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Churches, homeless shelters, and families in Washington, D.C., were among the recipients of nearly 400,000 diapers collected and distributed last weekend by the Pro-Life Generation (PLG), which rallied June 28 on Capitol Hill to support life and urge Congress to defund the abortion giant Planned Parenthood.
Students for Life of America (SFLA), a part of PLG’s network, organized the rally and the “Nation’s Largest Diaper Drive,” which had a goal of collecting 392,715 diapers by the last weekend of June.
This goal was chosen because it is the number of unborn children Planned Parenthood reported aborting within a single year, from 2022-2023. SFLA’s rally on Capitol Hill mourned the children’s deaths and underscored the need for true care for expectant mothers and their families.
SFLA Director of Strategic Initiatives Michele Venditto told CatholicVote in an emailed statement that the diapers collected went to individual families, homeless shelters, churches with community pantries, and pregnancy help centers.
“We’ve been saying consistently that this event is proof that the pro-life movement loves in word and in action,” Venditto said.
SFLA Press Specialist Jordan Butler confirmed to CatholicVote via email that hundreds of young pro-lifers attended the rally and diaper drive.
They also united to urge Congress to defund Planned Parenthood — a provision in the “Big, Beautiful” Budget Bill that is set to pause federal funding to Planned Parenthood for one year. The initial House-passed bill specified defunding the abortion giant for 10 years but was later reduced to one. In reaction to the bill’s passage in the Senate July 1, SFL Action President Kristan Hawkins said that a “silver lining” in its passage is that it shows the GOP shares the idea “that women don’t need Planned Parenthood.”
“The win is shared by those who have tirelessly engaged in calling on the Republican leadership to act,” Hawkins continued. “We wouldn’t have even one-year less in federal support for abortion vendors without the tireless efforts of so many who door knocked, called, and voted their pro-life values.”
Hawkins emphasized that there is much more for the pro-life movement to accomplish now that this initial defunding has occurred.
“[A] one-year pause in abortion industry support demands that we keep going, calling on President Trump, U.S. Senate Leader Thune, and House Speaker Mike Johnson to repeat the formula and to go even further,” Hawkins said, “as this pushes the next conversation on ending support for Big Abortion into the midterm election. And we will vote Pro-Life first.”
