Faces of the National March for Life

You’re reading Align’s pro-life issue: our look at some of the different people and perspectives within the anti-abortion movement. Please also see our dispatch from OneLife LA; the college student’s guide to preparing for the March for Life; interviews with comedians JP Sears and Nicholas De Santoand skyscraper-scaling activist Maison DesChamps; Robin Atkins on how to talk to pro-choice advocates; and Kevin Ryan on abortion’s brutal culling of people with Down syndrome.

On a Friday that was snowy enough to cancel school in Northern Virginia, I ventured out with my four children to participate in and document the 51st National March for Life. While we were tempted to enjoy a slow snow day with a cozy fire and hot chocolate, it felt important to make the extra effort despite the winter storm warning, snowy roads, and sub-freezing temperatures. I wanted my kids to understand the importance of advocating for the unborn and that sometimes — or most times — advocating is not easy or comfortable, even if you have hand-warmers in your gloves. Doing the right, hard thing is always worth it.

I also promised we would try sledding by the Washington Monument afterward.

As one who grew up in the Christian pro-life movement, I was deeply affected by advocating for pro-life causes alongside my mom and family. We would drive around to the churches in our area distributing information on current ballot measures or the pro-life stances of various local candidates. We would march with pro-life messages along the busy intersections of our town and help organize fundraising events for our local crisis pregnancy center. My mom helped sow the seeds of advocacy that have grown into a passion for pro-life causes and the people affected by them. This is what I wanted to cultivate in my own children, snowstorm or not.

Debbie Anderson

While my kids got to build a snowman in front of the Capitol, they also saw hundreds of thousands of people advocating on behalf of the unborn. While they get to grow up in a post- Roe era where abortion is no longer a constitutional right, they also get to be part of advocating for life issues at the state and local levels. My hope and prayer is that participating in events like the March for Life, even from the back of a snow sled, will plant the seeds for the next generation of pro-life advocates.

I also wanted my children to see the faces and hear the stories of those willing to march for life. We met a woman who had almost been aborted herself and another woman who lost four siblings to abortion. We met a father of three along with groups of young college-age men, all calling on men to lead in the pro-life movement and doing so by example. We also met the workers and volunteers of crisis pregnancy centers, the everyday, front-line heroes of the pro-life cause, serving women and children in challenging situations.

Here are just a few of the inspiring people we spoke to.

Debbie Anderson

Rachel (left): "Sometimes we think of the pro-life movement as just a niche thing. I’m a musician and an artist. And one of the stereotypes of the industry is that it is super liberal, so I’m here as a pro-life musician. I feel like everybody has a place in the pro-life movement. This is the fight of our lives. This is the fight of our generation.”

Rachael (right): “My dad had two girlfriends who aborted their babies. And then when my mother and father were together, they aborted the child before me and the child after me. And so I march for them because there are a lot of people, men and women, who have siblings, aunts and uncles, cousins, relatives who are not here because of abortion. You know, how do you account for all of them?

"Abortion doesn’t just touch the individual; it touches everyone in the family dynamic and in your community as well. You think about the human cost — of all the artists or scientists, the engineers, the doctors, the firemen, plumbers, electricians, everybody across the board. From the wealthy to the poor, it really has an impact on our society when you think about the 60 million-plus people that were terminated since Roe v. Wade was instituted. So I march for them. And I’m seven weeks pregnant, so I also march for my baby.”

Debbie Anderson

Bill: "I traveled here with a group from Boston. I guess I am an activist. I’m here letting people know there are fathers who have been affected and want to lead on life issues. I have three children of my own.”

Debbie Anderson

Greg: "I’m here because abortion is wrong. Life begins at conception. Make more babies.”

Debbie Anderson

Eddie: "We volunteer outside abortion clinics in Maryland to share hope with the women who might go in. The women need to know there is hope.”

Shanetta: “I’m thankful to even be here. My mom was one of those women on an abortion table in 1978, but her mind was changed or else I wouldn’t be here. I was that baby. She almost aborted me. Now we march for the women who might be thinking about an abortion. We march to save those babies. And to help the women who need it.”

Debbie Anderson

Rhonda (with her husband, George): "The first march I did here was when there was a blizzard and we got 16 inches of snow. We were snowed in for two days. I’m thrilled to see the snow today!

"I have seen people go through abortions. Not actually witnessed the procedure, but you see the pain afterwards. I work at a crisis pregnancy center in Georgia. At first I thought I’ll just help in the boutique, organizing the free baby supplies, but now I help provide counseling. We support the women, of course. And I believe in life at conception."