Life is good
There have been many marches that have taken place all throughout history. The March for Life, however, is an annual march that protests against the legality and practice of abortion. The march is held in Washington D.C. and takes place usually around the anniversary of Roe v. Wade, which was a monumental decision made by the United States Supreme Court in 1973 to legalize abortion nationwide. The first March for Life took place on January 22,1974 and ever since then, the March has taken place in January in Washington D.C. This year, the March for Life took place on Friday, January 19.
Maggie Sparling (11) did not attend the march but did attend the Life is Very Good Evening of Prayer held by the Catholic Diocese of Arlington on Thursday, January 18. Sparling also attended the rally two years ago and attended this year’s event with two of her sisters and her church. The Evening of Prayer gives participants an opportunity to pray that the March for Life will change people’s’ feelings towards abortion and to prepare for the march the next day. “The theme is life is very good” stated Sparling. The night is full of prayer, music, and speakers that support the March for Life. Being Pro-life is something that Sparling feels very strong about, especially being part of a large family, and growing up with the values that her family is instilled in her and what she cares about is something that she chooses to support. And if she can help to support the cause, she wants to be a part of it. Sparling stated “The rally was really nice. A lot of times, especially being in Northern Virginia, we have a strong community that’s more liberal and more pro-choice oriented. It’s nice sometimes to be reminded that you’re not the only one who holds these opinions and that there are other people out there who have a similar mindset.”
Sparling’s favorite part of the evening were the speakers – Sparling stated “ I really liked all of the speakers. They had so many points that were not just about abortion but also focused on including all aspects of the Life is very good theme and focused on speaking about Life from natural conception until Life from natural death and brought up points that I hadn’t thought about before.”
Another Oakton student, Carolyn Best (11) attended the March for Life with her mother and even got to be at the front of the march. Best has been attending the march ever since around 7th grade and has been pro-life for a while now. “This year the march was pretty good, but I’ve definitely been to better ones. They do a speech beforehand and I wasn’t really a fan of the people who spoke this year. There have definitely been better speeches given but this year was pretty good.” President Donald J. Trump spoke at the rally, but he was not present for security reasons. He instead gave the speech from the White House. Speaker of the House, Paul Ryan spoke as well. One speaker that Best was a fan of was U.S. Congresswoman, Jaime Herrera Beutler. Beutler talked about how her child had a 0% chance of survival and raised the point that instead of spending money on abortions for disabled kids, we should spend it on looking for cures. Best’s Capstone project is related to Beutler’s speech and is about disabilities and abortions, so Best was really able to connect with Beutler’s speech. Best also stated that this year there was a different type of climate at the march as it was more politically oriented. However, Best did not attend the march for political reasons instead she went to support the cause and instill her beliefs.
At the march, the participants were not chanting negative things and was not protest like instead the march had “good vibes” stated Best. Best’s favorite part about attending the march was getting the opportunity to see people from all over the world – “There was this big group of people from North Dakota, and I even saw people from France and Germany” stated Best.
Regardless of the different opinions that may exist in society, there is no doubt that the March for Life brings people from people of different backgrounds and cultures from all over the world to support a common cause.
My name is Ishika Jain, and I am a senior at Oakton High School. I have been a part of the Oakton Outlook for the past 3 years of high school. I was Design...
