by Marc and Julie Anderson
mjanderson@theleaven.org
TOPEKA — On mission for life.
That was the theme of the Ignite rally and Mass for Life held Jan. 29 at the Topeka Performing Arts Center (TPAC). At least 1,600 attended the annual event.
Sponsored by the archdiocese’s pro-life office, the event included a fair of pro-life organizations and ministries, Mass with the Kansas bishops and three different speakers, all of whom as Debra Niesen, the archdiocese’s pro-life consultant said, are on mission for life.
First was 23-year-old Gabriel Cobb.
In 2023, Cobb spoke at the United Nations about living a full life with Down syndrome. His speech was broadcast live across the world.
“Challenges? Yes. Limitations? No,” Cobb said to those at the rally.
Elsewhere, he said he was blessed with “a great family,” including “two loving parents who have always kept the bar high.”
“My biggest achievement is that I am a triathlete,” he said, adding he’s completed 15 triathlons.
He’s also competed in basketball and golf with the Special Olympics, sang at his sister’s wedding and studied tae kwon do. Additionally, he enjoys swing dancing and line dancing and traveling to “advocate for Down syndrome.”
But, Cobb said, “My faith is the most important part of my life. I like to attend Mass daily and pray loudly. After all, I am Gabriel, God’s messenger!”
Following Cobb was Dr. Lisa Gilbert, a board-certified family physician from Wichita whose long list of accomplishments includes serving on the board for the American Association of Pro-Life OB-GYNS (AAPLOG).
“Most of us have heard the slogan that abortion is health care. I’m here to give a challenge to all of us and to emphatically state that abortion is not health care,” Gilbert said during her presentation.
On the topic of abortion pills, the doctor said that 1 in 25 women who take them end up in an emergency room. This, she said, is putting more stress on doctors who have to tend to these situations when on call, not to mention the physical, psychological and spiritual trauma experienced by these women.
The final speaker “on mission” was Leah Darrow, a former model who is now a wife and a mother to seven kids, who lives on an 80-acre pumpkin farm in the Ozarks.
“My life over the past eight months has become the story that many pro-abortion advocates would use on why abortion should be used. The life of the mother is at risk. You should abort the baby,” she said.
On May 1, at just 22 weeks into her pregnancy with her seventh child, she became critically ill.
Most states would not have considered her baby to be viable because of her illness. Thankfully, she said, Missouri, her state of residence, did. So, when doctors told her and her husband their child would not be able to walk and would have a host of problems like blindness, deafness and chromosomal abnormalities, they could offer intervention and treatment.
“They told me he had less than a two percent chance of survival,” she said. “They also told me the only choice — the only choice to save my life — was to have an emergency C-section. Because if I didn’t, I would die along with my baby.”
Darrow had the cesarean section as recommended; baby Sylvester spent 199 days in intensive care. Today, both she and “Sly” are doing well. In fact, Sly was nestled against his mother as she gave her remarks. Darrow had prayed, she said, for God to give her “a long journey” — because she knew a long journey meant he would live.
“One of the things [Sylvester’s] taught me is about potential. So often, we think potential begins when you graduate high school or when you get your first job,” she said. “That’s not true. That’s a lie that truly our culture wants to tell you so that you don’t do the good when you can do the good, so that you don’t do the good when you are young. Potential does not start when you are 18. Potential starts at conception, hands down.”
In concluding, Darrow said, “I leave you with this challenge. This is your challenge right here. Intervene. Intervene. . . . The pro-life message is not just a message for women. It is a message for men, for families, for children, for all of us to stand up. Everyone counts. Every life counts. We don’t have to have the answers. We just have to take the first steps because every life is worth it, every single one.”
Following Darrow’s presentation, Archbishop Joseph F. Naumann celebrated Mass with Bishop Carl Kemme of the Diocese of Wichita and Bishop Gerald Vincke of the Diocese of Salina and several dozen priests from the different dioceses.
Participants then marched to the Kansas Capitol for a rally sponsored by Kansans for Life.
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