Fifty Years In The Trenches: Margie Montgomery and the Fight for Life

For fifty years, while much of America debated abortion in the abstract, Margie Montgomery was in the trenches, working tirelessly to defend what she believed was the dignity of every human life.

Fifty Years in the Trenches: Margie Montgomery and the Fight for Life is the intimate biography of one of America’s most dedicated pro-life advocates, told through the eyes of her son, Schu Montgomery. Born in 1932 in East Orange, New Jersey, and raised in a Catholic family rooted in faith, service, and sacrifice, Margie moved to Louisville, Kentucky, as a young wife and mother. When the Supreme Court issued its decision in Roe v. Wade in 1973, she recognized it as a defining moment—and committed herself to a cause that would shape the rest of her life.

What followed was five decades of determined grassroots leadership. Margie founded Right to Life of Louisville in 1971, growing it from a kitchen-table effort into one of the nation’s most influential state pro-life organizations. 1973 she founded KRLA. She later served as Secretary of the Board of the National Right to Life Committee, lobbied the Kentucky General Assembly, addressed more than half a million people gathered at the Washington Monument, organized countless rallies in Frankfort, inspired supporters across the Commonwealth, and attended every March for Life in Washington, D.C., except one. Right to Life of Louisville remains the oldest organization in the State of Kentucky.

More than the story of a movement, this is the story of a remarkable woman. It is the portrait of a devoted wife and mother, a person of deep Catholic faith, and a humble yet determined leader whose conviction helped shape Kentucky’s political and cultural landscape. It also tells the deeply personal story of the sacrifices required to dedicate a lifetime to a cause greater than oneself.