The Legacy of Mother’s Day

The first Mother’s Day was held in Boston, MA in 1872.  Julia
Ward Howe (writer of “Battle Hymn of the Republic.”) suggested the celebration.  It became a national event when Anna Jarvis persuaded her church to use the second Sunday in May as a day to annually honor mothers.  This was the anniversay of her own mother’s death.  During the Civil War, Anna’s mother had organized work clubs to care for both Union and Confederate soldiers, raised funds for medicine, hired women to care for families in which the mothers were ill, improved sanitation, and inspected bottled milk.  The Mother’s Day celebration was well received so Anna Jarvis contacted politicians, ministers, and businessmen to establish a national celebration honoring mothers.  In 1914, President Woodrow Wilson declared the first National Mother’s Day on May 9 as a “public expression of…love and reverence for the mothers of our country.”

This beautiful legacy has recently been threatened by Planned Parenthood’s attempt to exploit the “public espression of love and reverence into a fundraising opportunity.  It seems ironic that this same organization that discourages people from becoming mothers and encourages abortion would feel they had any connection to a day that celebrates motherhood. 

VoteYesForLife.com would like to take this opportunity to thank all mothers for the things they do.  Happy Mother’s Day!