As Winter Storm Jonas pressed on toward Washington, D.C., Friday morning threatening upwards of two feet of snow, wind gusts over 40 mph, and dangerous or impossible travel conditions, the 2016 March for Life stepped off as scheduled.

The Rally began at noon and shortly before its conclusion at 1 pm, the first flakes had begun to fall. The crowd, which the Eternal Word Television Network had estimated at about one-third of previous years, hurriedly formed into line of March and headed into the the streets, determined complete the march at the Supreme Court before the weather got too bad.

Although numbers were lower, the spirit of the marchers was as high as ever as they carried aloft their signs proclaiming “Defend Life,” “We Are the Prolife Generation” and “Life Counts!” among others. Presidential candidate Carly Fiorina was enthusiastically applauded as she told the audience at the rally, “Ours is a fight for the character of our nation. For the value of life itself. It is a fight we must win to take our country back.”

The Rockland Right to Life Committee made the decision to cancel its bus trip to the March for Life on Wednesday. The concern was the hazardous traveling conditions the bus could likely encounter as it headed north back to Rockland Friday night. Several area trips were cancelled as was the Rally for Life scheduled to be held in White Plains.

Nevertheless, several Rocklanders made it down to Washington on their own. Richard Bruno and Peter Partridge sent back these photos from the March:

The crowds broke up quickly at the end of the March for Life at the Supreme Court as the snows of the predicted blizzard began to fall. Photo by Katie Grahn

Here’s a posting from marchers from the Hudson Valley Coalition for Life who drove to D.C. when their bus was cancelled. They had no problem getting home and arrived without incident, unlike these students who were stranded on the Pennsylvania Turnpike.

Eyewitness account of how this mass happened and what it was like being stranded on a bus for 24 hours in a snowstorm on the Pennsylvania Turnpike on the way back from the March for Life. (National Right to Life News Day) Another story about stranded Marchers and more photos.