The Beginning of My Pro-Life Life

The Institute of Christ the King, Sovereign Priest, March for Life pilgrims from St. Louis, Missouri. This doesn't include those from Kansas City, Illinois (Chicago and Rockford), or Wisconsin.

      March for Life 2018 was the first public pro-life activity of my (at-the-time-almost) adult life. When I was about six or seven, my family said the Rosary-the whole Rosary-with an elderly lady, next to a public road, which was probably my very first public pro-life activity. Going on the March for Life, however, was my decision, and one of the best of my life so far.

      After I returned, one of our local newspapers syndicated an article from the Associated Press about the Women's March, while saying nothing of the March for Life, where the crowds are at least 100 times larger. I sent the following letter to three newspapers; it was never published.

Dear Editor:

As there was little secular coverage of this year’s March for Life in Washington, D.C., I would like to share a first-hand account with your readers.

It has been estimated that there were between 500,000 and 600,000 participants at the March this year, many, many of whom would be considered “young people” like myself. I traveled with the Institute of Christ the King, Sovereign Priest, an international Catholic religious order with its U.S. headquarters in Chicago. The 50-seater bus I took from St. Louis with the group had 49 passengers, with the vast majority of us under the age of 30. Another bus of the ICKSP met up with ours in Washington, and I’m sure they can speak similarly.

The crowd at the rally at the National Mall before the actual march began was astounding, but not unexpected, as the March for Life is the largest peaceful protest in the United States. Our group was towards the back (and grateful for the jumbotron) with an enormous number of people in front of us. The speakers were excellent, including Sr. Bethany Madonna of the Sisters of Life, Pam Tebow (mother of Tim Tebow), former NFL player Matt Birk, Speaker of the House Paul Ryan, Vice President Mike Pence, and one very notable speaker not everyone may be aware of: President Donald Trump (via satellite from the White House Rose Garden), the first standing U.S. president to address the March for Life since it began 45 years ago. 

            The March itself lasted more than two hours, during which our group prayed the Rosary and sang the words, “Christus vincit, Christus regnat, Christus imperat” (Latin for “Christ conquers, Christ reigns, Christ rules”) multiple times. I was privileged to help carry one of our banners for almost the entire March.

Why were we there? To quote President Trump, “The March for Life is a movement born out of love. You love your families, you love your neighbors, you love our nation and you love every child — born and unborn — because you believe every life is sacred, that every child is a precious gift from God.” Exactly. We were there because we love our country too much to sit back and do nothing as long as abortion is legal in the United States. We love women too much to allow them to harm themselves by aborting their unborn children. We love children too much not to fight for a world where each and every one of them is given the right to live.

My feet were very sore at the end of the day, but it was worth it because I walked for the unborn who cannot walk, and I walked so that there might never be another child who will never have the chance to walk because of an abortion. As I told a friend who was with me on the March, I didn’t think I would be so proud to be there, but I was. I hope to do what Speaker Ryan asked of us at the end of his speech, to come back next year and bring three friends. Even if I cannot, I will always be proud that I did my part in standing up for life.

Sincerely,

Sarah McDonald