YOUNG PEOPLE DOMINATE WASHINGTON MARCH FOR LIFE

By The Rev. Charles H. Nalls

January 23, 2004

Tens of thousands of predominantly young pro-life demonstrators filled downtown Washington streets for the 31st anniversary of Roe v. Wade.

Between 100,000-200,000 marchers from across America and internationally gathered, with a deafening roar erupting when a speaker asked everyone under 25 to identify themselves. A visible delegation from France joined the predominantly young American crowd.

The surprisingly warm weather welcomed participants who came to pray, sing, and demand an end to abortion, assisted suicide, and abortion-based research. Speakers emphasized that abortion numbers are dropping while opposition is growing.

President Bush spoke to the crowd by telephone from New Mexico, calling "all life sacred and worthy of protection." He pledged to uphold the partial-birth abortion ban signed into law on November 5 and halt human cloning.

The gathering included an orthodox rabbi who offered a fiery sermon and declared excommunicate those who do not respect life from conception. The crowd was addressed by numerous Roman Catholic bishops, Eastern Orthodox prelates, politicians, and representatives from Family Research Council and Concerned Women of America.

Marchers noticed greater representation from non-Catholic groups this year, including large contingents of Southern Baptists for Life and Methodists for Life, alongside Eastern Orthodox groups and independent Evangelical churches.

Along the route, participants sang hymns, prayed, recited the rosary, and chanted litanies. The march concluded at the Supreme Court, where some knelt in prayer while priests offered blessings.

One teenage marcher's shirt captured the spirit: "You will not silence me. You will not mock my God. You will stop killing my generation."