Opinion   |   Frank Pavone   |   May 27, 2026   |   9:57AM   |   Washington, DC

For decades, Alveda King, as a fulltime associate at Priests for Life, would have me as a guest at the annual Martin Luther King Jr. Commemorative Service on the federal holiday in his honor in January. The speeches were always inspiring, calling for inclusion, justice and nonviolence for all, welcoming every human being into the Beloved Community.

When Pastor Sammy Rodriguez gave the keynote one year, he mentioned them. When I was invited to speak another year, I mentioned them as well.

And numerous times through those years, as people were cheering on their feet, Alveda would shout aloud, “And include the children! Don’t forget about the babies in the womb!”

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Both Alveda and Pastor Sammy Rodriguez mentioned the unborn again at the National Rededication of America to God that took place on May 17th on the National Mall in Washington DC.

And pastors are now going to be invited in a new way to include the unborn.

Kurt Dillinger is an international pro-life leader who heads up Life International. As a result of a presentation prepared of the Jerusalem Council II held in Athens, Greece in August 2025, he has developed a paper called “The People of the Womb and the Great Commission: Calling the Church to Include the Preborn in the Church’s Great Commission Vision.”

The concept is simple and profound: the unborn are human beings. Jesus died and rose for every human being, and therefore the proclamation of the Gospel is directed to every human being. The unborn, therefore, are included in our mandate to bring the Gospel to all creation.

Obviously, to be able to preach to them, we have to preserve their lives, so that one day they will be able to hear, understand, and assent to the greatest news of human history.