Photojournalist and pro-life advocate Michael Clancy is set to headline Saturday’s 40 Days for Life Madison Kickoff Rally, which will be held at Reindahl Park on Madison’s east side beginning at 10:00.
Clancy made headlines in 1999 when he photographed a groundbreaking in utero spina bifida surgery on a baby, just 21 weeks past conception. The picture clearly depicts Samuel Armas’s fully formed hand extending out of his mother’s womb, a startling reminder of the humanity of pre-born life.
The moment so stunningly captured in the photograph proved to be a turning point in Clancy’s life. In an interview with National Right to Life News, he said “Before the picture, I felt that as a man I could never be pregnant and alone, so it wasn't for me to decide whether abortion was right or wrong. I was indifferent.”
The photograph, which Clancy calls the “earliest human interaction ever recorded,” spurred a dramatic change of heart. The photographer could no longer remain indifferent regarding abortion.
“As a journalist my job is to expose injustice and hope that that exposure will initiate social change,” Clancy wrote. “I have supported what I feel is a God-given mission to deliver the message [that] the in utero child is a reactive human…by continuing to freelance as a photojournalist.”
Clancy’s activism helped pass the 2003 law that banned partial birth abortion. The photograph was displayed on the Senate floor while the law was debated, and he was invited to the White House for its signing. Nevertheless, Clancy has faced his share of persecution for his efforts. Early last year the Tennessean newspaper, which had been Clancy’s main source of income as a freelance photographer for nearly a decade, informed him that the paper would no longer contract his services because he was openly pro-life.
Clancy’s photograph can be viewed at his personal Web site, michaelclancy.com.
The 40 Days for Life Madison Kickoff Rally will feature music, a children’s bounce house and booths from pro-life organizations at 10:00. A free lunch will be served from 11:30 to 12:30. At 12:30, Jane Frantz of Silent No More Wisconsin is set to deliver testimony of her healing process as a post-abortive woman. She will be followed by Clancy. The rally will end with a solemn, prayerful march to Planned Parenthood, where participants can continue to pray for an end to abortion.
The 40 Days for Life vigil officially begins September 24 and runs through November 2. For details on participating or volunteering, visit 40daysforlife.com/Madison or call Amy Hying at 608-698-3877.
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