Thousands gather at Capitol Hill for the March for Life.
Christina Laderoute
Connector Editor
With the theme “The Power of Love,” this year’s March for Life took to the streets of Washington D.C.
The March for Life takes place every year around the anniversary of the legalization of abortion that was the result of the popular Supreme Court Case Roe v. Wade. On Jan. 27, thousands of pro-life supporters gathered at the nation’s capital to encourage a revision to current laws regarding abortion.
UMass Lowell student Tyler Farley attended the March, noting the turnout and the people that attended and spoke at the event. “It was interesting…there was a giant crowd,” said Farley, “I was near Capitol Hill. You could hear all these different chants like ‘We are the pro-life generation.’”
This year was different from past years, because two of the speakers were Kellyanne Conway, counselor to the president of the United States, and Mike Pence, the vice president. Pence was the first sitting vice president to ever address the March for Life.
“This dismissive notion of ‘out of sight, out of mind’ is over. Science and medicine have joined religion and morality in causing many Americans to rethink just how fragile and how triumphant human life truly is,” said Conway in her speech, “Every day is a fight for life, yet today is also a celebration of life. It is a time to lift your voices and lift your spirits. Steps away from here in the White House, a president and a vice president sit at their desks and make decisions for a nation.”
Representative Mia Love stood at the National Mall and spoke about her journey.
“Every time we kill a child through abortion, we kill our potential. Every time we kill a child, we, all of us, suffer, we lose a little of ourselves and a whole lot of our future,” said Love. “The life of those unborn have the potential and serve the chance because they will dream, they will create, they will add their colors to the fabric of our lives.”
Vice President Pence and his family took the podium as well on Friday. Karen Pence, Mike Pence’s wife, opened up by telling the audience that this is not their first March for Life.
“Our family has been to many Marches for Life over the past 16 years. My job today is to introduce my husband of 31 years. And just very short and sweet, I have never met anyone who has more compassion for women, for children and for the American people.”
Pence started by welcoming all of the marchers to D.C. He continued by saying that he is deeply humbled to be the first vice president to attend the march.
“More than 240 years ago our founders wrote words that have echoed through the age. They declared these truths to be self-evident. That we are all of us endowed by our creator, with certain unalienable rights and that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.”
Pence also addressed the Mexico City Policy and the issue of taxpayer money going towards abortion providers. “This administration will work with the Congress to end taxpayer funding of abortion and of abortion providers, and we will devote those resources to healthcare services for women across America.”