The solidarity of those involved in the pro-life movement illuminated the rainy day in Washington, DC on Jan. 23, during the thirty-ninth annual March for Life.

The March for Life marked the anniversary of the Supreme Court's 1974 decision in Roe v. Wade, which permitted states to legalize abortion.

From California to New York, America was fully represented at the March. To represent Fordham University, a diverse group of over 60 students gathered to show their support and raise awareness.

 The event was student-run with financial assistance from the Office of Student Leadership and Community Development. Keyne Rice, FCRH '12, was the chief coordinator of the event; she planned it for her third and last year under Fordham's Respect for Life Club. Two buses full of napping students, tired from a 4:45 a.m. departure, traveled to the nation's capital on an extended field trip.

"I considered it a pilgrimage," chaperone Julio Mansil-Ruiz, S.J., said.  "It is a peaceful and prayerful event. People are singing, chanting and praying."

This yearly pilgrimage may not attract 2.5 million followers as does Mecca, but it still attracted 200,000 pro-life advocates.

 Due to increasingly large crowds every year, the media's official counting of the March was discontinued, but one could estimate using visual comparisons of previous years' crowds.

"[Media reports] say usually between 200,000 300,000 , though those are fairly generous numbers," Mansil-Ruiz, S.J., said.

In comparison to the hundreds of thousands of marchers, only about 30 pro-choice protestors lined the sidewalk outside of the Supreme Court with signs that read "Trust Women." More attention was paid to the women standing behind them, speaking about their stories of regretted abortions into megaphones.

The nearly 200,000 protestors marched with signs held high reading "Defend Life" and "I am the Pro-Life Generation".

Complimenting the posters were many jocular call-and-response chants such as "We love babies, yes we do! We love babies. How about you?" and then another group of marchers would respond with the same phrase but with more enthusiasm.      

"[The pro-life movement] feels like fighting against an ocean," Laura Notess, FCRH '12, said. "Going to the March and seeing all these people, we know we are not always the minority or as crazy as we think."

The inclement weather likely hindered the predicted turnout.

"The weather motivated me to keep pushing," Thomas Ginch, FCRH '15, said.

Such a large event had unavoidable complications.          

One student was two minutes late for the bus after attending one of the weekend's events and was left behind because those on the bus believed he was spending the night with some friends. The bus quickly returned to retrieve the student.

Before attending the March, students, Jesuits and chaperones attended conferences across the greater D.C. area to learn more about the various aspects of "respecting life." Respecting life ostensibly has a core focus on abortion, but it also focuses on the death penalty and human trafficking, in addition to other humanitarian efforts.

The majority of Fordham students attended the Annual Cardinal O'Connor Conference on Life at Georgetown University on Sunday, Jan. 22.

The conference informed attendees of the social injustices impeding the process of respecting life. Learning such controversial information added more passion to the already ignited fervor that guided the pro-life advocates through the March.

An issue discussed in "breakout" groups throughout the conference was the march's lack of media coverage; religious pro-life third world countries; and the increasing amount of abortions to suppress population growth.

Monday morning, before the March, there were also many Masses throughout the area celebrating life. Some attended a mega-Mass at the Verizon Center in downtown Washington, D.C.  The center can hold 20,000 people and was nearly three-quarters full.

 "Mass was great and powerfulwith so many people, cardinals, priests and bishops," Rice said. "Mass was started by introducing the bishops and cardinals who told where they are from. It was cool to hear people cheer for wherever they were from. People were from all over the country."

Other students attended Mass at Gonzaga College High School's church. Two students, Amy Gembara and Meg Horgan, both FCRH '14, volunteered their vocal talents for the Mass's choir.

Invigorated by the mass, the group then went on to the March.