One nice thing about living in a small state? You run into the new President of the NH Citizens for Life while waiting for the deli man to slice your ham. Gail DeMasi has always been more than approachable, though. She and her husband Andy are down-to-earth, literally: they plow roads and cut wood in their rural neighborhood, as well as renovate and sell houses, raise purebred dogs, sell gelato, and teach the deaf, among other enterprises. Did you guess that DeMasi also home schools? Of her fourteen children, five are still at home, along with a few grandchildren. Her grown children have spread out around the country and the world.
Did I mention she’s taking a Criminology course, is a licensed day care provider, and is learning sign language? If you’re picturing a brash or intimidating woman who moves about in brisk gusts of fervor for her worthy causes, you’re not picturing Gail DeMasi. With soft white hair and penetrating green eyes, she is humble to a fault about her abilities. When Citizens for Life asked her to be their president, she said, “I tried to find someone else to take the leadership role, but to no avail. I have felt inept, dumb in politics, not knowing how to grow a grassroots organization. Well, I couldn’t give it away. So, here I am.”
There she was, and she jumped right in: At the House hearing on parental notification last week, she noted dryly, “I did have the opportunity to testify that, according to the law and definition (let alone common sense), Planned Parenthood performed abortions on 90 children.” But her heart goes out to her opponents. “People have been duped,” she says. “At the hearing last week in Concord on parental notification, the Planned Parenthood women looked angry, worn and overall very miserable. I have compassion for them. I think they are losing the battle.” Most people, even pro-choicers, favor parental notification, she says, and she has high hopes that a good bill will pass in NH this time around.
DeMasi is making her small-town, newcomer’s status into an asset: When asked about the future of the pro-life movement, she said:
I actually feel very encouraged. The majority of America is leaning pro-life, and there is a ripeness in the air for a rally cry. My hope is to create a grassroots movement towards local action, towards each person’s back yard, their place. I don’t think folks are apathetic, so much as they have a fear of anything political ... almost as if they can’t do it, they don’t know enough.
But DeMasi didn’t let herself dodge her responsibility, and asks the same courage of fellow pro-lifers:
We need to know our representatives, whether they represent us well or not. We need to know how our local and state government work. What we need to know of politics is easily learned: The basic Knowing is already on our hearts. People know what is right and wrong; that has not been lost. It may be stifled, it may be on pause or mute, but it surely is not lost.
In the meantime, DeMasi is losing sleep over the details: She dreams of a mailbox overflowing with donors for her first big project, raising money to advertise a signature campaign in the newspaper. These small steps, she says, are what will make the difference, one name at a time. We can groan with frustration that Planned Parenthood has all the money and political sway it wants, while pro-lifers are less wealthy, less powerful, less well-connected in Washington.
Or we can, like Gail DeMasi, start working from where we are. Our ordinariness is an asset, she seems to be telling me. She approaches her new role as president of CFL the same way she has approached her personal life, throughout its many wild twists and trials:
Whenever something happens, we ask ourselves, ‘Who’s to say it’s bad news?’ We are in God’s hands, and he is in charge. Sometimes we cannot see around the corner, but in the end—it has always been true for me—everything works out according to a divine plan, one that is far better than anything I could create ... or dream! Accepting responsibility for Citizens for Life is a faith step, and I have to trust. Every day, we take them, sometimes we have to pick one foot up and place it in front of the other ... but we do it.
She says, “The whole book of Genesis is our story. And in the end, it is mercy and forgiveness that sets the tone for our lives.”
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I know this article was probably meant to make me think “yay pro-life movement!” but I can’t get over what an amazing woman she is. Thanks for providing an example of a great woman mentor!
Good article, Sim! Gail DeMasi reminds me that big things are often done by “ordinary” people who have faith enough to just say, “yes, I will help.” Amazing.
Did you really run in to her at the deli counter? That’s hilarious!
“Whenever something happens, we ask ourselves, ‘Who’s to say it’s bad news?’ We are in God’s hands, and he is in charge.”
Thank you for printing these words. I needed them today.
Thanks for this. I needed the encouragement this morning. Blessings on you and Gail.
Good to know that they are in good hands. I’m still annoyed with NH Right to Life for throwing Ovide under the bus for Kelly Ayotte. And a lot of people agree.
TRUSTING IN GOD’S WISDOM
There once was a man who proclaimed he did not believe in God. “God could never love anyone and if he existed, I would insist that he prove it to me”, he often proclaimed to friends. “God takes lives all the time and the poor and down-trodden are first on the menu”, he would say further. Even though the man was often kind to people all throughout his life, he believed that one should live life to the fullest in every way. He also believed strongly that a woman had every right to an abortion, and if she chose to do so, it was her business only.
One day the man found himself in front of an abortion clinic watching women walk in as protestors were praying and begging the pregnant women not to go in the clinic. A woman who was protesting began talking loudly to a young pregnant woman who was walking into the clinic. This immediately enraged the man and he began yelling at and cursing the woman who was protesting and others began to join in.
The young woman walking into the clinic became scared and upset at both the woman protesting and the man, and immediately turned and ran away from the clinic. This enraged the man and others even more and they escalated their yelling and insults toward the woman protestor. The woman protestor cried and left the scene.
Many, many years later the man was in a serious car accident and was thrown from the car. As he lay dying, many people consoled him as an ambulance rushed to the scene. A young priest who had also been called to the scene began to perform last rites. The man, although in terrible pain and very terrified, gruffly said to the priest, “Don’t waste your breath with that prayer, Father, I’m not a Catholic and even if I was, God has never gone out of his way to help me – take a good look”.
The priest gently smiled at the man and stopped saying the last rites. After a few seconds, the priest began to softly recite the Divine Chaplet of Mercy. “For the sake of His Sorrowful Passion, have Mercy on us and the whole world”, he recited over and over. The man peacefully passed into darkness.
Suddenly, a great light engulfed the man along with great love. The man was more afraid than ever as he knew he was in the presence of God. He asked what was happening and who it was that he was speaking to. He asked this because he could only see one form but felt there were others in the area as well.
“I am Jesus, Son of the Living God, and you have been born to a new life. We are here to judge your life on earth”. Immediately, as in a video, the man began to see his entire life in review. The good and the bad.
Many times when he helped the poor, other times when he freely partook in sins of the flesh. Times when he helped the elderly, and times when he intentionally hurt other people. The life review seemed to stop as quickly as it had started and the man felt ashamed.
Quickly, however, the man recovered, and recalled what he had said to friends during his life. “What chance did I have when my creator never showed any effort to reach out to me with love?” “Why did you not even try a little to help save me from myself?”.
The Lord looked lovingly at the man and played back the life scene in front of the abortion clinic. The man was mortified as he watched himself become enraged. He was overcome with resign and asked the Lord what happened to the woman protestor who had left the scene those many years ago.
The Lord responded, “She was called to me a few days later, she had accomplished her mission”.
“And what of the woman that decided not to have an abortion that day?”, he asked.
“She bore a healthy son and passed to me after childbirth, she had accomplished her mission”.
The man looked down and felt very sad. He slowly looked up and softly said to the Lord, “I wish I would have met her son; that I could know what he looks like and see how he turned out in life”. But, I never did, and yet you show me these images anyway.” Lord, can you not show me one instance in my life where you went out of your way even a little bit to show the extent of your love for me”?.
“You met her son at the twilight of your life”, said the Lord, “He will be joining us soon – he has accomplished his mission”. “Come, let us go to heaven”.
The man felt happy, relieved, and curious all at once, and felt compelled to ask Jesus two final questions. “Who was this woman’s son and what was his mission?” , asked the man.
“He was a simple priest who believed in God’s Mercy, and you were his mission”, responded three voices.
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