A Spirit of Optimism

By Laura Antkowiak

After nearly eight years of the most pro-abortion President in our history, it seemed only fitting that the weather that Monday morning should start out cold and overcast. Yet how symbolic that as the time approached for the 26th annual March for Life rally to begin, the sun came out and the temperatures quickly began to climb.

As a member of a college contingent from Notre Dame and St. Mary's, I sensed that there was clearly something different about the March this year. I sensed that a significant change had swept across the enormous crowd that gathered to witness their opposition to the tragedy that is Roe v. Wade.

I sensed . . . a spirit of optimism. After eight years of having many of our legislative successes vetoed by President Bill Clinton, there is hope of electing a president who will hear us - - speaking for those who cannot - - and who will join his voice with ours.

From this crowd appeared to rise a fresh, collective hope that having weathered the Clinton/ Gore years, we can now more realistically imagine the signing ceremony of a bills that ban partial-birth abortions, that protect families from pro-abortion efforts to evade parental consent laws, and that promote positive alternatives to abortion and physician assisted suicide. All of these will lead us closer to our goal of eliminating abortion and re-instituting a reverence for all human life around the world.

As a member of a college right to life group, I was struck by the large number of teenagers in attendance. They had traveled to Washington from all over the country, singing and chanting as they marched, happily posing for pictures in front of monuments. It was very satisfying to envision that day in the not-too-distant future when they will be standing up before thousands, defending the cause of innocent human life.

My own 20-something peers give me reason for new hope as well. College students also turned out in force. From the University of Notre Dame and St. Mary's College alone, five buses departed from South Bend, Indiana, plowing through two feet of snow that fell over the weekend.

I am very encouraged by the advancements our Right to Life group has made at home at my own university. In the last couple of years, our active membership has grown tremendously.

We took one bus of students to the March for Life in my freshman year. These last two years, we took five buses. Many Right to Life members also hold memberships in more recently founded student organizations that also promote respect for life, and we have benefited from each other's assistance in co-sponsoring several major events on campus.

We are one of the largest student groups on campus, and we have an academically, politically, and religiously diverse membership. Simply put, we are a presence on campus.

We draw students from outside our club to our events. We are enjoying increasing support from our university's administration. It no longer raises eyebrows that a Notre Dame student is attending the March for Life.

Who would have ever thought that supporting the right to life of all people could ever have been cause to be marginalized? But it has been, especially on college campuses. Thankfully, that is changing.

I sense a growing ability to differentiate, a capacity to reject popular stereotypes that falsely brand us as disruptive, "right-wing radicals." The exciting thing is that I see this happening across the country.

Students are beginning to appreciate that our Movement not only wants to end abortion but also to establish a cultural respect for human dignity that will be evident in legislation that fosters adoption and funds alternatives to abortion.

As college students, we are reaching the crucial point where we have to make decisions about our future. We are beginning to see what role we will play in advocating life whatever be our chosen fields.

Attendance at the march should also show that significant numbers of student in the high school and college generation are joining hands with us for the long haul as we fight to restore the right to life.

If the March for Life shows us anything this year, it is that we will propel our cause forward like never before if we only keep up our efforts in politics, prayer, service, and education.