Next year’s March for Life in Washington, D.C., will be held on Friday, Jan. 27.

The change of date from the traditional Jan. 22 — the anniversary of Roe v. Wade, the Supreme Court’s ruling that legalized abortion — is because of the presidential inauguration, which will be on Jan. 20, 2017.

And for those of you who really like to plan ahead, the March will be held on Jan. 19 in 2018 and Jan. 18 in 2019.

Guest blogger Peter Partridge, of Haverstraw, who traveled to the March for Life in the face of the impending blizzard, makes his report.

March for Life took place Jan. 22, 2016. The date memorializes the day when Supreme Court justices stripped the unborn of historical protection in the womb and violated the most basic tenant of our civilization.

“Snowmageddon, the storm that dumped two and a half feet of snow on Washington D.C. and New York, would not stop the thousands that came. What is a snowstorm in comparison to an erroneous decision that is responsible for the death of 58,662,945 and counting? Tremendous numbers of young people were present.

March for Life President Jeanne Mancini announced the theme of the 2016 March: “IT IS PRO-WOMAN TO BE PRO-LIFE.” 

Rally speaker Senator Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), war veteran and the first woman combat veteran elected to serve in the United States Senate, had choice words for President Obama and Hillary Clinton. The President and Democrats seem to think there is a war on women going on.  If they don’t know what a war is I can show them!  It is not being waged on women in the United States.”

Marguerite Duane, MD, family physician at Georgetown University said that if anyone is waging a war on women it is those who support abortion and call it a woman’s right.  Her research shows that women are targeted in the womb for destruction by sex selection. Unborn babies are being aborted simply because they are female.

The key note speaker was Matt Birk, a football player who won the Super Bowl in 2013 with the Baltimore Ravens.  Following the Super Bowl, Matt chose not to attend the White House celebration dinner because of President Obama’s support for Planned Parenthood with taxpayer dollars.  In his spontaneous speech he said, “I’m a football player, so I like to keep things really simple. We need to treasure life, not end it.” He went on to say that lots of work needs to be done recognizing the great sacrifice that many women make allowing their children to be adopted.  Society actually sends the opposite message to these mothers; however, their love is great when they allow someone to adopt a child who would be better off in a loving family.

Silent No More men and women gave testimony concerning their mistakes in the past that caused suffering and death. The consensus was they were fooled and mislead and the result of abortion is a devaluing of our humanity and this hurts.

After the March ended, Peter walked to the Senate Office Building to deliver to prolife Sen. Ted Cruz  (R-Texas) a message about “New York values” — how about braving a historic snowstorm to support life!!   

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.

UPDATES IN RED 

TODAY — FRIDAY  ROSE MASS for LIFE — 10 a.m. at St. Anthony’s in Nanuet. All are invited. (36 W. Nyack Road, Nanuet).

(1/20/16 @ noon) THE TRIP IS CANCELLED. 

While it was unlikely the bus would encounter any problems on the way to the March, or maybe even coming home on the northern NJ to Rockland leg of the trip, our concern was the situation in the Washington, D.C., area. The National Weather Service has issued a blizzard watch for the capital beginning at noon, Friday. If the storm does, in fact, set in then, it could lead to a very dangerous situation on the roads getting home.  Our contract with the bus company required us to make a decision today.  Please check back later for more details. Continue reading →

Here’s the official March for Life 2016 promo video. In the words of one young woman, her involvement with the March for Life “opened our eyes to how amazing life really is, and how many people support the pro-life movement, and all the babies, and the mothers and the fathers.”

It’s only a minute long. Please give it a look.

What brings them?  Those hundreds of thousands who travel to the March for Life in Washington, D.C., each January.

It’s what you do when you believe in something that’s just so important that your commitment reaches  down to the very roots of your soul. When you know that what you hold most dear is being threatened, and even if nobody stands up but you, you have to do it. When your faith, your belief in what our country is supposed to stand for, and your concern for those who are suffering won’t let you turn away.

When you know you have to do your part to defend the Right for Life, come to the March.

There you’ll see your single effort multiplied many thousand times over, your strength will reinforced by the passion of marchers of every age, religion, race, and ethnic background from every state of the union. And your heart will be uplifted and renewed by what you’ll be a part of there.

The March for Life is held each on January 22, the day commemorating the Supreme Court’s Roe v. Wade decision which legalized abortion on demand in 1973. Continue reading →