Young Activists Adding Fuel to Antiabortion Side

An astonishing report from today's Washington Post about Friday's March for Life, written by columnist Robert McCartney ... 

I went to the March for Life rally Friday on the Mall expecting to write about its irrelevance. Isn't it quaint, I thought, that these abortion protesters show up each year on the anniversary of Roe v. Wade, even though the decision still stands after 37 years. What's more, with a Democrat in the White House likely to appoint justices who support abortion rights, surely the Supreme Court isn't going to overturn Roe in the foreseeable future.

How wrong I was. The antiabortion movement feels it's gaining strength, even if it's not yet ready to predict ultimate triumph, and Roe supporters (including me) are justifiably nervous.

As always, we in Washington enjoy an up-close view of the health of various causes because of the city's role as the nation's most important setting for political demonstrations. In this case, I was especially struck by the large number of young people among the tens of thousands at the march. It suggests that the battle over abortion will endure for a long time to come.

"We are the pro-life generation," said signs carried by the crowd, about half its members appearing to be younger than 30. There were numerous large groups of teenagers, many bused in by Roman Catholic schools and youth groups. They and their adult leaders said the youths were taught from an early age to oppose abortion.

Read the rest from the Washington Post online.

Comments

[Jessica]

I find that article very encouraging! Thank you for sharing it!

[drea916]

Also, many young people realize that they were the lucky ones that got born. There are many missing from our generation. What great minds never got born? How many future husbands never got born? How many of our co-workers, teachers, athletes never got born? There have been 50 million abortions since Roe v Wade. Who's missing? Some of us (such as myself) were almost aborted. So, it's a bit personal as well.

[Terry]

At the time of the election, my 5-year old son loved then-Senator Obama. When he found out that my wife and I were not planning to vote for Mr. Obama, he was curious. I explained as gently as possible that we could not do it with a clear conscience since Barrack Obama would not even try to protect the lives of babies before their births. We felt it disqualified him from receiving our votes. Like the parents of the young people in the article, we are also training our son to respect the lives of pre-born children (and others).

As for the prospects of eventually overturning Roe v. Wade or passing a Human Life Amendment to the Constitution, I'm not sure if it will happen. But I know that supporting the pro-life position makes a positive difference in our nation, even when we continually lose the political battles. A decade ago, I read that 2/3 of Russia's pregnancies ended in abortion. At that time, 1/3 of American pregnancies ended in abortion. Neither country had many legal restrictions on the procedure, but the abortion rates were sharply different. I'm convinced that it is because Russia has never had a significant pro-life movement. We may fail often as a political movement, but even in failure, we are a voice for the children. And that voice is being heard.