The Greatest Story Never Told

The March for Life is the largest civil rights protest in the world, but you won't see it in the news.


On Friday, January 25 2013, in 20 degree cold and snow, between half and two thirds of a million people gathers in our nation's capitol. They weren't protesting high taxes. They weren't calling for gun control. They were there to protest the greatest injustice in America and the world today. They were there to stand up for life.

The March for Life has taken place every year since Roe v. Wade expanded abortions in the United States in 1973 (see sidebar). This was the 40th March for Life, and the first one since the death of its founder, Nellie Gray.

The day began with a tribute to Nellie, and speeches by prominent members of the pro-life community. Sean Cardinal O'Malley, Archbishop of Boston, gave the opening prayer, along with several Orthodox Metropolitans.

Senator Santorum and Family

Ryan Scott Bomberger (see image at right) told the story of his hero, Frederick Douglas who, like himself, was conceived in rape.Georgette Forney of Silent No More spoke tearfully about her abortion. Senator Rick Santorum spoke about the pressure put on his family to abort their daughter Bella. There were several other speakers as well.

After the talk came the walk. Marchers set off down the Mall to walk past the Capitol and Supreme Court buildings. I found it hard to march because of the sheer number of people. Every few feet it seemed we were stopping again because there was simply no room to walk.

Georgette Forney

I have read that there were between 500,000 and 650,000 people present. The main stream media have reported this as "thousands" or "tens of thousands". The same media reported over 600,000 present for the presidential inauguration. Having seen the Inauguration coverage and the March for Life coverage I'd have to say that the number of people present appeared about the same, so I'd accept the 650,000 estimate over the "thousands." Certainly it was much more crowded than last year where there were an estimated 400,000.

I'm not sure how to convey the sense of what it was like to be in a crowd that large, all marching and cheering in support of basic human rights. I have a couple of video clips that may be helpful.

In 1973 The Supreme Court decided, in the case Roe v. Wade, that there was an implied right to abortion in the following text. See if you can find it.

All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the state wherein they reside. No state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any state deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.

Yeah, I can't find it either. The court came to this decision by deciding that before birth human beings are not "persons", and therefore not deserving of protection under the law. At the same time, they decided that among the "privileges" mentioned was an implied "right to privacy" which was threatened by calling abortion a crime.

What's worse is that on the same day the court ruled, in the case Doe v. Bolton, that a woman's decision to abort her child for any reason was her right up to and even during the birth of that child, if her "health" would be affected, where "health" could be broadly interpreted to mean anything, including financial position or emotional state.

These decisions, contrary to popular belief, did not legalize abortion. What they did was to drastically expand abortion in the United States and remove any limitations on it. Overturning these decisions would not, as some claim, make abortion illegal. It would merely allow the states to participate in deciding future abortion legislation.

Posted in: abortion,March for Life,Pro-Life,protest