Annual youth pro-life essay contest to begin accepting entries

Priests for Life and Stand True, Priests for Life’s youth outreach, have announced the topic for the second annual pro-life essay contest for students in junior high through college.

Students are invited to submit essays of 500-800 words on the topic, “Why I Am Pro-Life in a Culture that Promotes Abortion.” Essays should explore the challenges of being pro-life and the importance of helping peers understand the pro-life position.

“Youth are bombarded daily with pro-abortion messages in the media and on social media… At Priests for Life, we highly esteem young people who hold fast to their pro-life convictions in the midst of this culture of death and also try to change the mind-set of their peers. And we’d like to have them tell us how they do it,” Leslie Palma wrote in a Sept. 8 press release.

Essay entries are now being accepted, and the admissions deadline is Nov. 7. Essays may be mailed or sent electronically. Complete contest rules and eligibility requirements can be found at StandTrue.com/EssayContest.

Winners will receive a cash prize and plaque, and will be recognized at the National Prayer Service in Washington, D.C., on the morning of the March for Life on Friday, Jan. 23, 2026.

The winning essays also will be featured in Priests for Life publications, and winners will have the opportunity to be interviewed on our broadcasts.

The college-level prize is $1,000; high school, $500, and junior high, $300.

“We are so excited to be sponsoring this contest for the second year,” said Bryan Kemper, founder and president of Stand True and a member of the Priests for Life Pastoral Team. “Young people are not only the future of the pro-life movement but their influence is important right now.”

The contest “will give young writers a chance to use their skills to motivate and educate other pro-lifers, young and old, across the country,” said Priests for Life National Director Frank Pavone.

Executive Director Janet Morana, a former public school teacher, said the caliber of last year’s submissions was so high that it was a pleasure to read the essays.

“The winners, especially, were outstanding,” she said. “We look forward to reading what this year’s contestants have to tell us about their pro-life commitment.”

Essays in which AI is detected will be disqualified.