Catholic University Participates in March For Life 2019
By Rachel Stevens and Thomas Curry
Hundreds of Catholic University students took to the National Mall to participate in the 46th annual March for Life on the afternoon of Friday, January 18.
The first March for Life, which was founded by pro life activist Nellie Gray, was held on January 22, 1974, on the West Steps of the Capitol, with an estimated 20,000 supporters in attendance. This year, attendance rose well above 100,000 marchers representing various parts of the country. Amongst the crowds this year was a group of Catholic University students invited by Cardinals for Life to march with them.
The March for Life is a display against Roe v Wade, a 1973 court case that legalized abortion. Claiming abortion is wrong, the March for Life envisions a world where, “the beauty and dignity of every human life are valued and protected,” attributing one of the seven principles of Catholic social teaching.
To do this, people gather in Washington, D.C. each year to march to the Supreme Court steps where the first march took place. According to March for Life organizers, the mission of the march is to, “end abortion by uniting, educating, and mobilizing pro-life people in the public square.”
The March for Life typically draws in a crowd of hundreds of thousands of people, as shown by this year’s crowd. Although exact crowd numbers aren’t available, organizers said they expected 100,000 people to participate, but some later said as many as 200,000 to 300,000 might have been at the event.
Safety is an obvious concern during these events and District of Columbia Police Officer Rebecca Good says that, “our goal during these types of events is to make sure everyone is able to safely exercise their first amendment right. It really boils down to a teamwork approach where all different DC agencies are utilized to keep it safe.” There were few reports of hostility and counter protestors during the event, and many in the crowd shared their message peacefully and respectfully.
Guest speakers such as anti-abortion activist Abby Johnson, Representative Katrina Jackson (D-LA), political commentator Ben Shapiro, Supreme Knight of Knights of Columbus Carl Anderson and Vice President Mike Pence amongst several other speakers drew the crowd around the National Mall prior to the March beginning on 12th Street NW around 1:30 PM.
The festivities before the march included the National Prayer Vigil for Life in the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception and an overnight stay in the DuFour Center for over one thousand high school students and organizations coming from all across the country hosted by campus ministry. About one hundred volunteer students from Catholic University volunteered by serving food to guests and chaperoning for Pro-Life Hospitality in the DuFour.
Amanda Ceraldi, first-year Associate Campus Minister for Women’s Ministry, played a large role in organizing Pro-Life Hospitality on campus in the DuFour Center.
“The event went very smoothly,” Ceraldi said, “I actually could not have anticipated it going any more smoothly because of the overwhelming support from our team at Campus Ministry and our volunteers, both in and out of the office.”
As opposed to making classes optional on the day of the march, the school rather decided to cancel classes from 11AM-3:
“Not only did [cancelling classes] encourage students to go, but it was also helpful towards professors who wished to attend the March,” Ceraldi explained.
One student, sophomore Alexis Fernandez, shared on Facebook, “Proud to say that I attend a University that supports the March for Life and allows those who participate in the event to do so without missing valuable class time!” University President Garvey described this decision in an email as a “simpler approach” which in turn “[increases] the number of student and faculty marchers”.
The administration will look at the exact number of attendees and decide from there on whether or not they will continue to cancel classes for the March for Life.
