The pro-life organization Susan B. Anthony List has announced a merger with the Ohio-based Life Issues Institute.

“The pro-life movement is at a critical time of growing and expanding legislative and political activism and opportunity,” said Susan B. Anthony List President Marjorie Dannenfelser. “This new relationship means that both the SBA List and the [Life Issues Institute] have new avenues through which to communicate our pro-life messages.”

With the merger, announced Feb. 1, the Life Issues Institute is now the pro-life grassroots education arm of the Susan B. Anthony List Education Fund.

The goal of top executives in each organization is to ensure that every part of the tandem is integrated and shares the same message, said Life Issues Institute President Brad Mattes.

Joining with the Life Issues Institute allows the Susan B. Anthony List to expand its audience through the institute’s daily one-minute radio commentaries, and weekly and monthly publications, which it uses to communicate with grassroots activists in Ohio.

“Life Issues’ mission is to equip rank-and-file pro-life activists with the information they need to go engage in the day-to-day battle to share the pro-life perspective on current events,” Dannenfelser said.

She is confident that the merger will strengthen the connection between the Susan B. Anthony List and grassroots activists in the year ahead. 

“For decades, the Life Issues Institute, under the late Dr. Jack Willke and his wife, Barbara, served as a lead educator on issues of ethics, medicine, and culture for the pro-life movement,” Dannenfelser told The Daily Signal. “We are honored to take on the Willke legacy and to now work with Brad and the Life Issues Institute team.”

Mattes is equally optimistic about the merger.

“The fact that we are stronger together is a huge plus in our efforts to protect innocent human life,” Mattes said. “There’s a real urgency to our work, so we can’t afford to be anything less than our best. This merger helps accomplish that, and I believe Jack and Barbara would be thrilled with this development.”