STAS Attends 2020 March for Life

As usual, the event began with a short rally featuring some speeches by supporters of the Pro-Life movement, including a guest appearance by Abby Johnson, a former leading employee of Planned Parenthood and the inspiration for Unplanned, a film that was recently released exposing the horrors of the work of Planned Parenthood. Moreover, for the first time in our country’s history, the President of the United States addressed the assembly. In his short speech, he emphasized the importance of being a nation which is pleasing to God and in which His grace is able to work more freely. He stressed the problem of rampant abortion in our country and expressed his intention to do all in his power to protect the Unborn by passing suitable laws and also by blocking the atrocious measures that are being promoted to permit the procuration of abortion even during a child’s birth. What is more, in front of, “more than a hundred thousand people,” the President stated his desire to abolish all government funding of Planned Parenthood and its affiliates, saying that it is not the duty of the public treasury to fund the murder of future generations. Those in attendance, for their part, were enthusiastic, frequently applauding the President with chants of, “four more years,” and other campaign slogans.

The March itself started around 2:00 pm, moving along Constitution Avenue from 14th Street and ending up next to the Supreme Court. The seminarians joined up with some of the Society’s faithful and priests from various chapels and schools including, but not limited to: Pittsburgh, Syracuse, and Ridgefield, as well as members of the closer chapels such as Richmond, and the D.C. Chapel. Throughout the nearly mile-long walk, priests, seminarians, and faithful sang and prayed the Rosary, chanted Marian hymns, and finished off the march with the anthem to St. Pius X.

It was a historic event on another level as well. As one seminarian succinctly put it, “You couldn’t even see the pavement beneath your feet…there were so many people.” Some of the long-time veterans of the group were amazed at the increase in numbers from previous years. Our group met pilgrims from as far away as California, Arizona, and New Mexico, which seems to indicate an ever-increasing interest in the Pro-Life movement throughout the country. It was an encouraging experience in many ways and one that many seminarians hope to make a yearly occurrence. May God grant that more Americans realize the horrendous crime that abortion is, and that it may soon be abolished entirely.