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Spring-like weather warmed an estimated crowd of 5,000 at the 36th March for Life in Little Rock, Jan. 19. Starting at Battery and Wolfe streets, they marched to the state capitol building and congregated on the front steps, beckoned by a bagpiped “Amazing Grace” wailing through loudspeakers.
This year’s event, marking the 41st anniversary of the Supreme Court’s Roe V. Wade decision legalizing abortion on demand, lacked the somber tone of last year’s event when marchers were asked to walk in silence. Instead, an uplifting sense of hope in the future permeated the crowd, despite the seriousness of the cause.
Rose Mimms, executive director for Arkansas Right to Life, which sponsors the march, said the change in mood was warranted given the strides being made in the efforts to curtail abortions through legislation and the organization’s new campaign promoting adoption.
“Last year, being the 40th anniversary, it was a more somber occasion,” she said. “This isn’t something where we’re there to celebrate, exactly, but this year the subject matter is a lot more positive. We’re launching an aggressive media campaign surrounding adoption.
“We want young mothers who aren’t currently looking at adoption like we’d want to give it more than a passing thought. Adoption is a win-win, abortion is a dead end.”
Catholic parishes and groups were highly visible throughout the throng. A Knights of Columbus honor guard marched at the head of the column bearing the U.S. and Vatican flags, followed by the rank and file moving briskly in the mild sunshine.
Young people in attendance were resolute in their opinions as to the future of the pro-life movement and the impact of events such as the March for Life, typified by 16-year-olds Megan Ross and Gaby Zapeda of Christ the King Church in Little Rock.
“We have to help other people understand that when they have a baby in their belly it’s alive and you can’t really decide to kill that baby,” Zapeda said. “It’s murder, it’s wrong.”
Asked whether she thought abortion would be outlawed in her lifetime, Ross didn’t hesitate.
“Yes, because we’re doing more than they used to do,” she said. “I think this (march) is a good way to start.”
Tina Padgett, a member of St. Joseph Church in Conway, agreed. She marched in a white T-shirt that simply said “Adopted” in support of the many people she knew who were saved by their birth mothers choosing life. She said she considered the march a defining moment for young people.
“It shows that our generation is willing to help in ending abortion,” she said. “This is something very important for me and for my generation to care about.”
Mitch LaMendola, a member of St. Raphael Church in Springdale, said even at 18 both his faith and pro-life stance has been tested among his peers.
“I’ve had this discussion in class before, and I was one of the few that were pro-life,” he said. “I just had to stand my ground and give my facts. I don’t judge what they believe, because compassion is the biggest thing. Show compassion and you can change the world.”
Other marchers, old enough to know has long a struggle it has been, were equally plainspoken in their reason for attending. Angie Capps of St. Paul Church in Pocahontas, was asked if it was discouraging that the law still stands after 40 years.
“Absolutely, and that’s why I’m here,” she said. “These are poor babies’ lives, who don’t have a choice. They don’t have a choice to live or die, their mothers take that away from them.”
Catholics were well-represented on the dais as this year’s keynote speaker was Jennifer Briseldon, Catholic campus minister at the University of Arkansas-Fort Smith, who spoke on her experiences as a teenage mother and, upon finding herself unwed and pregnant in her 20s, her agonizing decision to give up her son for adoption.
“Go home and talk to your nieces and daughters and granddaughters,” she said, “but also your sons and nephews and grandsons. Let them know they can choose adoption and you will love them unconditionally through that choice.”
