March for Life Chicago

Since 1974, thousands of people have gathered in Washington, DC, for the March for Life, to stand up for every person's right to life, born and unborn.

This year's March for Life is on Wednesday, January 22.  A few days before it, on Sunday, January 19, I attended a similar event in the Loop Downtown Chicago, the March for Life Chicago.

Dad and I emerged from the Blue Line station onto the Federal Plaza by the Kluczynski Federal Building right around 1 PM.

There were a few speakers who gave remarks to start the March.  WLS radio personality Dan Proft served as MC.  Cardinal George offered some thoughts on the meaning of life (see below; Cardinal George is in front of the microphone, wearing a black hat).  A member of the Greek Orthodox clergy, coming in the stead of the Metropolitan of Chicago, offered some very profound remarks on life.  I can't quite remember what exactly he said, but he spoke of agape, a Greek word for love, namely that of God who sacrificed Himself in Christ that we might have life.  Ms. Couri, a former Planned Parenthood employee, spoke about what it meant for her to be present at this March, given where she was four years ago.  Then, to get everyone riled up for the March, a member of one of the local university Students for Life groups shared about the pressing need to stand up for life and against abortion.

Then, the crowd of hundreds followed the local Students for Life groups who led the way in marching from Federal Plaza to the James R. Thompson State of Illinois Center.  We walked along Dearborn Street.  There were many good signs that people brought with them to acclaim the right to life.  I found myself walking in the bike lanes much of the way, up to Daley Plaza.

Heading out at the Federal Plaza

Looking south as we, the marchers, cross Washington Boulevard while headed north

Looking north as we move north along Dearborn, just to the east of Daley Plaza

Then, the marchers fanned out onto Randolph Street between Dearborn and Clark Streets, and then onto the plaza in front of the Thompson Center.  At this point, I noticed two catchy cheers:

"We love babies, yes we do.  We love babies, how 'bout you?" in a chorus of feminine voices

and

"Yo ho! Roe v. Wade has got to go!" in a chorus of more masculine voices

At the Thompson Center front plaza

Some of the creative signs with great messages I saw, among many

At the Thompson Center Plaza, there were some more speakers, with Relevant Radio personality Sheila Liaugmina serving as MC.  One woman spoke about the difficulty she had in a pregnancy that came right after she lost her job and other support, but how she found strength from Aid for Women.  Then, US Representatives Peter Roskam and Dan Lipinski offered remarks (see below), speaking to the courage to stand up and promote a culture of life.  In the remarks, it was highlighted that when Peter Roskam served in the Illinois State Senate, he had helped sponsor legislation to protect babies who were born alive after failed abortions from being allowed to die, unlike his Senate colleague, Barack Obama, who opposed the legislation, which drew reaction from the crowd.

Peter Roskam is in front of the orangish-looking microphone, and Dan Lipinski is the gray-haired man standing to his left, with Sheila L. in between and behind them.

It was about 2:30 when the March concluded.  As we turned to depart, I stopped to sing along to one of my favorite songs, "God Bless the USA".

What a thrilling experience it was to join in the company of hundreds of people who feel strongly as I do about promoting life.  The people present for the March included those from various pro-life groups, and all ages and races.  It was especially heartening to see so many young people.

This all happened the day before Martin Luther King, Jr., Day, and I feel it was a very fitting way to honor and join in the work in which Dr. King strove, to create a better society for all.  And it starts with the most fundamental of rights, that of life, listed first in Thomas Jefferson's litany of three in the Declaration of Independence.  Respecting and upholding that right, in a culture of life, from conception to natural death, allows society to truly prosper and flourish.

Dad got this picture of me at the Thompson Center holding a sign I made and carried in the March.  The words, from the Declaration of Independence, are the litany of three rights that Thomas Jefferson wrote we are given, a "self-evident" truth, and certainly "sacred and undeniable".  Life is listed first, and as such it is paramount.