National Guard member joins MCC as respect life director

As the new associate director for Respect Life Advocacy at the Maryland Catholic Conference, Diane Arias has jumped with both feet into the legislative session that began in January.

She has had to, since the General Assembly and the governor are looking at legislation that could affect many of the issues on which the church’s public policy arm will weigh in.

She’s focusing on upholding the dignity of life, to “ensure that physician-assisted suicide does not pass, making sure that abortion funding isn’t further harming taxpayers in Maryland and protecting life from conception to natural death,” she told the Catholic Review. She also is working to educate Marylanders on human trafficking issues, to decrease it in the state.

The University of Maryland will launch a training program this summer to train some nurses and physician assistants to perform abortions, in addition to doctors. The goal of the state-funded $10.6 million program is to expand access to abortion in the state.

Reacting to the news, Arias said it is not surprising since many states – after the Supreme Court’s 2022 Dobbs decision overturned Roe vs. Wade – are trying to pass measures either restricting abortion or expanding it, depending on each state’s political climate. 

“Unfortunately, we do see more funding going toward abortion clinics and abortion facilities and training rather than pregnancy centers that would really assist in life-affirming measures and allowing people to seek support in maintaining a pregnancy or prenatal care instead of facing the harsh reality that is abortion,” she said.

Arias, a Colorado native, comes to the MCC with a scientific background, earning bachelor’s degrees in 2020 in allied health chemistry and cellular molecular biology from Adams State University in Alamoso, Colo. She also earned a master’s degree in business administration with an emphasis in health administration from Adams State.

Before joining the MCC, Arias was a customer care representative with the Colorado FAMLI (Family and Medical Leave Insurance) program. 

Arias also serves in the Army National Guard, having served for nine months in Kuwait with her unit. She still travels back to Colorado one weekend a month for her National Guard training, and will report for two weeks of training in the summer.

She said her background in science and business helps her apply all the different aspects to her job at the Maryland Catholic Conference, which represents the archdioceses of Baltimore and Washington and the Diocese of Wilmington, Del.

“It does transfer really well to this position because we do have to cover so many different policies, laws and bills that are being introduced,” she said, noting that it also helps that MCC Executive Director Jenny Kraska and Deputy Director Garrett O’Day are lawyers, whose expertise she appreciates.

Mixing all her experience, she said, “it all comes down to being able to respect life and being appreciative of all the challenges that we may encounter, especially as Catholics in the world that we currently live in. It’s very important to be a voice of hope in all of the things that we experience in our lives.

“It’s important to be able to continue to value the integrity of human life, especially with the lens of our Catholic faith in policy,” Arias said. Her different backgrounds give her the chance to share a personal story when she is trying to oppose or move forward a bill.

As a registered parishioner of St. Mary in Annapolis, Arias hopes to have time to be involved in ministry, such as being a lector or teaching faith formation, as she did back in Colorado. Having a younger brother has “trained” her for being around children. “I love being around kids and especially teaching our faith at a basic level. That’s definitely where I enjoy serving.”

Her parents are from Mexico, so Arias’ primary language is Spanish. “That’s what we grew up in our household and also our culture. The most important part of our culture is our Catholic faith, which is beautiful,” she said. “I was very excited for this role to learn that there are a lot of Hispanic parishioners in Maryland.”

Email Christopher Gunty at editor@CatholicReview.org

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