FALLS CHURCH, Va. (OSV News) — Following the National March for Life, the pro-life organization Alianza por la Vida (Alliance for Life) held its annual daylong conference to discuss ways Latino Catholics can continue to build a culture of life. This year, the conference shared the central theme of the national march: “Life is a Gift.”
The Jan. 24 Hispanic Pro-Life Conference in the gym of St. Anthony of Padua Parish in Falls Church featured prominent pro-life voices such as Ricardo Luzondo and Lucia Baez Luzondo, founders of Family Renewal Ministries; Montse Alvarado, president and chief operating officer of EWTN News; and Fathers Víctor Salomón and Jeb Donelan — from Alabama and Virginia, respectively — who led the panel discussion “Changing the Culture One Heart at a Time.”
The Luzondos spoke about how life is under attack in society, “because it is necessary to know the enemy and to know what is happening in our communities in the medical field as well, so that we can learn, a little more informed, about the real attack that is happening against the family,” said Rossnat Rodríguez, one of the leaders of Alianza por la Vida, told OSV News.
Rodríguez closed the annual conference, which has been taking place since 2019, with her presentation “Life is a Gift, Your Mission Too.”
Effects of Dobbs
During her presentation, Alvarado summarized the impact of Roe v. Wade, the ruling that legalized abortion in the country since 1973, and what happened in the case of Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, which overturned Roe in 2022 and returned the decisions on abortion to legislators, resulting in some states establishing abortion bans, while others took steps to ensure its access.
“Now every state, all 50 states in the United States, can regulate abortion as they see fit, and that has created not one battlefront that we had before, but 50 different battles, or 51 to be precise,” Alvarado told the audience.
Multiple studies show that since the Dobbs decision in 2022, the abortion rate in the United States has increased rather than decreased. According to the Guttmacher Institute, a research firm that tracks abortion industry figures, abortions in the U.S. reached 1.04 million in 2024, up from 862,300 in 2017, which was the lowest level recorded since Roe.
In addition to discussing the different states that have abortion bans and those that allow the practice widely, Alvarado also spoke about the lack of regulation of abortion drugs and the consequences this has brought.
Problem of abortion drugs
Alvarado denounced the lack of official data in this regard and how these abortion pills are used by criminals in situations of abuse and human trafficking, while pointing out that in states where a medical consultation is not required to obtain abortion pills, women face great risk.
“You get the pills — you order them online — and you’re left alone,” Alvarado said, describing how many women “take these pills, then have complications at home and sadly die.”
Today, abortion using mifepristone and misoprostol drugs accounts for the majority of abortions in the United States after Dobbs, according to Guttmacher.
“As a journalist, even more as a Catholic, but obviously as a journalist, I have a problem with this. I don’t know who is taking these pills, and the governments don’t know either,” said Alvarado, who oversees EWTN’s news platforms.
She also spoke about how she has seen that “the media sometimes lies” and spreads misinformation to scare and confuse.
“The media said that the battle for life is over, that it is no longer important to advocate for life because now, at the federal level, there is nothing left to do. All lies,” said Alvarado. “And why are they telling us that? Because they don’t want you and you to get on the phone, lobby, and mobilize your communities to defend life.”
Pope Leo’s call to action
Alvarado also mentioned Pope Leo XIV’s message to participants of the 53rd March for Life, in which he said: “I would encourage you, especially the young people, to continue striving to ensure that life is respected in all of its stages through appropriate efforts at every level of society, including dialogue with civil and political leaders.”
“By advocating for them, please know that you are fulfilling the Lord’s command to serve him in the least of our brothers and sisters,” he wrote.
The Church teaches that all human life is sacred from conception to natural death, and U.S. bishops oppose direct abortion and call for greater support for those living in poverty or suffering from other causes that may push women to have abortions.
“We have to unite our voices, raise them up in favor of our families, of the creatures who don’t have a chance at life,” said Rodríguez, who helped organize the pro-life conference. “Our risen voices, when truly united, can make changes in the laws.”
“Now the pressure is much greater across the states to see how we … can improve what is happening at the pro-life level,” Rodríguez told OSV News, referring to Alvarado’s earlier talk about the current state of abortion in the U.S.
Supporters and testimonials
Rodriguez also thanked the Knights of Columbus for their support in sponsoring this conference year after year and highlighted “the great work they are doing, not only locally, but nationally and in many countries.” During the conference, Omar Aguilar, Hispanic content manager for the Knights of Columbus, spoke about the history and pro-life work of its members in the countries where it is present.
The conference also featured testimonials in favor of life, and, this year, this was led by Daniel and María Cabrera, a married couple from Indiana who shared how they serve with their pro-life digital ministry, a cause their children share as they actively participate in pro-life initiatives such as the national march.
As in previous years, the conference included a workshop for young people that featured educational sessions on the Theology of the Body, time for questions, presentations on human dignity and confronting “technologies of death,” and opportunities for young people to join the main conference.
At noon, Mass was celebrated by Father Salomón, who in his homily reflected on the “madness” of Jesus’ love as a total dedication to God’s mission.
“Being pro-life means putting the little ones first, those in the womb and those in their terminal phase. It is a choice that we must be clear about,” said the priest, who is the parish administrator of Good Shepherd Church in Russellville, Alabama, and who is deeply committed to the pro-life cause.
“(Pope) John Paul II said very clearly that we had to take special care of those human beings when they were in the process of beginning in the womb and when they were at the end of life because that is where we are poorest, where we are most vulnerable,” said Father Salomón.
Marietha Góngora V. is a correspondent for OSV News.
