February 25, 2020

Dear Friends,

Have we got news! A new matching grant for our donors, and a new editor! That’s just the beginning.

In an exciting first for us, a generous donor is offering to match your donations with $2 for every $1 donated up to $40,000 —which means a possible combined total of $120,000!

In past years, we’ve had one-for-one, so this is amazing: same effort on our part, much greater result! We really need the boost and your participation. We have exciting new opportunities in 2020—but only if we have the resources to meet them by redoubling our best efforts. Our donor has great faith we can do that—so let’s make it happen!

Here’s the challenge: we need to reach $40,000 by March 31. Will you help us meet that date? This is a unique chance to triple your sustaining support!
Our other big news is that for just the second time in our history, we welcome a new editor. (The first time was when I became editor in 1998, after my father J.P. McFadden’s death). She is Anne Conlon, who has been our stalwart managing editor since she arrived in our offices in 1995, an escapee from the mad world of Madison Avenue advertising. Mrs. Conlon is the editor of the two-volume collection of key Review articles we published, The Debate Since Roe (2010) and The Reach of Roe (2013)—available in our online store—and she continues as our first-rate blog editor at www.humanlifereview.com.

Christina Angelopoulos (the youngest McFadden sibling) is now our managing editor; also our IT director, she wears many hats and orchestrates our production as well. She is joined by our new production assistant, Ida Paz.

My position as editor in chief will allow me to broaden my efforts on behalf of the Human Life Foundation as a whole. This is an important move that will benefit the Foundation greatly. In order for our outstanding resources—the consistently excellent Review and our vibrant website—to reach more readers, I need to have the ability to produce more live events, forge important partnerships, and increase my speaking and travel opportunities so that I can better advocate for our cause and generate support.

The most crucial thing we need to do, and here is why this 2 for 1 grant means so much: We have to reach new friends. Our survival depends on reaching new readers and supporters, and that is an increasingly expensive enterprise. Last year we made a good start, bolstered by a bequest, which was a godsend. But 2020 will be an uphill climb if we don’t have a good swell of support.

And I truly believe we are needed more than ever before. Increasingly, the culture at large, including the mainstream medical and legal establishments as well as the major media, not only obscure the truth, but outright lie. The irrefutable truth about human life—when it begins, how it is valued, what happens to society when we disrespect it—is less and less present. But we are here, have been here, and will be here as the source to find the truth, completely dedicated in our scholarship and our advocating to converting hearts and minds on the life issues.

2020 Is Off to a Great Start

In January, in Washington, DC, we showcased the Review at the huge March for Life Expo with a new pamphlet: The Language Game of Choice: 13 Logically Distorted Arguments for Abortion and How to Refute Them, by Caitlin Smith Gilson (which appears in two parts in our Summer and Fall 2019 issues). We asked hundreds of Expo attendees: Don’t you want to have the logical arguments at your fingertips when faced with pro-choice attacks? And we had lots of enthusiastic recipients. We disseminated these pamphlets for free, and are continuing to do so—sending them to seminaries, schools, and church groups—because the enduring success of pro-life efforts will be decisive only with the continuing ability of pro-lifers to make the case: to gain a truly deep insight into the pro-death culture and learn the genuinely effective strategies that convert others to the joy of life.
On Friday, January 24, we participated in the massive, glorious, March for Life. As usual, the media tried to pretend it was just another day, but this year they were forced to at least acknowledge the “anti-abortion rally” because of the historic presence and address of President Trump. The March itself was largely ignored, but we were there, among the hundreds of thousands of peaceful marchers. It is a marvelous experience, energizing and inspiring; the lack of media coverage only encourages marchers to come again and again!

Upcoming Events

Rallying and educating the pro-life movement is more important than ever, and that’s exactly where the Human Life Foundation is the most influential! As I said, I will be traveling more to meet loyal donors and we hope to have small gatherings around the country. Stay tuned for that—I will reach out to individual donors if I will be coming to your area.

In the meantime, here in New York, on March 25, we are co-hosting a special event with the Guild of Catholic Lawyers. Edward Mechmann, our 2018 Great Defender of Life honoree and Director of Public Policy at the Archdiocese of New York, will speak on Stealth Threats from the Administrative State (the subject of his upcoming Review article). Many don’t realize how dangerous not just laws but “guidelines” or “memos” from government agencies are, if the people interpreting them are enforcing them as law. This is abundantly true in New York but also in many states across the country, and it is a direct threat to the pro-life movement and to religious liberty. (On our email list? We’ve already sent the invitation. If not, email us at christina@humanlifereview.com).
These “guidelines” are also a huge threat to the pro-life medical community, as you will read in our Winter 2020 issue (on its way to you soon) in Wesley Smith’s chilling report, “The Medical Conscience Crisis” (which Smith calls “one of the most important religious freedom/civil rights battles of the twenty-first century”).

The Intellectual Crown Jewel of the Pro-life Movement

As you will also read in this issue, Great Defender of Life honoree Helen Alvaré praised our Review as the “intellectual crown jewel of the pro-life movement.” The Winter edition is a perfect example of the unique mix the Review continues to offer. Want to understand what is at stake in the imminent Supreme Court case June Medical Services, LLC v. Gee? Read William Murchison and not only understand it all but enjoy his disarming cultural commentary. Fan of Laura Ingalls Wilder? You’ll love Ellen Fielding’s brilliant foray into our modern psyche through Wilder’s timeless observations. And there is much, much more, including President Donald Trump’s remarks at the March for Life, an important addition to our historical record.

Bless you for your consideration and your support. With your help, we can make 2020 the start of a new, even more outstanding future for the Foundation!

Yours faithfully,

Maria McFadden Maffucci
President

P.S.: I hope you agree that our “crown jewel” deserves your support. This is why we need your help to continue. This 2 for 1 match is a true gift. Our donor will match every dollar you donate with another two dollars—up to a total, combined amount of $120,000! Please let us hear from you soon!