Washington D.C., Aug 13, 2013 / 14:43 pm
A year after her death, Nellie Gray – called the "Joan of Arc of the pro-life movement" – is still having a profound impact on the annual March for Life that she started nearly 40 years ago.
"Nellie will always have a strong presence," said Jeannie Monahan, president of the March for Life.
She told CNA on Aug. 12 that while the organization is currently "in a time of transition," it is not "doing away with the foundation built by Nellie," but instead "standing on her shoulders" in order to look to the future.
Gray started the national March for Life in Washington, D.C., after the Supreme Court decisions Roe v. Wade and Doe v. Bolton made abortion legal throughout the United States. At the time, she was a federal worker in the Department of Labor, but she quit her job to work exclusively with the March for Life, running the annual event until her death on Aug. 13, 2012.