What I enjoy the most about attending the annual March for Life is watching the effect it has on the right and the left. I get to witness tens of thousands of young pro-lifers like myself express their enthusiasm for their cause.
I also see the despair of abortion zealots. Every year, they are furious that such a large-scale event takes place, as it breaks the myth that it is outdated to be pro-life.
What many people don’t realize is that after the March for Life, the pro-abortion people hold their own marches all over the country in the weeks following the pro-life events. Through the media, they try to give the impression that they compete with the famed pro-life march.
Some of these events are called women’s marches. This particular movement started in 2017. That year, the left pulled out all the stops. Progressive politicians, media outlets and celebrities joined forces to call feminists across the country to arms.
And they did so successfully. Activists managed to gather tens of thousands in cities across the country. The march in Washington was particularly big.
I remember how ecstatic the left was after this turnout. Feminists were quick to claim victory as an “unstoppable group.” They thought that they had successfully created a permanent fixture in their godless movement, one they believed had even surpassed the March for Life. One feminist attendee summed up their optimistic attitude: “We’re here, and we’re not going away.”
They’re Already Gone
I can tell you from personal experience—these words were nothing more than short-lived bravado.
I attended this year’s Women’s March in Washington as an onlooker. I wanted to see if all the liberal propaganda lived up to reality.
Thus, I did a little research beforehand. I found the official sign-up page for the D.C. march. The theme of this year’s protest was dubbed “Bigger than Roe” because its organizers claim that “[t]his year, democracy itself is on the line.” The page’s description utilized language intended to stir up the emotions of potential agitators.
However, I also noticed traces of insecurity. The march’s organizers were afraid that publicizing the location of the march too early would result in a large counter-protest. As a result, they required attendees to fill out a form in order to find out the location. By the time I left for the march on the morning of January 20, I saw that the number of signers had climbed slightly above 800.
What I Expected
I expected around 1,000 people to show up, trying to take into account personal invitations, larger groups and other circumstances. Thus, I already knew that the Women’s March would be incomparably smaller than the over 100,000 that appeared for the March for Life.
Based on the fiery language featured on the website, I also thought I would find a good number of dynamic marchers. I imagined they would do their best to form a vocal force united to promote a common cause, albeit an evil one.
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Additionally, I expected to see a clearly anti-life message. Their official website meticulously lists the purpose of this year’s march, and I gave them too much credit by expecting them to present their radical pro-abortion goals to the public in a coherent manner.
Naturally, I also anticipated vulgarity and violence. These are characteristics commonly seen in left-wing rallies across the country, and I expected the Women’s March to be no different.
Finally, I thought I would find a triumphant atmosphere. All of the left’s propaganda regarding the march exuded an odor of complacency and invincibility.
What I Saw
However, when I arrived, the scene I encountered was much different.
First of all, the turnout was pitiful, to put it mildly. I think it would be generous to say that two hundred people showed up, a much smaller number than the one on the website.
I was getting a lot of mixed signals from all of this. I concluded that the only thing consistent about their message was that everything they were promoting was leftist and evil.
In the end, only my expectations of vulgarity and violence turned out to be correct. The amount of foul language that filled the air was sickening. The majority of signs and slogans on display were marked by profanity.
Violence also made a formulaic appearance. I was standing in the middle of the mob taking pictures when I saw a group of pro-life counter-protesters on the other side of the Freedom Plaza.
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I made my way over there and watched them face off with several liberals. At a certain point, one pro-abortion man began shoving his sign against a pro-lifer and started hitting him with a rainbow fan. The scuffle ended as soon as the police intervened and separated the two. After that, the cops maintained a much stronger presence during the rest of the march.
What I Didn’t See
However, what impressed me more than what I saw that day was what I didn’t see.
First of all, I didn’t find any dynamism. The marchers did not convey any vivacity. They tried to shout out slogans as a group, but most of these attempts fell flat. The result was scattered screaming, which provided for a rather unattractive scene.
The marchers also lacked unity. I could feel the tension in the air, almost as if the feminist protesters would start fighting among themselves. They argued with each other on how to deal with the pro-life counter-protestors. Some wanted to ignore them, others wanted to argue with them, and a handful hoped to physically harass them. I could overhear some criticizing the others for being too radical, while the radicals condemned them for not being extreme enough.
I also think it is ironic to note that I didn’t see any ladies attending the women’s march. There were a lot of females there, to be sure. However, not one of them embodied the virtue of femininity. They were vulgar, coarse and immoral—traits that are characteristic of feminism. They did not have the refinement and dignity that you would expect to see at a real women’s march.
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Perhaps the most notable thing I didn’t see was self-assurance. Instead, I found that the protesters knew that they were fighting a losing battle. There are a number of examples that made this point very clear to me.
A couple of my colleagues from TFP Student Action brought pro-life signs and stood at a street corner a block away from the rally before the march. I was across the street taking pictures of them when two feminists crossed the street. I overheard some of their conversation.
One of the women asked the other, “Did you see what their signs said?” The other told her that the signs were against abortion.” In desperation, the first woman replied, “Oh, Can’t they just leave us alone already! Roe v. Wade is overturned! They already won!”
I found this very interesting, as this reaction is very different than the triumphalist language being used by the event’s organizers.
During the rest of the march, I saw this defeatism time and time again. The presence of the pro-life counter-protesters aggravated these sentiments, as it showed the pro-abortion crowd that they were facing opponents who were ready to fight.
A Dying Movement
In short, I didn’t find the huge, fiery march the left promised. Instead, I found a movement that is barely managing to hold itself together.
The march didn’t inspire fear but rather encouragement. I saw that the abortion issue was not an unconquerable leviathan of the left. On the contrary, it became clear that pro-lifers currently have the upper hand in the battle against abortion.
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On the way back from the march, I realized that there was only one explanation for this phenomenon. After all, the left has all the resources it needs at its disposal. Furthermore, it is the pro-lifers who still need to reverse state abortion laws. Naturally speaking, it should be the pro-lifers who are losing.
However, the left has one critical weakness that has sealed the pro-abortion movement’s fate. The Woman’s March is missing one key woman: Our Lady. She, who is the woman par excellence, has taken our side in this fight. With her on our side, there is no competition.
Thus, I urge you to always bear in mind that whether it be 200 or 200,000 people who attend the Women’s March, the feminist movement is no match for the “woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars.” (Apoc. 12:1)