Longtime anti-euthanasia activists Rita and Mike Marker were honoured August 11 at the 2025 “People of Life” awards by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops’ (USCCB) Secretariat of Pro-Life Activities during the Diocesan Pro-Life Leadership Conference in Arlington, Virginia.
The awards recognise Catholics who have answered St John Paul II’s call in Evangelium Vitae (“The Gospel of Life”) by dedicating themselves to promoting the dignity of the human person and taking part in pro-life activities.
The Markers established the International Anti-Euthanasia Task Force — later renamed the Patients Rights Council — in the early 1980s. Rita served as the executive director of the organisation and in her role wrote the 1995 book Deadly Compassion: The Death of Ann Humphry and the Truth About Euthanasia about the high-profile suicide of an euthanasia advocate whom Rita came to embrace as a friend.
Mike largely took charge of the organisation’s operations. Rita traveled internationally and domestically to speak out against euthanasia and assisted suicide and frequently appeared on radio and news programs. Realising the importance of legal expertise in advocating against assisted suicide, she also obtained a law degree while raising a family and used it to analyse legislation and develop strategies to oppose assisted-suicide laws.
The Catholic couple were married for six decades and were appointed to the Vatican’s Pontifical Council on the Family by St John Paul II. Mike died in 2021 and Rita died in 2023.
