The Dignity of Life

Inspirational singer Tony Melendez to perform at January 22 National Memorial for the Pre-Born

WASHINGTON, D.C. — In 1962, those fighting for the legalization of abortion rallied around a children’s television host from Arizona who had taken pills her husband brought back from Europe. The pills were the now-infamous thalidomide, a drug that impacted the development of children in the womb, causing thousands to be born with missing or shortened limbs. The woman became a cause célèbre, and eventually flew to Sweden to end the life of her unborn child.
That same year, and with no fanfare, a young woman in Nicaragua who had been prescribed thalidomide for morning sickness gave birth to a son with no arms. Fitted with prosthetic limbs as a child, at 10 he would shake them off for good because he was more comfortable using his feet.
That child was Tony Melendez, a guitarist and songwriter who for more than 30 years has been inspiring audiences around the nation and world with his talent, his faith, and his witness.
Melendez will perform Jan. 22 during the 22nd annual National Memorial for the Pre-Born and Their Mothers and Fathers at Constitution Hall in D.C. The interdenominational prayer service takes place every year on the morning of the March for Life, from 8:30 to 10:30 a.m.
“Tony played for Pope John Paul II and sang the National Anthem to open a World Series game,” noted Father Frank Pavone, National Director of Priests for Life and President of the National Pro-Life Religious Council, sponsors of the prayer service. “He is married and a father. Where other people might have seen limits, he saw only opportunity. He is the perfect person to remind our audience – and the world – that every human life has dignity and purpose.”

News release from National Pro-Life Religious Council. For more information go to nprcouncil.org.