The day before the Jonas storm dumped 26.8 inches of snow on New York City, tens of thousands descended upon Washington, D.C., as they have since the Supreme Court’s terrible Roe v. Wade decision in 1973. They were there to witness to the world, to the president and all lawmakers, of the value of human life, from conception to natural death.
We in the Diocese of Brooklyn have a long and storied history with the March for Life, stemming back to the heroic work by saintly men like Msgr. Philip J. Reilly, founder of the Helpers of God’s Precious Infants, and a former faculty member of Cathedral Prep Seminary in Elmhurst.
We are told that the majority of people in the nation are against the slaughter of the infant in the womb by abortion, and that many politicians are changing their opinions to the pro-life side. Perhaps, for many, the revelation of the horrific actions of Planned Parenthood in the wholesale trade of the body parts of aborted children this past summer was just the wake-up call they needed.
Some have begun to question the necessity of the annual March for Life in Washington, D.C. Some say it is a Catholic youth rally, led by seminaries and religious orders, Catholic high schools, colleges and universities. Some say that people committed to pro-life causes could best spend the day fasting, sacrificing and praying in a spirit of repentance and atonement. Others suggest that the day could best be spent by praying peacefully outside a local abortion mill. And, yes, these are all good, noble actions! But they do not mean that the March for Life is ineffective or unnecessary in this new millennium.
The March for Life is essential because it is the one time that the nation – and indeed the world – sees a united front of the American people standing up against the horrors of abortion. Catholics, Protestants, Jews, Orthodox Christians, Muslims, those who worship in Eastern Religions, and even those who have no faith, but recognize the insanity of legal abortion, all come together and, as one, stand for the truth.
U.S. Rep. Randy Hultgren, R-Ill., stated: “We’re here with thousands and thousands of people marching to protect life, to make sure that we recognize the value of every single life. We’ve been doing this for 40 years because we believe one day we will have leaders and a society that again embraces the value of all of life.”
The day we stop participating in the March for Life is the day that there are no more abortions in the United States. Until that time, keep gathering in January, and the rest of the year keep praying, sacrificing, lobbying, educating, caring for the living victims of abortion, the mothers and fathers.
The March for Life is still very much necessary!
