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Buffs join thousands for the March for Life
By Anna Moran
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From Jan 23-26, 28 fellow students, six chaperones and myself were blessed with the opportunity to travel to Washington D.C. to take part in the March For Life. The March For Life is a peaceful pro- test involving a march along the National Mall to the steps of the Supreme Court to call for an end to abortion in the United States.
This year, the March For Life remembered the 40th memorial of the Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision legalizing abortion across the United States.
On our first day in Washington we visited many of the Smithsonian museums and that evening we attended the Prayer Vigil for Life Mass at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception. The Mass hosted a congregation of 20,000 Catholics who had come to participate in the march. More than 500 bishops, priests and deacons took part in the liturgy; it took the clergy 45 minutes to process into the church!
On Jan. 25 our group from Machebeuf, joined by Denver Archbishop Samuel Aquila, gathered with a crowd of more than 500,000 protesters on the National Mall for the actual March for Life. The peaceful three-hour protest included Catholics, Protestant and Orthodox Christians, Jews and secularists all calling for an end to abortion and drawing attention to the 55 million innocent unborn children who have lost their lives to this grave evil.
I personally was overjoyed by the turnout and the enthusiasm of the marchers. With abortion being such an important issue, seeing so many young people like me gave such hope for the likelihood of change. I was able to talk with people from across the United States as well as from Ireland, Portugal and Canada. They had all gathered to show their support for an end to abortion.
This opportunity was more than words can describe. It was a solemn event as we contemplated that our modern world is faced with the bloodiest genocide ever. Despite this reality, there was an indescribable sense of joy and hope in the realization that so many people are ready to do whatever it takes to bring an end to abortion in the United States.
Anna Moran is a senior at Bishop Machebeuf High School in Denver and co-founder and co-president of the school’s Pro-Life Club.
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