BC Pro-Life Club marches into Washington

Washington D.C. - On a chilly, overcast day in the nation's capital, over 100,000 people gathered on the National Mall to protest the 35th anniversary of the Roe v. Wade case, which upheld the right to obtain an abortion in the United States. A group of 35 Boston College students representing BC's Pro-Life Club joined the crowd as they marched up Constitution Avenue in Washington, D.C. to the Supreme Court.

The BC students participating in the march walked alongside 600 other students from Jesuit high schools and universities around the country.

"The whole pro-life movement coincides with the Catholic mission of the school and the need to support life at all stages," said Max Bindernagel, A&S '11.

With crowds extending from the Smithsonian Castle to the Washington Monument, the rally, which featured several lawmakers as well as presidential candidate Ron Paul (Republican), included an increasingly large youth contingent.

Christine Friedrich, head of the Pro-Life Club at BC and A&S '08, attributes the rise in support from the high school and college population to the fact that our generation has been affected most by abortion. "I think that the youth of the pro-life movement are very powerful and it's our siblings and our peers who have been affected most by this," she said.

"The biggest segment of women getting abortions are those in the college bracket - age 18-to-24 - because of the unique pressures being put on that age group," she said. "If they go to the doctor they're more likely to be encouraged to get an abortion because they don't have the support structures they need to have that child."

At BC, the Pro-Life Club works toward the main goal of spreading awareness. Women who become pregnant do have several options that they can pursue besides taking a leave of absence or dropping out of school. "There's a willingness to [help] but I don't think [BC's] services are widely advertised," Friedrich said. Throughout the past year, club members have worked to help inform students of the resources available to them that are offered by the University Health Services and Campus Ministry.

"The culture here needs to be changed to be more accepting of pregnant students and to let girls know that they do have options, they don't have to sacrifice their child for their education," Friedrich said.

Along with hosting Respect Life Week in October, the March for Life in D.C. is one of the club's biggest events of the year, and this year is of particular significance, being just weeks before the presidential primaries heat up on Super Tuesday. CongressmeanBarney Frank (D-Mass.), chief of the Financial Services Committee of the House and local representative, believes the outcome of the November vote will have a particularly significant effect on the issue of Roe v. Wade. With a mere one-vote majority in favor of upholding Roe v. Wade on the current Supreme Court, and with Justice John Paul Stevens in his late 80s, it is almost certain that the next president will appoint a new justice.

Frank, however, believes that marching on Capitol Hill is not the best way to reach out to the lawmakers.

"The marches are an important way for people to feel energized, but most members of Congress aren't even watching it today," Frank said. "If people want to influence members of Congress you must talk to your [local representative]. You call him or her and you go see them." Despite his sentiments, the thousands present hope that they made a statement.

"Whether Congress listens or not, it's important that they know that we're here and that they know a big chunk of America is against abortion," Bindernagel said.

And while the March for Life for many years has failed to garner any widespread media recognition, the hundreds of thousands who marched on Washington, D.C. certainly made an impression on the capital, with a line of protesters stretching on for more than a dozen city blocks.

"There's a lot of pressure on the media to put a pro-choice spin on things," Friedrich said, "but the march is about more than demonstrating to Congress. It's hard to be pro-life on a college campus, but to go and to see all those people helps you realize that you're not alone."