An Unprecedented March -- Part One of Three

My intention had been to use the first part of Part One of TN&V to provide a little background before I walked over to 7th and Independence to attend the March for Life which is held each year in our nation's capital. But what took place at the 32nd annual gathering was so phenomenal I want to share it with you immediately. (Part Two, by the way, is the President's National Sanctity of Human Life Day message while Part Three is his remarks to the March for Life.)

As it happens today is the 25th March I've attended. Let me tell you, it was clearly both the most inspiration and the largest. Let me take the latter first.

The National Park Service no longer does crowd estimates. Everyone criticized them for allegedly undercounting their rally, so they opted out.

But I've been on the grounds of each of the last 25 Marches as the speeches were delivered, watched the crowd assembly on Constitution Avenue, stood at the top of the hill which gives you a real sense of the size of the march, and been almost enmeshed in the crowd as it reached its final destination, the Supreme Court. Today was like no other march.

There were people everywhere. Never in two and half-decades have I encountered so many people marching on the sidewalks. It was very difficult to move laterally, let alone against the massive throng.

I ran across a couple of veteran NRLC employees and a long-time board member. Unprompted, all three shared the same exact sentiment. The turnout was enormous.

But size is one thing, enthusiasm and espirit de corps is often something entirely different. There was an all together different crowd chemistry today. Let me explain what I think it might account for the palpably upbeat mood.

It must be six or seven years ago that I first started highlighting the ascending number of high school and college students attending. Now the percentage of young people is staggering.

No matter how somber the occasion--and commemorating the deaths of 47 million unborn babies is about as somber as it gets--it is extremely difficult to be down when surrounding by enough human energy to light the city. You can't help thinking of a high school pep rally.

Out of the corner of my eye I noticed women standing on the Supreme Court steps with signs to remind the crowd that "Abortion Hurts Women." In years past these women, understandably, were almost constantly on the verge of tears. Today, they seemed to be almost buoyed by the constant stream of young women and men who affirmed their solidarity with them as they passed by.

The other factor was the impact of what I was informed was a new religious order. Their unrestrained enthusiasm, their spirited music, their beaming faces, and their sheer joyfulness at being alive transformed anyone with a block of them.

I saw people I've known (or known of) for twenty five years, men and women whom you might think had seen it all, with ear-to-ear smiles plastered all over their faces. Like most everyone else, they were clapping rhythmically to the music that was infectiously upbeat and uplifting. "PRO-LIFE" never sounded so affirmative, so inspiring, and so catchy.

I'll talk about this more tomorrow, along with lots of other good news. I will conclude by repeating what I have said a million times before. You can just sense the shift momentum. It is unmistakable.

We have the wind at our backs. Thanks to your dedication, we are sailing swiftly toward our destination: the restoration of legal protection for unborn children.

Please send any comments you have to Dave Andrusko at dandrusko@nrlc.org.

Part 2

Part 3