On Jan. 23, 30 Carroll students from the Respect Life Club travelled to Washington, D.C., to join tens of thousands of people for the annual National March for Life. This was the march’s 53rd anniversary. The theme was: “Life is a Gift.”
The protest seeking to outlaw abortion has been held every year on or near the anniversary of the Jan. 22, 1973, U.S. Supreme Court decision Roe v. Wade. In that decision, the Supreme Court said women had a constitutional right to an abortion, thereby overturning state laws that prohibited it. The court reversed itself in 2022 in the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision, determining the constitution does not confer the right to an abortion to women. That decision sent the matter back to the states to decide.
The Roman Catholic Church says human life begins at conception and must be protected from that point until natural death. It calls abortion a moral evil.
Since Roe v. Wade was overturned in June of 2022, the March for Life has continued; however, now it aims to get each state to outlaw it. So far, 13 states have banned the procedure. Pennsylvania has not.
“It is a tradition that we must continue to participate in the march,” theology teacher and Respect Life moderator Mr. Anthony Cimorelli said.
Carroll’s trip to the march began with Mass at the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception. The cathedral hosted many other Catholic high schools from the Philadelphia region, including Cardinal O’Hara High School and Devon Preparatory High School.
After Mass, Carroll students took the D.C. Metro to the National Gallery of Art. It was here that Carroll’s Respect Life Club joined the march.
Sophomore and Respect Life Club member Grace Lazzari explained why she marched.
“It’s important to stand up for those who can’t stand up for themselves,” she said.
During the march, pictures of abortions were displayed on billboards. The images of the mutilated bodies of unborn children showed that the unborn are human, with human-like features.
The images disturbed sophomore Erin Marquess, for one.
“They made me sick to my stomach at the idea of this brutality being present in society,” she said.
The national March for Life will continue until the day when abortion is illegal in all of America.
