple way churches can help is to become familiar with the local resources available in their community so that they can refer women in need. To make this easy, ALC is asking churches to link from their website to a webpage that we developed which refers women who need help and counseling to local Pregnancy Help Centers. The project is called Help4her.

Another way for local churches to help is by providing direct assistance to women and families. We developed a program called CarePortal for Life which empowers churches to step in and fill resource gaps. Utilizing a software platform from CarePortal, we are connecting church ministries in our network with moms, pregnant women, and families in crisis situations. Based on their specific needs, which are shared in the system by the state child welfare agency and local pregnancy help centers in Arizona, the churches directly respond and fulfill the requests for things like furniture, strollers, cribs and car seats. In just over a year, accessing CarePortal for Life, our network of churches, has responded to 265 need requests, serving 628 children, and we’re just getting started!

CWR: Pro-abortion groups are campaigning to add a pro-abortion amendment to the Arizona Constitution. Your thoughts?

Garrett Riley: Pro-abortion groups are now gathering petition signatures to put an abortion-on-demand amendment throughout pregnancy on the Arizona ballot in November 2024, just in time for Presidential and Congressional elections. That political effort makes ALC’s Church Outreach even more crucial. But regardless of that amendment’s fate, the work of helping women and children in need remains the same now and for the foreseeable future.

The political situation will be a challenge. Arizona is a swing state that will be hotly contested in the presidential election. We have a Senate seat up, which will likely be a three-way race: “independent” pro-abortion incumbent Krysten Sinema, a likely pro-abortion Democrat, and a Republican. Democrats and pro-abortion forces likely hope each will reinforce the other and, in a three-way Senate race, you only need a plurality.