EWTN host, Fox News contributor and best-selling writer Raymond Arroyo encouraged everyone at SC Citizens for Life’s “Proudly Pro-Life” Dinner Jan. 9 to keep loving mothers and unborn babies even after the victories of the past two years.
“The battle has shifted,” he told the crowd of nearly 900, “but it is no less important.”
Arroyo called those in the room “a movement of hope.” He saluted one group in particular: those who serve in crisis pregnancy centers. “Because of you… mainly women… serving on the front lines, these organizations offer love, support and education.”
The dinner celebrated the victories of the local and national pro-life movement. “Over the course of 50 years, South Carolina has regained almost all the ground we lost on that infamous day in 1973,” said Lisa Van Ripper, president of SC Citizens for Life.
Victories in 2025
Some of the highlights of 2025 specific to the state include:
- The U.S. Supreme Court upheld South Carolina’s right to defund Planned Parenthood in a June 26, 2025 6-3 ruling. In 2018, Gov. Henry McMaster’s executive order removed abortion providers from the state Medicaid provider’s list.
- The S.C. Supreme Court unanimously upheld the Fetal Heartbeat and Protection from Abortion Act. This legislation, signed into law in 2023, protects lives of unborn children when a heartbeat is detected. SC Citizens for life reported it resulted in a 63% decline in abortions reported in S.C. in 2024.
Van Ripper compared the fight for life to the game of football. Roe v. Wade pushed Team Life to Team Death’s five-yard line, but the recent victories have put Team Life back in the red zone. She cautioned volunteers not to get cocky about their position. “My grandson let me know that it gets harder in the red zone – it’s easier to fumble.”
Pro-choice activists accuse pro-life groups of caring only for the unborn, but Van Ripper quickly dismissed that. The mission is “to give life to the unborn, hope to the mother, and healing in this land.”
Before the dinner, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) stopped by to cheer on the crowd. He is still working to restrict abortion nationwide. “A baby is a human no matter where he resides,” said Graham. “We can’t have a country that allows unlimited abortion on demand like China.” He pledged to continue the fight to defund Planned Parenthood after this year. He ended by joking with the crowd that “with Trump, everything’s possible” and laughed that now “if you have property in Cuba, you might want to sell.”
Graham wasn’t the only statewide official present; state Attorney General Alan Wilson, a candidate for governor, served as emcee for the night. His father, Rep. Joe Wilson (R-S.C.) also attended.
Last night @AGAlanWilson & I hosted the @LIFEforSC event featuring @RaymondArroyo . Many selfies were taken. Wonderful night for a fantastic cause. #ProLifeWeekend pic.twitter.com/waZgxEwJSI
— Kelly Nash🎙️ (@KellyNashRadio) January 10, 2026
In his keynote speech at the banquet, Arroyo said just as the “now thank God, former bad constitution law” of Roe v. Wade was based on an invented right of privacy, the current leading abortion procedure – chemical abortion pills – also takes advantage of privacy. “It’s still private, it’s still quiet,” he said. “It’s now an at-home procedure.”
Because the pills are available at Walgreens, Target, and other drugstores in many states, the new pro-life fight requires a different approach. “You can’t picket outside every drugstore in America,” he said.
Pro-Life Means All Ages
Arroyo reminded all that being pro-life isn’t just about the unborn; it involves everyone whose life is judged by others to be unworthy. The rise of euthanasia here, in Canada, and abroad leads to world where “we’re all on the menu,” he said.
Today’s society makes physician-assisted suicide easier than ever. “How do we know the true value of a human life?” Arroyo asked the crowd. As the biographer of Mother Angelica, who founded EWTN network, he spoke authoritatively of how she came from poverty and a broken home to starting what is now the largest religious media network worldwide. In her last 15 years, she could barely speak. Yet in those years, Arroyo said, “more people saw her in reruns than when she was on live.”
He decried the need to still gather for these events. “I find it rather tragic every time I have to come to a ‘pro-life’ gathering,” he said. “We should all be pro-life.”
The next day, about 400 people marched from the local university’s student union to the State House in Columbia, S.C., for the final event of the weekend, the annual March for Life and Rally. Students and adults of all ages carried signs proclaiming, “Love them both.” Later this month, groups from S.C. will gather with others across the nation at the annual March for Life in Washington, D.C.
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