Honoring Charlie Kirk and the Value of Life, One Year Later

By Heather Weininger, Executive Director of Wisconsin Right to Life

A year ago this week, our nation lost Charlie Kirk, a beloved husband, father, and a tireless advocate for his convictions. Charlie’s life was marked by bold courage, steadfast faith, and an unwavering vision to awaken hearts and minds across our nation. One year later, that loss still feels present, and so does the responsibility it leaves behind: to carry forward what he stood for with the same courage he showed.

This anniversary falls, as it did last year, alongside another solemn marker. Today we also remember 25 years since the horrific events of September 11, 2001. Grief has a way of returning in layers, and this week asks us to hold two of them at once.

I still remember 9/11 as if it were yesterday. At the time, I was working for Congressman Mark Green in Washington, D.C., where TVs were always tuned to the news. I will never forget watching in horror as planes struck the towers, realizing in real time that countless lives had been lost.

Today, with smartphones and social media, we are confronted with similar images of violence on a near-daily basis, delivered to us instantly through our screens. It is easy to let fear consume us, or to grow numb to the loss of human life.

I still think often of the husbands, wives, children, and parents who faced unspeakable grief on September 11th. And I think, too, of Erika Kirk and her two children, who have spent this past year carrying a grief that never fully sets down.

Moments like these force us to choose: will we give in to fear or indifference, or will we stand together with renewed resolve to value life?

In the days after 9/11, Americans responded with unity and kindness, choosing to see one another with compassion, to smile at strangers, and to recommit to our shared values. A year after Charlie’s death, that same choice is in front of us again. It has not gotten easier; if anything, the last year has shown how quickly grief can turn into division, and how tempting it is to answer violence with contempt rather than resolve. We can still choose otherwise.

Life is a precious gift. It is valuable, worth protecting, and must never be taken for granted. As we mark one year since Charlie Kirk’s death and 25 years since September 11th, let us reflect on his words:

“If you believe in something, you need to have the courage to fight for those ideas—not run away from them or try and silence them.”

This week, let us pray for Charlie’s family, for the families who lost loved ones on September 11th, and for our nation, that we may always choose unity, courage, and a deep love for life.