LifeNews is reporting that this year's crowd is believed to have smashed all previous attendance records with hundreds of thousands marching through the streets of Washington DC on one of the coldest days of the winter thus far.
The event kicked off on Thursday night at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception with a vigil Mass attended by 13,000 faithful, 395 priests, 80 deacons, 520 seminarians, 42 bishops and four cardinals.
In his homily, Cardinal Sean O’Malley of Boston said that “abortion is not a necessary evil, it’s simply evil.”
Cardinal O'Malley, who serves as the chairman of the U.S. Bishops' Committee on Pro-Life Activities pointed out that “Since 1973 there have been about 55 million abortions. That’s how many people live in Italy, in the United Kingdom, in France.”
He added, “Abortion, like slavery, is not just a religious issue, it is a human rights issue."
The Cardinal encouraged people to never lose sight of the fact that we must work to overturn the law of Roe v. Wade and to work harder to make Americans understand that abortion is both evil and unnecessary.
In a chilling warning, the cardinal said, “There is no doubt that the next major assault on the Gospel of Life will come from those pushing physician assisted suicide and euthanasia.” He added, “The society that allows parents to kill their children will allow children to kill their parents.”
The following morning, marchers were cheered by a tweet from Pope Benedict XVI who said: “I join all those marching for life from afar, and pray that political leaders will protect the unborn and promote a culture of life.”
Kept warm by the fire in their heart, they listened to speeches by key lawmakers such as House Speaker John Boehner who pledged to "help make abortion a relic of the past."
Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) who credited his medical training for his pro-life views, issued a challenge to abortion supporters.
"I defy [pro-abortion ideologues] to come to the neonatal nursery with me and look at these tiny little miracles and say, 'We're not going to protect that,'” he said to a cheering crowd.
"Can a nation long endure that does not respect the sanctity of life? Can a nation conceived in liberty carry its head high if it denies protection to the youngest and most vulnerable of its citizens? I believe great nations and great civilizations spring from a people who have a moral compass. Our nation is adrift, adrift in a wilderness where right and wrong have become subservient to the hedonism of the moment,” he stated.
Paul called for a revival, saying the country was in need of a "spiritual cleansing."
Fr. Frank A. Pavone, national director for Priests for Life who has been attending the annual March for Life since he was a teenager, told the Christian Post that the re-election of pro-abortion President Barack Obama hasn't hindered the efforts of the March.
"This has been a testimony to the strength of this movement that not only have the people persevered but the numbers have grown and they've grown younger," said Pavone. "Despite any kind of bad weather, despite any other obstacles… they come, they come in strength; you see a great spirit of joy and optimism here as well."
As usual, the media mostly ignored the "anti-abortion" March although The New York Times finally broke its years-long tradition of completely ignoring the March. This year it chose to publish an 815-word story that was buried at the bottom of page nine in the paper's National section. As Newsbusters reports, it appeared on the same page as another story in which a religion reporter used liberal Catholic activists to chide pro-lifers for not also being anti-gun.
"It's almost as if the paper acknowledged the march so as to be able to criticize it," wrote Newsbusters Clay Waters.
Neither CBS or ABC made any mention of the March, but both highlighted a pro-gun control protest in DC that drew "close to a thousand people."
In spite of efforts to prevent the public from witnessing the true scope of the pro-life movement in America, the movement is growing and becoming younger every year.
“The right-to-life movement remains more committed than ever to protecting unborn children and providing compassionate, life-affirming alternatives to their mothers,” observed National Right to Life President Carol Tobias. “What profoundly scares abortion supporters gives us enormous confidence in the future: young people are more and more pro-life.”
She added: “Our humanity is not defined by the atrocities that have been committed throughout history, but by the shining light of those who recognize injustice and refuse to be complicit through silence.”
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