On August 11, 2025, at the diocesan pro-life conference held in Arlington, Virginia, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) paid solemn tribute to Rita and Mike Marker, two major figures in the fight against euthanasia. The "People of Life" award was conferred upon them posthumously by the Secretariat of Pro-Life Activities, in recognition of a lifetime devoted to defending human dignity.
This honor follows in the continuity of the call of Saint John Paul II in his encyclical Evangelium Vitae, which exhorts the faithful to defend the "Gospel of Life" and to oppose any culture of death.
A Lifelong Fight Against Euthanasia
From the early 1980s, the Marker couple founded the International Anti-Euthanasia Task Force, later renamed the Patients Rights Council. Rita, as executive director, made a profound impact with her 1995 book, « Deadly Compassion: The Death of Ann Humphry and the Truth About Euthanasia », in which she revisits the tragic suicide of a pro-euthanasia activist who became her friend.
While Mike managed the daily operations of the organization, Rita traveled across the United States and the world to denounce euthanasia and assisted suicide. She was a regular presence in the media, on radio and television, offering clear and firm testimony. Conscious of the importance of a legal approach in this fight, she obtained a law degree while raising her children, in order to analyze legislation and develop strategies against proposed laws favoring assisted suicide.
Their commitment was not limited to activism: married for sixty years, they were appointed by Saint John Paul II to the Pontifical Council for the Family, a sign of the Church's recognition of their mission. Mike passed away in 2021, followed by Rita in 2023.
Nearly one hundred diocesan leaders and guests were present at the award ceremony, including Bishop Daniel Thomas of Toledo and chairman of the USCCB's pro-life committee, as well as Bishop Michael Burbidge of Arlington.
Fidelity to the Gospel of Life
Since its creation in 2007, the "People of Life" award has been presented to 43 other defenders of life, all united in the same commitment: to proclaim, in a world often marked by a throwaway culture, that every human life is sacred, from the first moment of conception until its natural end.
The example of Rita and Mike Marker remains a source of inspiration for Catholics worldwide. Their fight embodies this certainty of faith: no human law can legitimize the voluntary suppression of an innocent life. This is the truth they served with constancy, to the very end.