Thousands of people came from all over the country to walk Constitution Avenue in Washington, D.C. on Friday, dressed in bright colors identifying their churches from Indiana, Ohio, Michigan, Louisiana and Mississippi, with a simple message for Washington: defund Planned Parenthood and overturn Roe vs. Wade.
Tens of thousands of anti-abortion marchers took to the streets near the National Mall Friday, inspired by the ascension of President Trump and Vice President Mike Pence to the top of American government.
“It’s the least bit you can do,” said Justin Menno, a teacher at Grand Rapids Catholic Central High School in Grand Rapids, Mich.
“It shows that you show up, it shows that you’re present, it shows that day in and day out no matter the weather, especially in the month of January, we’re here to stand up to those who unfortunately don’t have much of a voice in the political process,” he said. “We’re here to represent them — all mothers all fathers and all children in the womb.”
Menno brought 35 students from his high school and was a part of a group of about 270 Grand Rapids Catholics who traveled more than 1,300-miles to march from the Washington Monument to the steps of the Supreme Court Friday.
It’s a trip Menno makes every year, including in 2016 when the bus he was on with his students got caught in the epic blizzard that dumped feet of snow on the region. The bus got stuck in the snow on the Pennsylvania Turnpike for more than a day, keeping the Michiganders from making it to the Mall.
But, Menno said the cause is important enough to his students that they were ready and willing to make the trip this year despite last year’s memories. “If you can survive the blizzard and still continue on, that kind of shows the strength and commitment of the students,” he said.
Many of the marchers were students from Catholic high schools, including many in the Washington, D.C. region, but thousands came from thousands of miles away to be a part of the march.
Molly Boyes came from Ohio with her family and said her primary focus is finding a way to get Roe v. Wade reversed.
“Another thing we stand for is the government funding of abortion, and we really don’t want that,” she said. “It’s not really the government’s job to get involved in that.”
The peaceful demonstration meandered from the area north of the monument down Constitution to the steps of the Supreme Court and the plaza in front of the Capitol. While the main rally took place in front of the monument, speakers urged the crowd on with bullhorns all the way down the route and more speeches were made in front of the courthouse.
It was the tenth, maybe the eleventh, time Linda Bartlett has made the trip from St. Louis, Missouri to Washington to walk the route. She called abortion her most important political issue and said she’ll keep coming until Planned Parenthood is defunded and Roe v. Wade is no longer American case law.
She said she attended to “give babies a chance for life no matter what. I’ve done this for about 10 or 11 years, so we’re still working on it. We’re hoping.”
