(Oregon Right to Life) — Focus on the Family president and CEO Jim Daly inspired hundreds of pro-life advocates in Salem last weekend at the first annual Oregon Pro-Life Gala.
The 2026 Oregon Pro-Life Gala was held Saturday, September 19th, in Salem. The event began with a special VIP reception with appetizers at 5PM, followed by general reception and dinner at 6PM. The Oregon Pro-Life Gala was previously known as Oregon Right to Life’s annual “A Night for Advocacy” gala, a formal evening to celebrate and honor pro-life wins and power the ongoing work of the Oregon Right to Life Education Foundation.
During his keynote address, Jim Daly shared his inspirational personal story and vision of the pro-life, pro-family movement.
As he shared a lighthearted and engaging approach to the often very difficult and even traumatic circumstances of his childhood, Daly showed how the grace of God worked to transform his tough beginning into a powerful witness to the inherent value and potential of every child, every family, and every human life.
Speaking about being chosen to lead Focus on the Family after founder Dr. James Dobson retired, Daly shared that he felt unworthy to take up the baton because of his dysfunctional family dynamics growing up.
“I [was] wrestling with the Lord,” Daly said. “I’m not the guy. I came from a horrible background, a terrible family. How am I gonna… I can’t represent the family.” That’s when he said he felt God telling him, “It’s not about you.” Struck by the humbling but profound truth, Daly said he “just stopped. It caught my attention, and I remember just thinking, Lord? And then He said: ‘Trust me. And I’ll take care of it.’ Isn’t that awesome?”
Daly, a husband and father of two whose work leading Focus on the Family has included robust support for pro-life pregnancy resource centers nationwide, emphasized that “the pro-life message is the right message.” And while Planned Parenthood has “convinced women that the baby growing inside of them is their enemy,” he said, the pro-life movement tells the truth, and in doing so, gives “hope to people.”
Georgene Rice, who hosted her popular self-titled radio show on Portland station KPDQ for over three decades, was the emcee for The Oregon Pro-Life Gala. Rice brought her characteristic warmth, charm, and beautiful singing voice to the celebratory evening.
“As we continue our efforts to create our culture, a culture that supports life throughout its natural span, we enjoy some victories, and some disappointing defeats. But we will press on,” Rice said, praising pro-life advocates in Oregon for their determination. “What’s left to us now is to build a culture that values life and works to support women and families who are vulnerable. We will continue to defend human life between the defining points of conception and natural death. We are the pro-life community in the state of Oregon. And we are undaunted. I am proud of us.”
Makyra Williamson, Community Outreach Director for Oregon Right to Life, spoke about the Education Foundation’s work to educate Oregonians and connect moms and families with life-affirming resources. She also shared a powerful personal reflection touching on a recent mission trip to Cambodia, where she visited a memorial to the babies and children murdered at the so-called “killing tree” during the Khmer Rouge genocide. She compared these atrocities to the ongoing violence of abortion.
“What happened there was in darkness, in secret, the world didn’t know about it. And when the world found out, the reaction was justified outrage that such an atrocity could be committed against the innocent,” she said. “And I can’t help but compare that outrage about injustice to the everyday normalization that we have of violence against the unborn, here in our country, and in our state, every single day. And unlike what happened at that tree, this is not happening in the darkness or in secret. This is an open secret. Something that is sanitized, professionalized with language like reproductive rights and choice and healthcare. And abortion is treated as if it’s merely a simple way to become ‘unpregnant.’ But no amount of linguistic smokescreen can hide the fact that abortion is brutal. Abortion is violent. It tears apart the innocent, it harms women, and it sears the conscience of our society.”
“Together, we can and we will stand up against the violence of abortion, support women and families, and create a culture that looks back at abortion the same way that we look at that killing tree, with horror and disbelief that we ever allowed this to happen,” Williamson said.
During the program, Oregon Right to Life also honored pro-life advocates with awards for their service. Aubrianne Trout, Director of Outreach and a founding member of Hope’s Garden Maternity Home in Clackamas County, received the Rising Pro-Life Leader award. The Oregon Knights of Columbus received the inaugural Pro-Life Excellence Award for their decades-long charitable work providing pro-life pregnancy resource centers across Oregon with life-saving ultrasound machines.
“When some people may look at Oregon Right to Life, they may see an organization. But those of us who truly know you and understand, know that it is something much deeper,” said Knights of Columbus state deputy Robert Adams, Jr., upon accepting the award. “It’s the grandmother who never stopped praying. It’s the volunteer who keeps showing up. It’s the person who makes one more phone call, writes one more check, attends one more meeting, speaks one more word of encouragement.”
“Someday, when the history of this generation is written, the measure of our success will not be the arguments,” Adams, Jr. said. “It will be measured in the lives that we have saved, the mothers who were supported, the families who found hope, in the children who were given that chance to grow up and be the person that God created them to be.”
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Through their sponsorships, purchases of tickets, and contributions before, during, and after the Oregon Pro-Life Gala, pro-life advocates gave to support the critical mission of the Oregon Right to Life Education Foundation to ensure the programs and outreach can continue into 2027 and beyond.
If you have not yet had the chance to support the Oregon Right to Life Education Foundation during the Oregon Pro-Life Gala, please click here to give a gift today.
