March for Life 2019 (Photo: CBN News)
Trump and Pence Support Huge Crowd
Marching for a Shutdown - of Abortion
Pro-life protester Susanna Edwards (Photo Courtesy: Cedarville University)
Marching for a Shutdown - of Abortion
01-18-2019
CBN News Paul Strand
THE NATIONAL MALL – Thousands marched in Washington today calling for a shutdown, but not the government's. They want to shut down the abortion industry. And President Donald Trump threw his support behind their effort at this 2019 March for Life.
At the pre-March rally, Vice President Mike Pence made a surprise appearance on stage, saying, "We gather here because we believe as our founders did that we are all of us, born and unborn, endowed by our Creator with certain inalienable rights, and one of these rights is the right to life."
Then he introduced a special guest who addressed the crowd from the White House.
"This is a movement founded on love and grounded in the nobility and dignity of every human life," President Trump said. "When we look into the eyes of a newborn child, we see beauty and the human soul and the majesty of God's creation. We know that every life has meaning and that every life is worth protecting."
The president reiterated his support for pro-life legislation, like the Hyde Amendment – meant to keep federal dollars from supporting abortion.
And he stated, "I will always defend the first right in our Declaration of Independence – the right to life."
And he stated, "I will always defend the first right in our Declaration of Independence – the right to life."
Meanwhile, out in the crowd of many thousands, it was easy to see how vast the pro-life movement is, with adherents representing all sorts of interests and ideas inside that movement.
Abortion Kills Many More People than Opioids Do
For instance, Brian Fisher of Human Coalition wants to see this administration do even more to tackle abortion, like how it's escalated the fight against opioids.
"HHS – Health and Human Services – has just launched a five-point plan to be able to combat the opioid addiction crisis – which unfortunately kills 115 people every day in the country," Fisher told CBN News. "We support HHS launching that plan. Our question simply is: abortion kills 3,000 preborn babies a day. Where is the five-point plan to end the leading cause of death in America?"
Baby-clothes Dress Makes People Think of the Unborn Babies
Susanna Edwards let her outfit do the talking. She hopes people will look at her dress made of and covered in dozens of baby clothes and think of all the lives that ended before they could wear those little outfits.
"All of this has been worn by a real baby," Edwards said, pointing at the onesies, shirts, blouses and pants adorning her. "And there are many babies who won't get to this point. The natural reaction to baby clothes is people go 'Aww' and all that, and I want that kind of care and affection for the unborn child as well as the born child."
Pro-life protester Susanna Edwards (Photo Courtesy: Cedarville University)
Her Baby was Not Just a Wheat Seed
Elaine Webster came all the way from Saskatchewan to share her desire that women avoid the pain she still feels decades later over her abortion and the counsel she got from a pro-choice doctor.
"She told me it was nothing more than a little sprouted wheat seed," Webster said. Years later, when she saw her second child at the same stage on an ultrasound, she was shocked at just how human that fetus appeared.
Elaine's husband Barry still feels guilty about not trying to talk Elaine out of that abortion decades ago. "The fact that I didn't support my wife really led to us making that decision."
He believes with just a little backing from him, Elaine would have kept that first child. And he called out men of today who don't fight for their unborn babies.
"Stand up," he admonished. "It's our purpose: to support our women."
Twenty-seven students came to the March for Life all together from one small college – Colorado Christian University – showing how big an issue this is for young people today.
"Just the fact of what abortion is and what it does to people," CCU student Alex Fox told CBN News. "So we're out here because we care for all of life, all people."
Thwarting God's Plan
Suzie Audi traveled from South Carolina, recalling that she'd taken part in the first March for Life back in 1974.
"I have a real heart for babies and people in general," Audi said. "They're all God's creation and they should not be killed!"
Suzie's sister Joanne Gunsaulus journeyed from even further away, Long Beach, California. She talked about how abortion defies God's intent to create life on earth.
"God has let us help Him procreate, generation after generation. It's His plan, and we're thwarting it through abortion," she stated.
To these marchers who come to the National Mall from all over America, so much is on the line.
Abortion is now the number one cause of death in the world: 42 million preborn babies slaughtered globally last year alone. That's a rate of 125,000 a day. That's why the pro-lifers march — to end that.
