Last weekend, I had the amazing privilege and honor to participate in the 2017 March for Life in Washington DC. The opportunity was something orchestrated by God’s divine hand, using the beautiful hearts and generosity of some precious people in my life. I am more grateful than words can express.
Even though I have been working in the pro-life movement for more than 13 years, this is the first time I had the chance to go to our nation’s capital for the March for Life. There were many times in those years before that I had thought to go, but this year was different. This year I desperately wanted to be there. I know I was not alone in feeling as though there was something very significant about this year particularly, and so there was a deep longing in my heart to go.
There are many reasons that this year felt very different and significant, the first of which is the new political administration. The 2017 March for Life took place just one week after the inauguration of the new President of the United States. Whether you support or like this new President or not, the bottom line is that he is an advocate for life. Even in his first week in office, he made good on some of his campaign promises that protect life.
So with this new President and new administration, there is a new “feeling” in the air, if you will, in Washington DC. After 8 years of a political administration that did anything but protect life, a fresh, new wind has blown in to our government, and so with the March for Life taking place just one week later, there was a new hope and excitement for those who stand for life in our country. We would be marching knowing that our government was behind us, working for us, not against us, and that was exciting!
Another significant difference in this year’s March was the historic participation of the Vice President of the United States. In the 44 year history of the March for Life, never has there been a sitting Vice President actually come to the March to address the crowds that were there. But this year there was. Our new Vice President, along with the new President’s campaign manager, was there to stand together with us in the fight. In fact, “We are with you in this fight!” was the message that was proclaimed to the half a million people from all over our country who were there for life. What an incredible statement to hear from our new administration right there in person! I still get goosebumps thinking about it.
As I think about all that I saw and heard that day, all of it still stirs my soul and brings excitement to my heart. There is no way to describe what it feels like to be in a crowd of approximately 500,000 people there for the same cause—the cause of LIFE! Sometimes it is easy to feel alone in the fight, or just small against the tide of the pro-abortion voices in our nation. But there in Washington DC, I was reminded that we are not alone, and we are far from
small! There were hundreds of thousands of people from every corner of this great nation who travelled to our capital to let their voices be heard. The banner for LIFE was lifted high at this historic occasion.
In those massive crowds at the March, one of the things that stood out to me was the incredible number of young people there. All around me were groups of teenagers and college students, standing together for life. Some mischaracterize the pro-life movement as an “old person’s” movement, but what I saw in Washington DC proves that it is anything but that. Scores upon scores of the younger generation marched and shouted, “We are the pro-life generation!” over and over again. It brought tears to my eyes to hear and see them. It gave me hope. Long after my work is done, there is a generation that will follow to continue the fight.
Being at the March for Life definitely fueled my heart for the fight. For as long as God continues to call and equip me for it, I will stand in our nation and our community for life. A Woman’s Choice will continue to promote and protect the sanctity of life and engage in the battle one life at a time. Every time a woman and man choose life over abortion, victory is won! Now we have our government behind us, but more importantly, we have always had the power and authority of God behind us, and so more victories will be won! So we will stand, and we will win. Praise God!