Top photo caption: A woman prays during the National Prayer Vigil for Life Mass at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington Jan. 22, 2026, the evening before the annual the March for Life. In a Sept. 29, 2026, statement, Bishop Daniel E. Thomas of Toledo, Ohio, chairman of the Bishops’ Committee on Pro-Life Activities, urged the faithful to mark Respect Life Month with prayer, deeper reflection and action. OSV News photo/Mihoko Owada
By OSV News
WASHINGTON OSV News — Bishop Daniel E. Thomas of Toledo, Ohio, chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on Pro-Life Activities, urged the faithful to mark Respect Life Month with prayer, deeper reflection and action.
Respect Life Month is observed every October by the U.S. Catholic Church. This year, the theme chosen is Mary, Mother of Life.
“Our Blessed Mother is our model for upholding the sanctity of all human life in every stage and circumstance. We entrust all our efforts to protect mothers and babies to her motherly care, which we greatly need at this time,” Bishop Thomas said in a Sept. 29 statement.
“Today, with easier access to abortion pills, the abortion rate is tragically climbing, along with increased health risks,” he said.
The Trump administration has sought to pause multiple state lawsuits seeking to roll back Biden administration-era eased restrictions on mifepristone, a drug commonly used for first trimester abortion, but which is also used in some miscarriage care protocols.
Thus far the administration has left that regulation in effect while seeking to block those challenges, pending a promised FDA safety review, resulting in frustration from pro-life advocates.
“The Food and Drug Administration has enabled a nationwide mail-order abortion industry by allowing the abortion pill to be prescribed in telehealth appointments, sold both at neighborhood pharmacies and online, and often shipped in the mail, circumventing state laws that protect life in the womb,” Bishop Thomas said.
“This means that more women, many of whom have been misinformed about the nature and risks of the abortion pill, will have an abortion alone at home, without any medical supervision,” he continued. “It also sets up additional opportunities for exploitation by violent partners or human traffickers. These affronts to human dignity demand our response.”
Bishop Thomas’ statement echoed joint remarks he and Archbishop Paul S. Coakley of Oklahoma City, USCCB president, made in early August ahead of the Aug. 18 launch of a nationwide call to prayer and action to mobilize Catholics to address the rising abortion rate and the increased availability of an abortion-inducing drug.
“Every abortion involves the death of a child and harm to the mother. Now with easier access to abortion pills, the abortion rate is tragically climbing, along with increased health risks,” the prelates said.
In his Sept. 29 statement, Bishop Thomas thanked “the many thousands of Catholics across the country who have embraced the nationwide invitation to prayer and action on abortion pills.”
He said he wanted to ask the faithful to “continue our prayers and advocacy throughout the month of October” and invited them to visit the Respect Life Prayer and Action website, https://www.respectlife.org/abortion-pills.
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