Pro-Life Leader is Now Fighting for Her Life

For 34 years, pro-life leader Jeanneane Maxon has fought for the lives of mothers and children across the country. This week, however, as hundreds of thousands of people head to Washington for the 43rd March for Life, Maxon will be sitting at home fighting for her own survival.

“This is the first time I [have] missed [the March for Life] in eight years,” Maxon told the Stream.  “I’ll be there in spirit. Ironically I will be starting chemo the day of the March; I think there is some meaning in that.”

Shortly before Christmas, Maxon was diagnosed with Grade 4 cancer — including a tumor the size of a lime — across her brain. While surgery to remove the large tumor was successful, she faces at least six weeks of chemotherapy and radiation to fight the cancer’s spread.

Maxon faced undiagnosed health issues throughout 2015 that led to her resignation from Americans United for Life after nearly four years at the organization. She said going from traveling around America to being “home bound” and living with her parents is “quite a shocking experience.”

“I’m not sure I can say that I have adjusted. And relying on others for everything is the opposite of my personality. From my perspective, I’m at an age I should be caring for my parents, not the other way around,” explained Maxon.

“The pain this has inflicted on my family has been the hardest part,” said Maxon, who is living with her parents in Texas. “I am used to controlling details, now there are so many details beyond my control, all I can do is trust God.”

“My faith is shaken, that is why it has been encouraging to see all the prayer support and others standing in the gap for me.”

Maxon’s illness has spawned the social media hashtag #TeamJeanneane, prayers and prayer groups, and more than $18,000 to defray medical costs.

A former General Counsel with Care Net, a leading pregnancy care center organization, Maxon told the Stream that she “started doing local pro-life activism with my parents at age 2. I have been in executive pro-life leadership for the past 10 years, since age 26. I’ve served on multiple boards of pro-life groups, as well as the general counsel of Care Net and as a vice president of Americans United for Life.”

“I was looking forward to serving a wider arrange of pro-life groups starting in January of 2016, but my plans are on temporary hold until I get through this,” said Maxon, who expressed confidence that “God will heal me.” “I believe God will heal me, but I also believe he wants me to go on a spiritual journey with him through this process, so that someday I may help others. I really did not want to go through this, but I am willing to do it if in the end it means God gets more glory.”

And what is Maxon’s final word on the March for Life as she fights brain cancer hundreds of miles away? “I believe the pro-life position is and should be a position that crosses party lines. My hope is more and more Americans are moved by the compelling facts and reality of abortion’s destruction to women and children, that they are moved to support life with their vote, their resources, their time, their voice, and their prayers.”