The March for Life Has Victory in Sight

Of all the Leftist attitudes and assumptions that have infected our public life, one of the most pernicious is that political action must be angry. That if we are not in constant rabid opposition to the enemy, then we must be in support of him. I’ll make it clear: this is a lie.

The greatest warriors of the Right were—and still are—its happy ones. 

So for those young men and women who identify with the Right and seek political action characterized not by rage and fear but by hope and vision, look no further than the annual March for Life. During my participation in the 2022 March, I witnessed and myself felt an emotion that I had never encountered before at a protest: unadulterated joy.

Ironically, the now-annual March for Life began as a humble, one-time act of resistance in the shadow of a decisive defeat, the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision. A Catholic convert, WWII veteran, and pro-life activist, Nellie Gray organized the March with a clear goal in mind: to overturn Roe v. Wade. By her death in 2012, Gray’s dream of an America without elective abortion had yet to become reality, but the March she started had become a national tradition attended by thousands each year. In fact, the 2013 March for Life welcomed more than 650,000. According to a Capitol Police member, this year’s March was attended by around 100,000.

Despite the scale of the protest, my experience with the event felt intimate. I attended with a group of 16 from the College, along with a larger cohort of around 250 from the other Ivy League universities along with Stanford and MIT. Together, we marched under a banner appropriately titled “Ivy Leaguers for Life.” Although the other participants and I had never exchanged a word before we met each other in the capital, I cannot deny I felt camaraderie with them. We were minorities at our respective institutions but who shared similar values, and we had come together in Washington to show the world that even over-educated, pretentious Ivy students like ourselves could indeed recognize the evils of abortion. It was my first time at the March, but it did not feel like it.

From the moment we Ivy Leaguers for Life stepped off from the lobby of our hotel and began heading towards the rally that precedes the actual march, other attendees greeted us with whoops and cheers. Our predominantly Catholic group carried its fair share of Holy See flags that blended in well with the other banners flying over the crowd, which gathered in the middle of the National Mall. Although our political culture often associates the pro-life movement with Roman Catholicism, it was clear from the rally that the movement and March are open to all who believe in protecting unborn children.

Amid the kaleidoscope of flags and signs at the rally, my friends and I identified countless Vatican flags along with some belonging to the Society of Saint Pius X (of the Traditionalist Catholic school) and even a small number of Byzantine flags. American flags mixed freely with those of other nations, including Ukraine and Guatemala. One marcher’s sign even proclaimed the existence of “Secularists for Life” less than 100 feet from a collection of banners warning abortion supporters of their eternity in Hell. It was clear even before the March itself had begun that the movement it represented was global, organic, and free of sectarian exclusion.

The speakers at the rally only heightened the sense of unity my fellow Ivy Leaguers and I felt with the thousands assembled. The line-up featured a rousing performance of the national anthem by Christian singer Matthew West followed by an invocation from His Eminence Archbishop Elpidophoros of America, of the Greek Orthodox Church. Representative Julia Letlow, a Louisiana Republican and widow of Congressman-Elect Luke Letlow, spoke then handed the podium over to former Representative Dan Lipinski, a pro-life Democrat from Illinois. Celebrity priest Father Mike Schmitz (of The Bible in a Year fame) recounted how his grandmother’s pro-life values influenced his own while filmmaker Kirk Cameron provided insight into how he navigates liberal Hollywood with his Christian beliefs. 

Other speakers opened up about personal experiences with abortion. Mikaela Kim, a student at George Mason University, revealed how she—with the help of Mary’s Shelter in Virginia—gave birth to her daughter even when her economic circumstances made abortion seem like a convenient out. Toni McFadden, founder of Relationships Matter, recounted the trauma of receiving an abortion in her senior year of high school along with the healing she experienced raising a family later.

The most powerful of the speakers, however, was one Katie Shaw. The 36-year-old Down’s Syndrome activist showed light on the moral bankruptcy of those who argue for abortion through the power of her example. “Here I am 36 years later contributing to society, working full-time, enjoying family, friends, playing sports, and participating in a book club,” she declared, proving that any unborn child has the potential and right to live a meaningful life.

After a closing prayer by Cissie Graham Lynch, grand-daughter of the evangelist Billy Graham, the multitude on the National Mall began its long-awaited journey towards the Supreme Court. With the exception of huge congestion near a row of porta-potties and a circuitous path to the March route (down Pennsylvania Avenue), the event proceeded remarkably smoothly. And progress towards the Supreme Court only illuminated the myriad charms that make the March for Life unique amongst our nation’s major political events.

On the sidewalk stood several groups of Catholic students and their clergy supervisors chanting and dancing. In place of black bloc, some marchers wore chasubles, while others prayed the rosary. At major intersections stood the Knights of Columbus and their youth volunteers, some of whom looked no older than 10 years. As one entered the grounds of the Capitol complex, the air grew rife with the sounds of drums and bagpipes. Sash-wearing representatives of the American Society for the Defense of Tradition, Family, and Property (another Traditionalist Catholic group) accompanied the musicians, who wore Scottish garb. 

The devotion of the marchers often led to surreal scenes, appearing like something from another era. At one point in the March, a group of Marians began to pray the rosary so loudly as if in competition with another group of devotees. At other times, my friends and I encountered hilarious juxtapositions. For example, when a marcher carrying a “Trump 2024” flag stepped past a group of “Democrats for Life.”

The most fascinating aspect of the March, however, was neither the fervency of its participants nor even their diversity, but rather their attitude. Yes, they—myself included—felt anger at the Supreme Court for ever making a decision like that in Roe v. Wade, which condemned our country to moral parity with the likes of China and North Korea. This feeling only grew more intense as we walked past billboards displaying photos of abortion procedures (the details are too graphic to elaborate upon). Nevertheless, the defining sensation my counterparts and I felt over the course of the March was hope.

Currently under deliberation, the Supreme Court case Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization promises to be the most important case involving abortion rights since Roe. The suit deals with a 2018 Mississippi law banning abortions after the fifteenth week of pregnancy, excepting medical emergencies or fetal abnormalities. If the Supreme Court rules in favor of Dobbs, Mississippi’s State Health Officer, and the state’s law, restrictions on elective abortion before viability (the point where an unborn child can live outside the womb) might well become constitutional. And so, 49 years after Roe, there is a real possibility that the Good may soon triumph in our nation’s highest court.

What ultimate impact would an overturning, either complete or partial, of Roe have on the pro-life movement? It is hard to say.

Dobbs might become the crowning achievement of generations’ worth of activism by pro-lifers, but it might also extinguish an animating fire behind the last 50 years of pro-life political organization. What—and where—will our next goals be? As hopeful as I am for the right decision in Dobbs, I fear that the end of our great enemy might bring forth an aftermath that we are not ready to win. Pro-lifers everywhere would do well to consider a strategy to protect unborn life in a world without Roe.

However, we should not let concerns about a hypothetical future keep us from celebrating the successes of the 2022 March for Life. Nor should they keep us from continuing our marching and activism. Let us work to accomplish the promise that marchers have made since 1973 and more: that we will live to witness not just a post-Roe but a post-abortion generation.

Truth is on our side.