High School Oratory Contest

People for Life will host another Pro-Life Oratory Contest for high school students on Saturday, April 11 at the Blasco Memorial Library.

Speeches will be 5-7 minutes long and focus on one or more human life topics. Examples include: abortion, euthanasia, adoption, fetal development, post abortion trauma, and crisis pregnancy services.

Students will compete on two grade levels: 9-10 and 11-12. Cash prizes of $175, $100, and $50 will be awarded to the top winners in both levels.

For more information, visit peopleforlife.org/oratory or call (814) 882-1333.

The contestants will also have an opportunity to compete in the Pennsylvania Pro-Life Federation's statewide Speech Contest by submitting a recording of their speeches by April 25. The statewide winner advances to the National Right to Life Oratory Contest, which will be held this year during the National Right to Life Conference in Arlington, Virginia, June 12-13.

Please help promote the Oratory Contest. Posters are available at People for Life headquarters and in two formats online: PDF & JPG.

Picture: Mark Caulfield, 2025 Pro-Life Oratory Contest first-place winner. Mark took first place in the PA Pro-Life Federation Speech Contest and went on to compete in the National Right to Life Oratory Contest in Overland Park, Kansas last June.

Student Essay Contest

People for Life is conducting a pro-life essay contest for middle and high school students. Grades 7-9 and grades 10-12 will compete separately. Topic suggestions include: abortion, euthanasia, adoption, fetal development, post abortion trauma, and crisis pregnancy support.

Cash prizes of $150, $75, and $50 will be awarded to the top three winners in both age groups. Word limits are 500 for grades 7-9 and 750 for grades 10-12. The submission deadline is April 27. For more information, visit peopleforlife.org/essay or call (814) 882-1333.

You can help promote the Essay Contest by using our posters. They are available are People for Life headquarters and online in two formats: PDF & JPG. Be a pro-life witness by using the JPG image on all your social media platforms.

Erie March for Life: Saturday, May 2

The 2026 Erie March for Life is going to need your support. Mark you calendars now and be prepared to be a Voice for the Voiceless on Saturday, May 2.

As always, admission is free!

That is one reason we were a little surprised that only 200 people participated last year. It was a historically low number even by the old January standards. (The Erie March for Life was moved from late January to May after the Dobbs decision of June 2022 reversed the January 22, 1973 Roe v. Wade decision.)

If you are on Facebook, please share the event on your profile and use it to send personal invitations to all your friends.

Please also download and use the Erie March for Life poster, available in PDF and JPG formats.

Watch for more information about the Erie March for Life, including news about guest speakers, in the coming weeks.

There is a special Facebook profile for the Erie March for Life. You can find and follow it at facebook.com/eriemarchforlife.

Information about the March will also appear soon on PeopleforLife.org.

Pro-Life Breakfast 2026

The new year got off to a great start with our 48th Annual Pro-Life Breakfast on January 17. Approximately 550 defenders of life gathered at the Erie Bayfront Convention Center for the event.

See our Pro-Life Breakfast photo albums on: Facebook, Instagram, and PeopleforLife.org.

Special Guest Speaker Lydia Taylor Davis brought a young woman’s perspective on the fight for life to this year’s Breakfast. She explained how and why she got involved in right to life advocacy during her college years. Lydia also talked about her experiences as the national spokesperson for Students for Life. Part of her job is taking the pro-life message directly to colleges across the country to challenge the pro-abortion ethos that is so pervasive on so many campuses.

Other program participants included: Congressman Mike Kelly, Catholic Bishop Lawrence Persico, state Senator Scott Hutchinson, state Representative Brad Roae, state Representative Parke Wentling, Slippery Rock Mayor JD Longo, Rev. Clifford Hamilton, and Fr. Ian McElrath.

People for Life Vice President Megan Bonk & her husband Jacob received the 2026 Wagner Award, engraved with the words, "in deep appreciation for their shining example of parental love in response to the adverse fetal diagnosis and subsequent death of their child Theodore James and in honor of their steadfast faith in the goodness and trustworthiness of God's divine plan for each of our lives."

Both local TV stations gave us some news coverage.

We deeply appreciate everyone who helped make this year's Pro-Life Breakfast another memorable event, especially our wonderful guests, program participants, pro-life business and professional sponsors, and volunteers. We are thankful, as well, to Grisé Audio Visual and the staff and management of the Bayfront Convention Center.

Many of our business and professional sponsors are listed online. Please check them out.

DC March for Life Road Trip

Less than a week after the Pro-Life Breakfast, we sent 50 people, including 15 members of Gannon University’s Students for Life, on a chartered bus road trip to the National March for Life in Washington, DC.

Once again, we earned some news coverage. Both TV stations did reports, one of them live, from our departure point at 11 p.m. Thursday evening (January 22). Our designated spokesperson was Gannon Students for Life President Clare Caulfield, who also happens to be a past winner of our High School Oratory Contest and the 2023 winner of the National Right to Life Oratory Contest.

The March on Friday was as uplifting and energizing as ever. Temperatures in the mid-40s made the day all the better. (The high in Washington the following day was only 24 degrees--"coldest day in months," according the Washington Post.)

The March kicked off with a noontime Rally on the National Mall featuring a recorded message from President Trump and in-person speeches by: Vice President JD Vance, Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, pro-life congressional leader U.S. Representative Chris Smith and various other pro-life personalities.

The day was capped-off by a reception hosted by U.S. Representative Mike Kelly in the historic Cannon Caucus Room of the Cannon House Office Building. Everyone was back on the bus by 5:15 p.m. and back in Erie by 12:45 a.m. Saturday morning.

You can see some of the pictures we took on: Facebook, Instagram, and PeopleforLife.org.

Suggested Reading

The Status of Abortion in the United States 2026 from National Right to Life

The President Who Delivered Dobbs Deserves Better From the Pro-Life Movement by Anne Hendershott, professor of sociology and director of the Veritas Center for Ethics in Public Life at Franciscan University of Steubenville, Ohio (American Spectator).