New respect life director optimistic, up for challenge

Arkansas native, mother of five Becky Mullican takes over diocese's pro-life mission

Published: February 11, 2014

Dwain Hebda

Becky Mullican (right) introduces Marianne Linane during Jan. 18’s Weekend Extravaganza in Little Rock. Mullican took over Jan. 1 as diocesan respect life director from Linane, who retired after eight years in the job.

Dwain Hebda

The diocese’s new respect life director said the challenges facing the pro-life movement on all fronts are no less acute than in past years, but for the first time in decades there’s real hope for the advancement of such ideals.

“I think that we’re here to speak the truth to the culture and help heal a world that’s been injured by the Roe vs. Wade decision or by what they’re trying to do in Massachusetts with the assisted suicide,” said Becky Mullican, who took over the position from the retired Marianne Linane Jan. 1.

“Yes, it’s discouraging that the world around us seems to be working against us, but I also think that our job is just to keep shining the light and keep telling the truth in love to a world that needs to hear it.”

Mullican pointed to recent steps taken by state legislatures to curtail abortion, including in Arkansas, as well as falling abortion rates and last year’s shocking Time magazine cover proclaiming how the battle for abortion rights was being lost as indications the tide of public opinion was, at last, turning decisively in the right direction.

“I see the pro-life movement shifting somewhat from consciousness-raising like it was in the early days,” she said. “Nobody doesn’t think that’s a baby anymore, nobody pretends that (abortion’s) a good thing.”

She also said the unprecedented dialogue in the last legislative session about the possibility for abolishing the death penalty in Arkansas showed other elements of the pro-life agenda may soon be ideas whose time have come.

“God is all about mercy and forgiveness and as long as there is life, there is the potential for salvation,” she said. “I think (abolishing the death penalty) would be very hopeful. It may give us even more credibility beyond our state borders if we have that seamless respect for life across the board.”

End-of-life issues have particular meaning for Mullican and not just because, joked the 56-year-old, she’s one of the last Baby Boomer demographics. She witnessed firsthand the manner in which seniors can carry themselves to the end of their lives with dignity, despite debilitating illness, and the grace that can appear as a result.

“I watched my folks suffer from cancer, I watched things happen that I didn’t expect. I watched amazing blessings unfold,” she said. “My Dad’s conversion took place when he was facing death’s door; I’m his godmother. My mom was still teaching us how to live, on her deathbed.

Growing up in Little Rock’s Our Lady of Good Counsel Church and school, Mullican graduated from Mount St. Mary Academy in Little Rock in 1975. She headed to Benedictine College in Kansas, graduating in 1979 with degrees in religious studies and philosophy. While at college, she met her future husband, Mike.

Mike’s career took them on a nearly-30-year journey to Kansas, Michigan and Massachusetts; Becky taught religion at Bishop Ward High School in Kansas City, Kan., and served as the religious education coordinator at St. Patrick Church in Ann Arbor, Mich. By the time they hit Boston, she stayed home full-time with their five sons. Today, all are grown and the couple have four grandchildren and one more on the way.

Upon their return to Arkansas in 2006, they settled on her late parents’ land west of Conway and joined Sacred Heart Church in Morrilton. While in Boston, she and Mike were active in Massachusetts Citizens for Life. She’s currently on the board of Abundant Life Pregnancy Resource Center, a Conway County crisis pregnancy center.

“I’m trying to do what (God) wants me to do, I have no idea how to be a respect life director. But I feel pretty confident this is where he wants me. I’m trusting that he’s got some particular gifts that he’s gonna bring to the fore here.”