[1]WASHINGTON, D.C. (BP) — Southern Baptist Convention President J.D. Greear will join a lineup of speakers including Tim Tebow, Benjamin Watson and Jim Daly at the 48th annual March for Life Jan. 29 in Washington, D.C.
Greear will be the first SBC president to speak at the event. Other SBC leaders have addressed the crowd in the past, including Richard Land as president of the Christian Life Commission (now Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission) as well as Virginia pastor and former International Mission Board President David Platt.
“I am honored to be invited to this historic and important event,” Greear said. “Christians are called to defend the vulnerable, and there are none more vulnerable than innocent children in the womb. Scripture says that each is fashioned in God’s image, for His purposes on earth. Jesus would welcome them each into His arms.”
Greear, pastor of The Summit Church in Durham, N.C., urged Southern Baptists to champion the expansive role a pro-life position demands.
“Our care does not and should not stop with the delivery, of course,” he said. “Believers are committed to loving the child from the womb to the tomb and to assisting the father and mother in crisis. That’s why since 1973, Christians have built thousands of crisis pregnancy centers to assist families in crisis.
“Do you want to protect the innocent? Do you want to defend the vulnerable? Do you want to fight systemic injustice? There are few places in our society where such dire urgency meets such clear opportunity. Join me in attending the March for Life in D.C. on January 29th, or at an expression in your city.”
[2]Tebow is recognized as a two-time national champion and Heisman Trophy winner for the Florida Gators as well as a first-round NFL Draft pick. However, his testimony includes his mother Pam’s doctor advising her to end her son’s life in the womb due to potential complications caused by a strong antibiotic she took while she and her husband Bob were missionaries in the Philippines.
Watson played 16 seasons in the NFL, winning a Super Bowl with the New England Patriots, and has become a vocal proponent of pro-life causes alongside his wife Kirsten. Daly is an author, broadcaster and president of Focus on the Family. Cissie Graham Lynch, daughter of Franklin Graham and granddaughter of the late Billy Graham, will also speak at the event.
The March for Life has taken place in Washington, D.C., on or near Jan. 22 since 1974, one year after the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision that legalized abortion in the United States. Since that time, it has grown to include hundreds of thousands of marchers around the world. Various groups estimate there have been approximately 60 million abortions in the U.S. since the Roe decision.