Free Republic

In the shallow world of modernity, we throw around a word like “democracy” as a stand-in for “things that I like.” Many in popular culture and elite institutions promote democracy as a cure for all that ails us—an unquestioned and unqualified blessing. Still others turn on a dime and hope for its demise as soon as it produces outcomes they don’t like. While democracy often plays a good and necessary role in a self-governing society, we have lost the healthy skepticism of its worst excesses that the Founding Fathers understood when they established the governing institutions of the United States....

It's no wonder the legacy media does the best it can to ignore the annual March for Life in Washington, D.C. They would like to preserve the perception they've cultivated over the years of "right to lifers" as a bunch of crotchety, backwards, sexually uptight old folks. Images of the January 22, 2014 March for Life present a completely different picture, demolishing the pro-abortion media's false narrative about who today's pro-life activists really are.

Again, this January 22, hundreds of thousands of pro-life Americans will converge on Washington for the March for Life. The March has taken place every year since 1974 to protest the Supreme Court's Roe v. Wade decision on January 22, 1973, which legalized abortion. Good news for pro-lifers is that 2009 showed evidence of turnaround in national sentiment toward tolerance for abortion. Two Gallup polls, one done in May and one done in August, showed higher percentages identifying as "pro-life" than "pro-choice." The opposite had been true in all previous years since Gallup first started doing this survey in 1995....

Rep. Mike Pence addressed the anti-abortion March for Life on Monday, Rep. Michele Bachmann is set to keynote the event’s dinner tonight, and former Sen. Rick Santorum joined marchers in the cold—the only three potential Republican 2012 presidential hopefuls to appear at the annual gathering. “Our economy is struggling and our national government is awash in a sea of debt. Amidst these struggles, some would have us focus our energies on jobs and spending,” Pence, an Indiana Republican, told the thousands of activists who gathered in Washington to march to the Supreme Court to protest the 38th anniversary of Roe...

Judy Machesic of Sunbury, Pa., listens intently during the annual March for Life rally on the National Mall in Washington Jan. 22. It was the 37th March for Life marking the Supreme Court's 1973 Roe v. Wade decision that legalized abortion. (CNS/Leslie E. Kossoff-Nordby) By Carol ZimmermannCatholic News Service WASHINGTON (CNS) -- Despite overcast skies, the mood at the Jan. 22 annual March for Life in Washington was decidedly upbeat as speaker after speaker urged the crowd to keep up their efforts in the pro-life arena. Several speakers told the tens of thousands on the National Mall -- bundled...

Hundreds of thousands of people are gathered in the nation's capital today to mark the anniversary of Roe v. Wade and protest abortion in the annual March for Life. Gathering from all over the country, protesters of all ages first heard from prominent pro-life, political and religious leaders before beginning the march. Congressman Chris Smith (R-N.J.) was among the politicians who addressed the crowd on Friday, saying, “Thank you one and all for being an important part of the greatest human rights struggle on earth – the right to life movement. By the grace of God, we stand behind, with...

From the very beginning this was a different march. For the past eight years those who gathered for the opening program heard words of support from the President of the United States, encouraging them to continue their work on behalf of the unborn. This year, though he was invited, President Obama did not send recorded greetings or acknowledge the March in any way. He did, however, issue a statement that galvanized his position on the issue. "On the 36th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, we are reminded that this decision not only protects women’s health and reproductive freedom, but stands...

Welcome to any new visitors. I'm a Catholic young adult, studying and working in Washington DC, who is providing exclusive on-the-ground coverage of the 35th Annual March for Life. Here's what I offer: All March-for-Life related posts are collected here (includes event schedules & info)My photographs will be uploaded to this Flickr page, starting Monday eveningMy videos will be uploaded to this YouTube page, again starting Monday evening Collections of my other news stories are available on this page. Humorous "PPOTD's" are here.To contact me with with tips, information or media requests: "thomas [at] americanpapist [dot] com"Notification: My Itinerary...