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Bridget Sielicki
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March for Life in Lithuania celebrates life amid Europe’s birthrate crisis
Disclaimer: Views expressed in this guest post are solely those of the author.
On Saturday, pro-life advocates gathered in Lithuania's capital for the annual Vilnius March for Life, calling for greater support for mothers and families amid growing national debates over abortion, assisted reproduction and Europe’s declining birth rates.
Participants marched from Martynas Mažvydas National Library to Cathedral Square to publicly affirm the value of human life and oppose abortion.
Organizers and participants carried messages including “Every life matters” and “Let’s not stop the beating heart,” while calling for greater support for mothers, fathers and children.
Vilnius March for Life: Pro-life advocates marched through Vilnius’s city center, calling for protection of human life and greater support for families, all while celebrating life starting from conception.
Lithuania’s political debate: Organizers say proposed changes to IVF and increased debates around abortion in the country raise questions about the dignity of the family.
Baltic demographic crisis: Speaking to Live Action News, guest speakers from Latvia and Poland warned that financial incentives alone cannot solve the Baltic demographic crisis, noting that negative cultural attitudes toward marriage, parenthood, family life, and traditional roles of masculinity and femininity are central to the problem.
Simonas Streikus, one of the organizers of the Vilnius March for Life, told Live Action News that the event comes as Lithuania’s traditionally family-oriented society faces growing political and cultural challenges.
Streikus pointed to proposed changes to assisted reproduction that would broaden access to single women and unmarried couples. From his perspective, such proposals raise questions beyond individual rights or medical progress, including “the dignity of human life, the wellbeing of children, and the long-term consequences for society.”
But Streikus said the March for Life is more than opposing particular legislative proposals. One of the movement’s central challenges, he said, is turning Lithuania’s attachment to family values into sustained healthy civic engagement.
“It is one thing for people to say that family and children are important,” Streikus said. “It is another to actively defend those principles in public life.”
For Streikus, the March is ultimately a public witness to the value of human life and a call to personal responsibility. Its purpose, he said, is to “help those who are uncertain to choose life” while reminding them that “they are not alone.”
He hopes participants will return to their homes and communities with “renewed strength, faith and courage,” carrying the message of the culture of life into their families, workplaces, friendships, and wider communities.
“The most powerful witness,” Streikus said, may not be “a speech or a political campaign,” but the genuine example of someone who lives according to their pro-life convictions holistically “with joy, courage and love.”
Furthermore, for Streikus, this authentic witness extends beyond empty slogans or fake gestures. “We are all responsible for one another,” he said, stressing that a culture of life is built through everyday decisions and through the way society supports mothers, children, and families.
The concerns voiced at the Vilnius March for Life extend beyond Lithuania.
Speakers from Latvia and Poland described declining birth rates and changing attitudes toward marriage and parenthood as a broader Eastern European challenge.
Agnese Irbe, a Latvian pro-life advocate and speaker at the March, told Live Action News that Latvia’s demographic decline has become increasingly severe.
“During the last 10 years the number of children born in Latvia dropped by half,” Irbe said. “That’s a horrible drop.” She estimated Latvia’s fertility rate at “1.1 or 1.2,” calling it “dangerously low.”
Irbe argued that the demographic crisis cannot be explained solely by economic conditions. “It is a modern individualist movement. It’s a philosophical crisis. It’s a moral crisis,” she said, also pointing to “a fear of having children.”
For a country of Latvia’s size at around 1.6 million citizens, Irbe described the consequences as potentially existential.
“For a very small nation like Latvia,” she said, “these dangerously low numbers are something of a catastrophe.” She warned that Latvia could eventually face “extinction or assimilation by other nations living nearby.”
Irbe acknowledged the economic pressures facing young families but questioned whether financial assistance alone could reverse the trend.
“I do not believe it is necessarily true” that more money would automatically lead to more children, she said, arguing that cultural beliefs about family and parenthood also influence decisions about having children.
Polish pro-life advocate Marcin Perłowski, director of Poland’s Centrum Życia i Rodziny, also spoke with Live Action News while serving as a speaker at the Vilnius March for Life.
Perłowski said declining birth rates are connected to changing perceptions of marriage and family. He stated that young people are increasingly exposed to a “false understanding of independence,” in which marriage, children, and family responsibilities can be presented as obstacles to personal freedom.
He said this affects both women and men, although in different ways.
Some young women, he noted, are encouraged to seek fulfillment primarily through “big corporations, careers, and so on,” while motherhood and family life can be portrayed as sources of hardship. Men, he said, face a parallel cultural message in which “manhood is often equated with a false understanding of independence.”
“I wouldn’t say that the crisis of families lies on the weakness of men or on the weakness of women,” Perłowski said.
Instead, he called for campaigns addressing men and women separately, encouraging men toward fatherhood and challenging what he considers misleading cultural messages about independence and family life aimed at women.
Perłowski also pointed to Poland’s experience with financial assistance for families, explaining that social programs had not produced a “demographic boom.” While acknowledging that economic pressures can make starting a family difficult, he said financial incentives alone cannot resolve the problem.
He suggested that governments should also reduce burdens on families and give them “the space to develop,” including by changing social attitudes toward larger families.
For Streikus and the other organizers of Lithuania’s March for Life, cultural change is fundamental to building a society that values human life.
That is why the Vilnius March for Life is conducted not as an aggressive political protest, but as a public celebration of life, family, and community.
By creating an atmosphere of joy and solidarity, filled with traditional Lithuanian folk songs about family and testimonies of life, organizers sought to show that a culture of life is not defined only by what it opposes, but by what it celebrates.
Live Action News is pro-life news and commentary from a pro-life perspective.
Our work is possible because of our donors. Please consider giving to further our work of changing hearts and minds on issues of life and human dignity.
Contact editor@liveaction.org for questions, corrections, or if you are seeking permission to reprint any Live Action News content.
Guest Articles: To submit a guest article to Live Action News, email editor@liveaction.org with an attached Word document of 800-1000 words. Please also attach any photos relevant to your submission if applicable. If your submission is accepted for publication, you will be notified within three weeks. Guest articles are not compensated (see our Open License Agreement). Thank you for your interest in Live Action News!
Bridget Sielicki
·
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·
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Liberty Counsel
·
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Rebecca Oas, Ph.D.
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Mark Lee Dickson
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Thomas More Society
·Guest Column·By Bryan Lawrence Gonsalves
March for Life in Lithuania celebrates life amid Europe’s birthrate crisis
Disclaimer: Views expressed in this guest post are solely those of the author.
On Saturday, pro-life advocates gathered in Lithuania's capital for the annual Vilnius March for Life, calling for greater support for mothers and families amid growing national debates over abortion, assisted reproduction and Europe’s declining birth rates.
Participants marched from Martynas Mažvydas National Library to Cathedral Square to publicly affirm the value of human life and oppose abortion.
Organizers and participants carried messages including “Every life matters” and “Let’s not stop the beating heart,” while calling for greater support for mothers, fathers and children.
Vilnius March for Life: Pro-life advocates marched through Vilnius’s city center, calling for protection of human life and greater support for families, all while celebrating life starting from conception.
Lithuania’s political debate: Organizers say proposed changes to IVF and increased debates around abortion in the country raise questions about the dignity of the family.
Baltic demographic crisis: Speaking to Live Action News, guest speakers from Latvia and Poland warned that financial incentives alone cannot solve the Baltic demographic crisis, noting that negative cultural attitudes toward marriage, parenthood, family life, and traditional roles of masculinity and femininity are central to the problem.
Simonas Streikus, one of the organizers of the Vilnius March for Life, told Live Action News that the event comes as Lithuania’s traditionally family-oriented society faces growing political and cultural challenges.
Streikus pointed to proposed changes to assisted reproduction that would broaden access to single women and unmarried couples. From his perspective, such proposals raise questions beyond individual rights or medical progress, including “the dignity of human life, the wellbeing of children, and the long-term consequences for society.”
But Streikus said the March for Life is more than opposing particular legislative proposals. One of the movement’s central challenges, he said, is turning Lithuania’s attachment to family values into sustained healthy civic engagement.
“It is one thing for people to say that family and children are important,” Streikus said. “It is another to actively defend those principles in public life.”
For Streikus, the March is ultimately a public witness to the value of human life and a call to personal responsibility. Its purpose, he said, is to “help those who are uncertain to choose life” while reminding them that “they are not alone.”
He hopes participants will return to their homes and communities with “renewed strength, faith and courage,” carrying the message of the culture of life into their families, workplaces, friendships, and wider communities.
“The most powerful witness,” Streikus said, may not be “a speech or a political campaign,” but the genuine example of someone who lives according to their pro-life convictions holistically “with joy, courage and love.”
Furthermore, for Streikus, this authentic witness extends beyond empty slogans or fake gestures. “We are all responsible for one another,” he said, stressing that a culture of life is built through everyday decisions and through the way society supports mothers, children, and families.
The concerns voiced at the Vilnius March for Life extend beyond Lithuania.
Speakers from Latvia and Poland described declining birth rates and changing attitudes toward marriage and parenthood as a broader Eastern European challenge.
Agnese Irbe, a Latvian pro-life advocate and speaker at the March, told Live Action News that Latvia’s demographic decline has become increasingly severe.
“During the last 10 years the number of children born in Latvia dropped by half,” Irbe said. “That’s a horrible drop.” She estimated Latvia’s fertility rate at “1.1 or 1.2,” calling it “dangerously low.”
Irbe argued that the demographic crisis cannot be explained solely by economic conditions. “It is a modern individualist movement. It’s a philosophical crisis. It’s a moral crisis,” she said, also pointing to “a fear of having children.”
For a country of Latvia’s size at around 1.6 million citizens, Irbe described the consequences as potentially existential.
“For a very small nation like Latvia,” she said, “these dangerously low numbers are something of a catastrophe.” She warned that Latvia could eventually face “extinction or assimilation by other nations living nearby.”
Irbe acknowledged the economic pressures facing young families but questioned whether financial assistance alone could reverse the trend.
“I do not believe it is necessarily true” that more money would automatically lead to more children, she said, arguing that cultural beliefs about family and parenthood also influence decisions about having children.
Polish pro-life advocate Marcin Perłowski, director of Poland’s Centrum Życia i Rodziny, also spoke with Live Action News while serving as a speaker at the Vilnius March for Life.
Perłowski said declining birth rates are connected to changing perceptions of marriage and family. He stated that young people are increasingly exposed to a “false understanding of independence,” in which marriage, children, and family responsibilities can be presented as obstacles to personal freedom.
He said this affects both women and men, although in different ways.
Some young women, he noted, are encouraged to seek fulfillment primarily through “big corporations, careers, and so on,” while motherhood and family life can be portrayed as sources of hardship. Men, he said, face a parallel cultural message in which “manhood is often equated with a false understanding of independence.”
“I wouldn’t say that the crisis of families lies on the weakness of men or on the weakness of women,” Perłowski said.
Instead, he called for campaigns addressing men and women separately, encouraging men toward fatherhood and challenging what he considers misleading cultural messages about independence and family life aimed at women.
Perłowski also pointed to Poland’s experience with financial assistance for families, explaining that social programs had not produced a “demographic boom.” While acknowledging that economic pressures can make starting a family difficult, he said financial incentives alone cannot resolve the problem.
He suggested that governments should also reduce burdens on families and give them “the space to develop,” including by changing social attitudes toward larger families.
For Streikus and the other organizers of Lithuania’s March for Life, cultural change is fundamental to building a society that values human life.
That is why the Vilnius March for Life is conducted not as an aggressive political protest, but as a public celebration of life, family, and community.
By creating an atmosphere of joy and solidarity, filled with traditional Lithuanian folk songs about family and testimonies of life, organizers sought to show that a culture of life is not defined only by what it opposes, but by what it celebrates.
Live Action News is pro-life news and commentary from a pro-life perspective.
Our work is possible because of our donors. Please consider giving to further our work of changing hearts and minds on issues of life and human dignity.
Contact editor@liveaction.org for questions, corrections, or if you are seeking permission to reprint any Live Action News content.
Guest Articles: To submit a guest article to Live Action News, email editor@liveaction.org with an attached Word document of 800-1000 words. Please also attach any photos relevant to your submission if applicable. If your submission is accepted for publication, you will be notified within three weeks. Guest articles are not compensated (see our Open License Agreement). Thank you for your interest in Live Action News!
Bridget Sielicki
·Human Interest
Right to Life UK
·Guest Column
Liberty Counsel
·Guest Column
Rebecca Oas, Ph.D.
·Guest Column
Mark Lee Dickson
·Guest Column
Thomas More Society
·
