On January 27th, 2017 in Washington, D.C. the 44th annual March for Life took place.
Hundreds of thousands of people from all over the United States came to the nation’s capital to protest abortion. The March for Life has been going on since abortion was legalized in 1973. The march takes places on or around the anniversary of Roe v. Wade, the court case that first made abortion legal. This year’s theme for the march was ‘The Power of One’.
The purpose of this theme is to emphasis that one person can make a difference in the world and that the babies that have been aborted cannot do so.
There is an immense amount of diversity represented in the people attending the march. People of all different ages, races, and religions were present at the march. Even people who have had abortions and regretted it and people who were supposed to be aborted but the procedure failed were in attendance at the march.
One thing that all these people attending, and many more that were not able to make it, have in common is that they all believe that life all life is sacred and that life begins at the moment of conception and ends at the moment of natural death.
The March for Life is a very personal and powerful experience for many people. In order to allow you to get a better understanding of what it was actually like at the march, I interviewed a few people that attended and asked them to explain the experience more fully.
Ella
Ella is a freshman at the College of Charleston, raised in Beaufort, SC who attended the 2017 March for Life. She went to the march in order to be a voice for the voiceless. Ella explains that she has two distinctive reasons for being pro-life, the first of which being that children should have the opportunity to determine their own fate and future.
The second reason for Ella’s pro-life choice is that she believes that babies, when aborted, feel the pain, even early on in the pregnancy. When asked about her experience at the march, she explains that she felt a burden being lifted off of her shoulders. Seeing Vice President Mike Pence present strengthened her feeling that change is coming. She expands by saying that she got an amazing feeling when surrounded by so many people that stand up for the same thing that she believes in.
There is truly power in numbers when everyone is working for the same cause. Ella recalls that the moment that she will remember most about this years march is seeing all of the men and women who were personally effected by abortion walking in the crowd with tear-filled eyes. She says that these people were living proof of the lifelong effects that abortion can have on people.
Patrick
Patrick is a senior in high school from Charleston, SC who also attended the 2017 March for Life. He explains that the reason he felt the need to go to the march was to speak for those who do not have the ability to speak for themselves.
Patrick goes on to say that being pro-life is not limited to standing up for the unborn, but is defending the lives of everyone at every stage of life. When asked to recall the most memorable part of his march experience he explains that the part that affected him the most was viewing the pictures of what an abortion and the aftermath of one looks like.
He adds that it showed the true horror and inhumanity of the procedure. When asked how he felt while marching, Patrick said that it felt good to stand up for something bigger than himself. He felt proud to be peacefully protesting against something so inhumane and evil.
For these people and many more in attendance the 2017 March for Life is a way to let their voice be heard. Everyone at the march has strong feelings about wanting an end to abortion and they are given an amazing opportunity to advocate for the dignity of life peacefully through this march.
After hearing testimonies from some of the attendees, it is evident that there truly is power in one person. When one person joins another and another that can eventually turn into hundreds of thousands, as we have seen at the March for life for many years.