March On

 

Forty-one Years after Roe, Hope Marches On

By Micaiah Bilger
No other public demonstration can match the National March for Life in Washington, D.C.
Hundreds of thousands of us gather on the streets of Washington every year, braving the biting winds — and sometimes snow. We stand to bring hope that one day preborn babies will be protected in the womb again. We stand to bring hope to women that they deserve better than abortion and that they can find support.

We do it because no other issue is as critically important in our nation as protecting innocent life from abortion.

For in what other tragedy do 1.2 million Americans lose their lives every year? What other “right” do 64 percent of the women, according to the Elliot Institute, say they felt coerced into exercising?
On the anniversary of Roe v. Wade, the U.S. Supreme Court decision that opened the doors to abortion on demand through all nine months of pregnancy, hope shines through with the tens of thousands of young faces marching in the cold. The mothers pushing baby strollers. The high school students who sacrificed hours of sleep. The older adults who have been marching for decades.
Christopher Calore, a pro-life leader in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania finds hope in the sea of young faces. When he first traveled to the March for Life about 35 years ago, “I was the youngest one on the bus and considered ‘young.’”

Calore said, at the time, “the general consensus was ‘We must gain more and more pro-lifers to stop this tragedy of abortion!’ Today, the age of the participants at the March has reversed. Now I realize that our prayers of 35 years ago have been answered with time.”

Many young people go to the March for Life already convinced that they need to help preborn babies and their mothers. For others, the experience challenges them with a new perspective.
Zoe, a student from the Erie area, attended the March in 2013. She said, “… being there with hundreds of thousands of people made me really open my eyes and look at how seriously wrong abortion really is.”

Jammie, one of her classmates, said the March “brought tears to my eyes and really touched my heart.”
A lot has changed in the past 41 years with the pro-life side winning a number of key legislative victories. A record number of protective laws have been enacted in the past few years, ensuring that women have accurate information about abortion, its risks and alternatives, and the support available to them and their families. More laws now protect viable preborn babies and ensure babies receive proper medical care if they survive an abortion.

As more young people step up and recognize the injustice of killing preborn babies in the womb and the need to help women feeling pressured into the decision, I believe our nation is moving forward to bring about a better future where we respect and defend every human life, born and preborn.
Ms. Micaiah Bilger is the education director of the Pennsylvania Pro-Life Federation, which is National Right to Life’s state affiliate.

Source: NRLC News