On the March in D.C.

January 24, 2020 ~ Ellen Kolb ~ Leave a comment

The 2020 March for Life in Washington will go down in the books as the first one ever addressed in person by the President of the United States. (You can see the video and read the transcript here, courtesy of the Susan B. Anthony List.) He brought more news coverage to the event – possibly just to cover his speech, but I’d like to think the March itself got more coverage as well.

I don’t need anyone to tell me how significant was the President’s presence. The March has gone on every year since 1974, and not even Ronald Reagan ever came in person. Yet I hope President Trump understands something: he has more to learn from the pro-life movement than the pro-life movement has to learn from him.

I did not go to the mainstage rally at the March. Many of the names on the schedule were already familiar to me. I was happy to yield my place on the Mall to someone who was hearing them – not to mention seeing the President – for the first time.

I went to a side rally. More like a meetup. We were all in sync as far as being pro-life, and beyond that we had all kinds of differences. (And that’s fine.) I met new people, heard their stories, learned new things. And then we marched.

Photo in post header: my view from the middle of the March. Photo by Ellen Kolb.

Catching Up: Marching for Life in D.C. as Roe Turns 45

February 4, 2018 ~ Ellen Kolb ~ 2 Comments

If you’ve had your fill of March for Life coverage, my apologies for this post (and please tell me where you’re getting your news).

The first March for Life in Washington was 44 years ago, one year after the Roe v. Wade abortion decision was imposed by the Supreme Court. There’s been a march every year since then. I’ve been to six or seven of them.

t-shirt from March for Life 2018 — I traveled to the March with a group from my parish, part of a six-bus caravan.

Never have I been part of a larger march than I was last January 19. The weather was surely a factor: full sun, mid-forties. Yet that doesn’t account for most of the marchers, who chartered their buses months ago.

I didn’t count noses. It’s tough to count from the midst of a sea of humanity. I’ve since seen back-and-forth posts from attendees at the March for Life and the following day’s “women’s march,” with squabbles over crowd size that sound like some chief executive tweeting about who’s got a bigger button.

I can assure you of a few things: the March for Life is not a diminishing phenomenon. It continues to attract marchers of all ages. It’s also a rallying point for new pro-life coalitions and groups (like the former abortion workers of And Then There Were None) that couldn’t have been imagined back when Nellie Gray organized the first March for Life in 1974.

The view from mid-crowd at March for Life 2018, passing by National Archives in Washington.

I missed the President’s pre-March rally video-link greeting, choosing instead to meet with a group from New Wave Feminists who were hosting a rally of their own before joining the March. If you think all pro-lifers are alike, NWF will burst your bubble. And it’ll be fun.

During the March, I lost track of my marching companions not once but twice. It was tough to stay in touch with them even via text, as the sheer number of people making social media posts from the March affected local cell service. No problem: this was a good day to make new friends and to bump into old ones.

Next year’s March for Life in D.C. will be on Friday, January 18, 2019.

March for Life 2013 Belonged to the Young

January 25, 2013March 12, 2022 ~ Ellen Kolb ~ 2 Comments

Nothing underscores the tenacity of the pro-life movement like the overwhelming number of college students from all over the country who converged on Washington, DC today for the 39th March for Life. In the best way, I felt my age as I rejoiced in the fact that opposition to Roe is not a one-generation phenomenon. Moreover, as I listened to these young people today, it’s clear that their commitment to respect for life is not limited to the preborn. Roe v. Wade at 40 looked creaky today.

Thousands upon thousands of us, of all ages, marched together from the Mall past the Capitol to the Supreme Court. It took well over two hours. Under the watchful eyes of Capitol police, a few counter-protesters demonstrated on the sidewalk in front of the Court. Perhaps the light snow kept their numbers down.

We rallied on the Mall near the Washington Monument for an hour and a quarter before the March began. The biggest cheers at the rally went to former Sen. Rick Santorum who addressed the crowd with his wife Karen and several of their children alongside. Sen. Rand Paul had a well-received turn at the mic as well.

I lost count of the college groups, identified by the banners they carried. My photos show only a few. I didn’t get pictures of the groups from Yale, Penn State, Georgia Tech, Dartmouth, Northeastern, University of Michigan … I could list about twenty more. That doesn’t count the groups without banners.

Whenever the March gets news coverage, the participation by Catholic groups is impossible to miss. Less heralded are other religious communities along with groups like students from secular colleges and health care professionals. With my photos, I’ve tried to show some of the marchers who ordinarily fly under the radar. Respect for life is more widespread than you might think. So is opposition to Roe.