January 21, 2002

Washinton, DC March for Life Bus Trip

About 85 Erie area residents will travel on buses chartered by People for Life to Washington, DC for the 29th March for Life on Tuesday, January 22. They will meet in the St. George Church parking lot on upper Peach Street and board the buses at 11:00 PM this (Monday) evening.

The buses will arrive in DC at approximately 8:00 AM Tuesday. The return leg of the journey begins at 5:00 PM, and the buses will arrive back in Erie at approximately 1:00 AM Wednesday. The entire activity takes about 26 hours.

People for Life has sent buses to the March for Life every year since the very first March for Life, which was held on January 22, 1974.

The March for Life takes place on or near the anniversary of Roe v. Wade. The first one attracted about 20,000 people. The numbers in recent years have exceeded 200,000. An estimated 225,000 attended last year.

Roe v. Wade is the Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion. It is the only thing that prevents the American people from reestablishing substantial legal protection for unborn children. The current members of the Supreme Court appear to be split 5-4 in favor of abortion. With several justices expected to retire soon, supporters of abortion are now worrying that Roe v. Wade might be overturned. They worry not because an overturn of Roe v. Wade would make abortion illegal. It would not.

Abortion proponents worry because an overturn of Roe v. Wade would place the issue back in the hands of the American people for the first time since 1973. Even after 29 years of abortion-on-demand, the American people know that abortion kills a baby, and they are not comfortable in that knowledge. Many of the women who have had abortion, and thus understand it from first-hand experience, are now legal abortion's strongest adversaries.

The March for Life will be preceded by a Rally on the grounds of the Washington Monument at noon. Immediately after the Rally, the tens of thousands of marchers will pour into Constitution Avenue to begin the 2.5 mile hike to Capitol Hill and the Supreme Court.

After the March, many of the Erie people will visit Sen. Santorum, while others will attend a reception sponsored by four pro-life members of the Pennsylvania House delegation, Phil English, Joe Pitts, John Peterson, and Melissa Hart.

In addition to those taking the buses, a number of Erie area activists are driving to DC in private cars.

Several other groups from Erie and Meadville are also sending buses. The overall number of buses from the Erie and Meadville areas, this year, is six. We understand that marching or "protesting," alone, will not solve the problem of legal abortion. But through activities like the March for Life we are trying to encourage more people to pause, to think about the importance of protecting innocent lives, and perhaps to consider what some of our wonderful pro-life public officials, such as President Bush and Senator Santorum are saying. This past Friday, for instance, President Bush issued a proclamation declaring that the right to life "should apply to every American, including the elderly and the unprotected, the weak and the infirm, and even to the unwanted."

People for Life, Inc. is an all-volunteer, non-profit, citizen's organization committed to affirming the intrinsic value of human life. People for Life is dedicated to advancing true justice by working for the protection of all innocent human lives, whatever the age, race, sex, physical condition, economic status, or place of residence (including the womb). People for Life encourages local involvement through education, political awareness, and the promotion of loving alternatives to the primitive and violent "solutions" of abortion, infanticide, and euthanasia. Together, we can create a society in which all human lives are held sacred.