WASHINGTON, D.C. – More than 50 Rhode Islanders took a day off from work or school January 22, spent the night on a crowded bus, subsisted on fast food and braved frigid temperatures for the chance to stand up for life.
The group, organized by Carol Owens, diocesan Respect Life coordinator, traveled to Washington, D.C. last Tuesday to participate in the 35th annual March for Life. The march coincides with the anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion across the country.
After a long and mostly sleepless night driving south on Route 95, the Rhode Island contingent poured off the bus in front of the Verizon Center in downtown Washington hours before the sun rose. Their excitement as they joined other groups beginning to gather by the arena was hardly tempered by the early hour. Cries of "Hey, hey! Ho, ho! Roe v. Wade has got to go!" filled the air as they waited for the doors to open to the youth Mass and rally sponsored by the Archdiocese of Washington, D.C.
Just before 7 a.m., the doors opened to the cheering crowd and thousands of American youth entered the arena. The energy level rose exponentially as the arena began to fill. More than 20,000 people were estimated to be in attendance, along with hundreds of seminarians, deacons, priests, bishops and cardinals.
The crowd, whose colorful banners and coordinated outfits filled the arena with a rainbow of hues, was delighted by the short concerts and crowd warm-ups performed by three visiting musical acts. Performances by Steve Angrisano, a Catholic singer and youth leader from Colorado, ValLimar Jansen, a Catholic jazz singer, and the Matt Maher Band, a critically acclaimed Catholic group, set the mood – spiritual and reflective but also hopeful and energetic – before Mass began.
As the hundreds of clergy filed into the arena, including a large group from the Providence Seminary, thousands of youth sang their hearts out Archbishop Donald W. Wuerl of the Archdiocese of Washington greeted the assembled youth and introduced the numerous bishops and archbishops concelebrating the Mass. At the announcement of each bishop he asked their assembled congregants to "let us know that you're here." The crowd erupted in cheers as bishops from Michigan, New York, Kansas, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Massachusetts, and many other states were recognized.
During the Mass Archbishop Pietro Sambi, papal nuncio to the United States, read a message to the gathered youth on behalf of Pope Benedict XVI: "The Holy Father sees a radiant sign of hope for the future in this yearly witness to the Gospel of Life. He is deeply grateful for the commitment of so many young Americans to promoting respect for the dignity and inalienable rights of every human being, including the smallest and most defenseless members of our human family."
The homily, delivered by Father Scott Woods, chaplain of a youth center in the Archdiocese of Washington, struck several notes that resonated throughout the day's pro-life activities. He spoke about the parallels between abortion and slavery and the hope that, as with the civil rights movement, the pro-life movement can change the "hearts and minds" of Americans and find enough support to overturn the court's decision. Father Woods also called on the youth to support women who are faced with unplanned pregnancies by volunteering their services. He said that these women often find themselves in a "cell," but that abortion, although considered a "way out" by its supporters, only results in "trading one cell for another."
At the close of Mass, the assembled crowd sang the recessional hymn, "Go Make a Difference." Its lyrics were a rallying cry for the young supporters of life gathered in Washington: "We are the hands of Christ/reaching out to those in need,/ the face of God for all to see./ We are the spirit of hope;/ we are the voice of peace./ Go make a difference in the world."
Then the youthful crowd poured into the streets of Washington, D.C. and, with the help of a police escort, headed toward the National Mall for the start of the rally. The Rhode Island group split in two, with half the group carrying signs and heading to the rally and the other making their way to Senator Jack Reed's office to make their pleas for his support on issues of life.
The group was a cross-section of pro-lifers from the diocese – from youth as young as 12 to priests to people who have been protesting Roe v. Wade since the 1970s. Here are snapshots of some of the people who filled the bus from Rhode Island and their experiences in Washington, D.C.
A LAWYER STANDS UP FOR LIFE
Jane Brockman was a young girl when she participated in a pro-life march on the capital of her home state, Jefferson City, Missouri, before abortion had been legalized and then waited anxiously to hear the high court's ruling.
"It was sort of like the march on Washington," she said. "We were just expressing our opinions and, of course, [we thought] we were going to be victorious... and then it came down that no, we were not the winners, and abortion was now legal. I was devastated."
As an adult Brockman, who now lives in Wakefield and is a member of St. Francis of Assisi parish, became a lawyer and worked for a variety of pro-life causes fighting against abortion, assisted suicide and euthanasia.
"I had this fantasy that I would be part of reversing Roe v. Wade," she said of her decision to pursue law. She was an active protester and attended several marches in Washington.
Then, for many years, her pro-life activism moved to the back burner. The opposition to her cause, and the consequences to her protests, became too much to handle. Brockman has been arrested six times as a result of her protests at abortion clinics and said that she lost a job because of a controversy related to her protests. "It's not just exposing to the general public that you believe these things, it's basically being willing to get arrested and abused and spat on," she said. "You really have to be willing to put your life and liberty and your job on the line; there's a lot that comes with being pro-life – actively pro-life."
In recent years, she has felt called once again to resume her pro-life activities. She now regularly protests outside abortion clinics in the state and hopes to reach out to the women who are about to end their babies' lives. It is difficult work that often seems fruitless, but she continues.
"Turning people around at the clinic, it's like one out of 1,000 so it's very discouraging being out there," she said. "God has called you to be out there, He didn't call you to be successful, He just called you to be there."
Her 12-year-old daughter, who is the same age as she was when Roe v. Wade legalized abortion, joined her for this year's trip to Washington, D.C.
Brockman found the energy at both the Mass and the march renewing. "It was very encouraging to know that there are lots of pro-lifers out there," she said. The Mass, she said, helped to give the right tone to the pro-life movement. "What we need to do is [spend] more time in prayer and then we'll be more effective in the world," she said.
While marching with the group to the steps of the Supreme Court Brockman held a sign that stood out from many of the rest. Her sign, which read "Roe v. Wade: our generation's Dred Scott," drew on the frequent comparison between today's pro-life movement and the civil rights movement that raged for more than a century and came to a head in the 1960s. In 1857 the U.S. Supreme Court ruled 7-2 against Dred Scott, a slave who sued for his freedom based on the fact that he had lived in states where slavery was illegal. At its essence the court's decision reflected the belief that slaves were not citizens of the country and therefore had no constitutional rights.
"The U.S. Supreme Court said that it was okay to treat African Americans as property and that's basically what the unborn are now – property of the mother," Brockman said.
As she marched down Constitution Avenue many onlookers and fellow marchers were intrigued by her sign as she pointed to the words "Dred Scott" and then "Roe v. Wade" and shouted "that was overturned and this will be overturned too." Her goal that day, she said, was to educate people about the realities of abortion and Roe v. Wade. "I'm a lawyer and it all comes down to we have to recognize the personhood of the unborn. Dred Scott refused to recognize the personhood of African Americans, Roe refused to recognize the personhood of children before birth and arbitrarily said that at the point that we can see the babies, then they have rights and if you don’t see the baby then zero rights. It's so absurd, so arbitrary," she explained. "I knew that everybody would be carrying the same signs and I have a desire to jolt people into reality, you know, wake up!"
When asked why, after 35 years, the pro-life movement hasn't successfully banned abortion again, she points to today's society. "It's the whole attitude of 'mind your own business,'" she said. "I care about the fact that it affects you and it affects your child. If someone's about to jump off a bridge you don't say 'that's none of my business;' you go and try to keep them from jumping off the bridge.
Yeah, you're getting in their face, but you're trying to save them from a desperate thought and a desperate situation until a point when they can think more clearly. And that's what abortion is – they're not thinking clearly."
But, she is hopeful for the future and confident that the movement will be successful. "You have to harken back and look at how long slavery was legal, how long it took to turn that around," she said.
Abortion, she believes, will eventually have the same fate.
COLLEGE STUDENTS FOR LIFE
Sean Quigley and Christina Cozzetta, sophomores at Brown University, were two of the young adults who attended the March for Life in Washington, D.C. Both are members of a pro-life campus group, Brown Students For Life, and Cozzetta is the group's co-president.
Their involvement in the march, and even the existence of a pro-life group on their liberal campus, may strike some as atypical. But Quigley and Cozzetta say that their allegiance to the pro-life movement is a defining characteristic of their college careers.
Cozzetta is a biology major planning to attend law school and eventually hoping to work on issues of bioethics. "I'm not sure where I'll end up, but probably fighting some of this stuff," she said.
Quigley feels drawn to the world of academia: "I think academia needs more conservatives." He is already an emerging conservative voice on campus, writing a weekly column in the school's newspaper that touches on conservative issues. He is considered by many to be particularly active politically. "I just don't understand why most people aren't," he said.
On the Brown campus, the two said that their pro-life views occasionally draw criticism from other students. "I've had issues with friends of mine or people I barely know fighting me a little bit," said Cozzetta. Quigley said he has been questioned for his membership in the pro-life group by people who consider abortion to be a women's issue. "I just respond by saying I didn't know protecting an innocent life was a women's issue," he said.
As a biology major, Cozzetta said that life issues have come up in some of her classes. Embryonic stem cell research is one issue that has been the topic of class discussions: "It does come up and part of the issue I have with some of the bio teachers is that they assumed that everyone... was for it, that everyone was okay with it... a lot of times I'll just make my presence known."
Her response to these professors, she said, is often: "I'm here, I'm pro-life and I'm asking you these questions just to show the rest of the class that they exist."
Both Cozzetta and Quigley said that attending the march and the Mass was a great experience. It was a "good expression of solidarity," Quigley said. Both were impressed by the gathering of so many pro-life Catholics in one place.
"It was good... to see so many people involved," said Cozzetta. She hopes that next year she and the pro-life club can gather more students to attend the march. "I'd like to send a bigger delegation from Brown, especially because we're known as a liberal school [I'd like] to have a presence there," she said.
Changes in the attitudes of both the government and society, they hope, are imminent. "We're getting close," Quigley said. "Something monumental is coming."
"That the number [of abortions] at all is decreasing makes me optimistic that people in general are thinking: 'Hmm, maybe the pro-life people aren't that insane,'" Cozzetta said.
But, she added, the attitude in schools and on campuses toward life issues needs to change before the pro-life movement will be victorious. "The school kind of has the attitude that the kids are having sex anyway, so let's make sure that it's safe – I really wish that wasn't their attitude," she said. "The fact that I came in freshman year and there were condoms hanging on my [resident assistant]'s door, I was like 'okay, it shouldn't be that easy I don't think,'" she added.
Cozzetta and Quigley were just two of the tens of thousands of young people at the march, which they saw as a hopeful sign. "We're going to be the ones to change it, I think," Cozzetta said.
MARCHING WITH THEIR PARISH’S YOUTH
Because of midterm exam schedules and snow days that had to be made up, many high school students who had initially signed on to attend the March for Life were forced to back out. But ten students from the St. Anthony parish youth group did make the long trip down to Washington, D.C., accompanied by Roberta Rybka and Alex Marchetti, two adult coordinators of the parish's youth program.
Following the Mass their group went to the offices of Rhode Island Senator Jack Reed. Reed, a Democrat and a Catholic, has voted against many pro-life issues in his career and the group hoped to talk to him about their concerns. Unfortunately, Reed was not in his Washington office that day, but they were able to speak to one of his aides.
"We just kind of expressed our opinions about life issues," Rybka said. "I think what I personally wanted to say to him was I feel as a pro-life person in the state of Rhode Island that voting for the Democratic party is not an option because that's one plank that's been removed from their platform. I'm going to vote for a pro-life candidate," she added.
Marchetti expressed a similar frustration: "The candidates that are strongly pro-life, a lot of times they lack what they need in other areas."
Although they are too young to vote, the students were anxious to know where Reed stood on the issues that were important to them. "We wanted to express our opinions on life issues," Rybka said.
Although the visit to Reed's office was frustrating, Marchetti said that he and the rest of the group found the youth presence at both the Mass and the march to be inspiring.
"When they go and see thousands of kids their age that believe in the same thing, it gives them so much more strength to not be afraid to say it in public," he said. Their generation, he hopes, will be the one that can make changes toward a pro-life society. "My parents’ generation and my generation kind of messed it up," he said. "The more the teenagers go, the more they believe in life, hopefully that's what will make the change. Not that some law was passed but that the mentality changed."
After having the young adults in their group join tens of thousands of others their age to march for life in Washington, D.C., both Rybka and Marchetti said they were hopeful for the future of the pro-life movement. "So many thousands of teenagers that go down there – that's the most encouraging part," Marchetti said.
"I think we came away from it that we don't know if we can change the minds of politicians, but if we can speak up locally and if we can save one life at a time then we will be accomplishing something," Rybka said.
At the end of a long day of prayer, protests and politics, the group boarded the bus late in the afternoon on Tuesday to begin the trip home to Rhode Island. Some carried pro-life signs and wore pro-life pins they had gathered throughout the day. All were excited about their experiences in Washington, D.C. As the bus emerged from rush hour traffic and conversations began to give way to exhaustion, someone spotted a bright rainbow out the window, and then another. The double rainbow, it seemed to those on the bus, embodied the hopeful feeling everyone shared at that moment.
