This weekend, January 21-24, 2012, the Pro-Life Club will take a pilgrimage to Washington, D.C., to participate in the annual Pro-Life March. The Pro-life March is actually a series of marches that takes place all over the U. S. The main march is located in the nation’s capital and is set to take place on January 21. The event is organized and put on by March for Life Organization, a non-profit dedicated to protecting life in all its stages.
The Pro Life March emerged in late 1973 when grassroots leaders became concerned that the one-year anniversary of the pro-abortion case, Roe vs. Wade, would go unnoticed. Thus, planning for a march began and, on January 22, 1974, a small group of dedicated pro-lifers marched on the West Steps of the Capitol. The first march brought only 20,000 people, but today, the March for Life in D. C. attracts more than 200,000 citizens and has even sparked marches in other cities, including Dallas.
This year, the Pro-Life club, led by theology teachers Jude Harrington and Terry McLellan, will be traveling to D.C. with fellow teachers and students, like Mr. Samuel Wilson, S.J.; Fr. Anthony Wieck, S. J.; and Pro-Life Club president Will Keffler ’12. The March for Life actually takes place over the course of a whole weekend, but the march itself takes place on January 23. The Pro Life Club’s purpose is to raise awareness for life issues, especially the importance and preciousness of life. “Life is something to have reverence for,” said Mr. Harrington when asked to sum up the mission of the club. “We aim at raising awareness that life is sacred.”
The students and teachers of the club will leave on January 21 and arrive back in Dallas on the 24th. The night before the march, the Pro-life Club will have a Mass for the unborn at the Shrine of the Immaculate Conception. On the day of the march, the Pro-Life club will venture to the Version Center for a youth mass and rally with 16,000 other young people. From there, the club will begin the actual march. The club, along with 200,000 other marchers, will travel to the Supreme Court where they will listen to speakers and engage in what Mr. Herrington calls “a peaceful protest.”
Because sending so many Pro-Life Club members up to D. C. can get expensive, the Club has turned to fun, Jesuit-related fundraisers to be able to attend the Pro Life March. This year, the Pro-Life Club held a FIFA soccer tournament and a raffle with prizes like an iPad and an Amazon Kindle. Additionally, last Friday, they had their spaghetti dinner, which also helps with raising money for trip expenses.
While the Pro-Life Club’s mission is to encourage the sacredness of life, students also have personal reasons for attending the Pro-Life March. Pro-Life March veteran Will Keffler said the thing he likes most about the Pro-life Club and the march is that “it gives me the chance to get my views and the club’s purpose out to the public, so that we can raise awareness on a controversial issue.” Mr. Harrington said it was a personal satisfaction of his “to see the boys get behind something they are so passionate about and do it in such a way that it is raising awareness.”
One thing that can be sure about this weekend, and that is that the Pro-Life Club and the Pro-Life March are surely going to leave their mark on the nation’s capitol.
