When Destiny Herndon-De La Rosa woke up Wednesday morning, she said, she had 80 new donations for her drive.
The funds she’s raising for migrants at the border jumped from $5,000 to $7,500 overnight. They’re still growing, thanks to a diverse group of pro-life activists.
Through her organization, New Wave Feminists, Herndon-De La Rosa has been galvanizing other pro-life groups to support what she calls a “consistent life ethic.”
“The reason that I care about the unborn child in the womb is the same reason that I care about the death row inmate, and the immigrant, and the single mom,” she said over the phone. “It’s because they’re all people and they all have value.”
As reports emerged detailing horrific conditions for children at migrant detention centers, Herndon-De La Rosa gathered baby supplies, medicine, clothing, water, and other materials for families detained at the border.
“Our humanity doesn’t begin at birth,” an advertisement for the drive said, “and it doesn’t end at the border.”
At least 25 groups have partnered with New Wave Feminists, from religious organizations such as FemCatholic to Latinos4Life, Libertarian Light, and And Then There Were None, founded by former Planned Parenthood clinic director turned pro-life activist Abby Johnson. How did New Wave Feminists unite so many divergent groups?
Herndon-De La Rosa is uniquely poised to bring pro-life groups together. With her purple hair and liberal leanings, she’s not a stereotypical pro-life voice, but she believes that being pro-life means supporting more than just the child in the womb. Many others agree with her.
“The pro-life movement hasn’t felt like they necessarily can address this because it might be political, and we’re saying ‘No, we’re setting the politics aside.’ We’re just helping people,” Herndon-De La Rosa said. “This is 100% a pro-life cause.”
It doesn’t take a Democrat or a Republican to provide aid to migrants at the border. It just takes someone to care about the value of all human life.
Through New Wave Feminists’ donation drive, which runs until July 13, Herndon-De La Rosa is collecting supplies for the Humanitarian Respite Center in McAllen, Texas, and funds for the Annunciation House in El Paso and a legal fund aimed at reuniting families.
Herndon-De La Rosa, who has run similar humanitarian drives in the past, emphasized that this isn’t about trying to prove a point about the consistency of the pro-life philosophy, and it’s not about taking a political side. That might be why this drive has already had so much success.
“Our first goal as a pro-life movement should be family preservation at all times,” she said. “Whether it’s a born child or an unborn child, we need to be keeping families together.”
