Students attend March for Life in Washington D.C.
A group of 22 students, members of Stars for Life, traveled with Rockhurst High School to march in the nation’s largest Pro-life event.
22 members of Stars for Life, a local chapter of Students for Life, stand in front of the Supreme Court building after the March for Life Jan. 19. photo courtesy of Andrea Essner
January 25, 2018
The Supreme Court ruled in Roe v. Wade that unrestricted abortion would be legal in the United States Jan. 22, 1973. Just before its 45th anniversary, thousands flocked to Washington D.C. for the March for Life Jan. 19. The theme of the 45th annual March for Life was: “Love Saves Lives.”
Campus Minister and Stars for Life moderator Andrea Essner and Meredith Snyder chaperoned the pilgrimage for the girls.
Treasurer of Stars for Life and junior Holly Phalen, was a part of 13 girls from the school who went on a bus to the March in 2017 with the diocese of Kansas City in St. Joseph and returned with Stars for Life this year.
“[I march] to defend life at its most innocent stage,” Phalen said. “I’ll march until Roe v. Wade is overturned, and abortion is unthinkable.”
Phalen was drawn to the Pro-Life movement because of its loving message.
“It’s out of love. It’s not hate. We pray for those that have have had abortions,” Phalen said.
Before the march, a rally gathered on the National Mall, underneath the Washington Monument, where President Donald Trump, Speaker of the House Paul Ryan, Pam Tebow and others addressed a crowd estimated to be close to 500,000.
President Trump said, “Under my administration, we will always defend the very first right in the Declaration of Independence, and that is the right to life.”
For Phalen, the most impactful speaker was Pam Tebow.
Tebow told the crowd how doctors told her, 31 years ago, that her son would not survive. She, her husband and their four kids were doing mission work in the Philippines, and without access to proper healthcare, they counseled her to have an abortion. Even so, she and her husband chose to bring Tim into the world. Now a Heisman trophy winner and ex-NFL quarterback, he stands at 6 feet three inches, 235 pounds and through the Tim Tebow Foundation has impacted thousands of children across the world.
The rally closed in prayer and the 45th annual March for Life commenced, as the mass of youth from across the country moved down Constitution Ave. to the steps of the United States Supreme Court.
