For the 37th consecutive year, pro-life marchers from coast to coast are preparing to congregate in the country’s capitol to ensure that January 22, the anniversary of the Supreme Court’s infamous Roe V. Wade decision, does not go unnoticed.
With the number of marchers having steadied at just over 200,000 since 2003, hopes are high that this year’s march will bring in record numbers and perhaps (for once) the attention of the mainstream media. This year’s “March for Life” takes place amid the backdrop of the contentious debate over health reform. With more lives at stake through the potential of publicly-funded abortion, organizers are hopeful for a larger turnout.
Reporting on the differences of this year’s march is Tim Drake of the National Catholic Register who wrote that the Stop the Abortion Mandate coalition is asking attendees this year to make their presence felt in the nation's capitol as never before. Specifically, they are being asked to bring signs that read: “No Abortion in Healthcare” and encouraged to schedule meetings with their elected representatives and senators to let them know that they do not want publicly funded abortion included in the healthcare reform bill.
Beyond the march itself, the January 21 March for Life Convention is also shaping up to revolve around the health care question, with three of the eight speakers scheduled to speak on the topic. Also of note is the 28th Annual March for Life Rose Dinner, where Professor Robert George, co-author of the Manhattan Declaration, is addressing dinner guests on “Our Struggle for the Soul of the Nation.” (Here's a full listing of March for Life events in D.C.).
In the Register article, Drake notes that in a first for the March, Americans United for Life Action is offering those who cannot be in D.C. in person the opportunity to sign up for a Virtual March for Life. To date, more than 23,400 individuals have signed up to participate virtually.
In anticipation of the National March for Life, many local pro-life marches have taken place around the U.S. this past weekend and drawn in record numbers of their own. Last Saturday, Jan 16, 300 pro-lifers marched in front of New Hampshire’s State House for the state's annual Right to Life March.
On the same day in Maine, hundreds joined hands around the State House in Augusta to mark the annual “Hands Around the Capitol Rally.” At 12:30 p.m. the Maine Capitol Bell was rung 37 times, representing the number of years since Roe v. Wade was enacted, while participants circled the capitol in memory of the unborn.
Thousands more swarmed the streets of Little Rock, Arkansas to walk 13 blocks to the state capitol call for the repeal of Roe v Wade in its 32nd annual March for Life.
In Dallas, Texas, thousands began their Saturday with rosary in hand, praying in front of a Dallas abortion facility. It was reported that following the prayer, 2,500 attended a special mass for the unborn celebrated by Bishop Jevin J. Farrell of Dallas and Bishop Kevin W. Vann of Fort Worth. After the Mass, a multitude of pro-lifers walked from the Cathedral Shrine of the Virgin of Guadalupe to the Earle Cabell Federal Courthouse, where Roe v. Wade was first filed in 1970.
Lifesite news reported that in honor of Martin Luther King Jr. Day, national religious and political leaders joined a sign-waving crowd of thousands of pro-lifers in Houston to rally against what they’re calling a "prenatal racial genocide" perpetrated by Planned Parenthood. Protests by Houston’s pro-life community have been ongoing since April of 2009 when Planned Parenthood purchased a six-story, 78,000-square-foot building, in an 80% minority community in Houston, converting it into an abortion clinic. In anticipation for the national rally, 10,000 people, many of them youth, were reported having packed Houston’s Grace Community Church on Sunday for a five-hour prayer and praise meeting sponsored by The Call to Conscience.
Beyond U.S. borders, Catholic News Agency reported that Paris’s 6th annual March for Life united 25,000 French pro-lifers – an increase of 10,000 from last year. The crowd, consisting largely of families and youth under 25, marched peacefully against abortion through the streets of Paris on the 35th anniversary of its legalization in the country. The march brought together 15 French pro-life advocacy groups against abortion with reports indicating that this year’s event saw an unprecedented mobilization effort on social networks like Facebook.
Coming around full circle, pro-life leaders from around the world will be on hand for this Friday’s National March for Life in Washington. Human Life International is hosting an international conference prior to the noon March that will include nine pro-life leaders from Africa, Europe, South America, Asia and Oceania that will share with the crowds the implications of American pro-life efforts around the world.
Stay tuned for Headline Bistro’s exclusive photo coverage and video blog wrap up of the 2010 National March for Life!
-- Michele Nuzzo-Naglieri
Comments