Catholic Husband

Love / Lead / Serve

Why We March

Today marks both a sobering anniversary and a special anniversary. Today is the anniversary of the landmark Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision that ushered in a new era of misnomers in healthcare and encouraged a culture that viewed children as the ultimate burden, as opposed to the ultimate blessing.

Today's anniversary is also quite special. Every year, since 1973, Americans from all faiths, socio-economic backgrounds, educational backgrounds, and political beliefs, have descended upon our Nation's Capital. Joining arms, carrying banners, and walking past the chambers of government, Americans have voiced both their support for the rights of Americans in the womb and raised awareness about the devastation that abortion brings to the life of the mother, father, and child.

The March for Life isn't about shaming people who've had abortions or advocating for a radical religious agenda. The March for Life is a beautiful, peaceful expression of the belief held by so many in our country that not only is every life precious, but that the so-called right to have an abortion is no right at all.

Each year, we're reminded of the grizzly underworld of abortion as clinics and providers across the country undergo shocking and sickening inspections, investigations and legal proceedings. Abortion clinics are being closed in every state because, although they perform outpatient ambulatory surgery, they fail to meet even the basic requirements of health regulations pertaining to facilities that perform the types of procedures that they do. Equipment is not sterile, doors are not wide enough for gurneys in the event that an emergency transfer to a hospital is required, and patients are not given informed consent. Even worse, the physicians performing the abortions lack basic hospital admitting privileges to care for patients in the event that the procedure goes wrong.

Today, Alison, Benedict, and I will be traveling to Washington DC to join students, clergy, medical professionals, elected officials, and families to call for an end to this insanity. Millions of Americans have been aborted since 1973, with a disproportionately high number in impoverished and minority communities. No doubt we have suffered as humanity at the loss of what would have been some of the most brilliant minds of our time.

Even more foundational than this pragmatic approach to opposition to abortion is something so simple, yet often completely overlooked. Men and women deserve to know the joy it is to be a parent. They deserve to sit in the labor and delivery recovery room and hold a new life, just minutes after birth. They deserve the right to take adorable infant pictures and brag about them on Facebook. They deserve to have endless Pinterest boards planning out birthday parties, daytime activities, and weddings. Parents deserve to hear their child reach for them and speak those sweet words, "Ma ma,” “Da da.” And every child deserves the chance to speak them.

It’s an unbearable tragedy that $300 is all it takes in America to end one life and change two more forever.

That's why we march.