Why We March for Life
Concordia’s Bulldogs for Life group marches in the Nebraska Walk for Life on Jan. 14. Photo by Adam Christiansen.
by Angela Bell
“The sacred rights of mankind are not to be rummaged for among old parchments or musty records. They are written, as with a sunbeam, in the whole volume of human nature, by the head of divinity itself, and can never be erased.”
Alexander Hamilton wrote these words in 1775, not long before the American colonies declared independence from Britain. Hamilton lived through a time in history when the most basic rights of human beings were being largely ignored. In great debt to him and many other Founding Fathers, we now have a document that outlines our sovereign rights as people—the Constitution. But like Hamilton said, mankind’s rights cannot be solely defined by a document written by man, as that is always subject to change and interpretation. Our intended rights come from God. The most fundamental of those rights? The life that He gave us.
Like our forefathers, we are at a fork in the road of history. The path we take will not only affect us, but the many generations to come. Hamilton and others like him chose to fight for independence from Britain to ensure that future generations would retain their God-given liberties and have a voice in the direction of their country. Today, I join a movement of people who choose to march for the right to life and the voices that have been silenced.
Concordia’s Bulldogs for Life is proud to be a part of the crusade for the sanctity of life—at all stages. Abortion is not the only threat to that, as the disabled and elderly also face this issue of a right to life. The bottom line is that all life is precious, and the March for Life aims to advocate for the whole spectrum of this issue. However, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 664,435 legal abortions took place in 2013 alone. That is why I march for life.
Many of those who disagree with my stance on this issue often argue that banning abortion or further regulating it will not stop abortion from happening, but will just put an end to “safe” abortions. To this I say: The way I see it, dissuading even just one mother from going through with aborting her child is worth the fight. God made each of His children with a purpose. Jesus says in Luke 12, “Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? Yet not one of them is forgotten by God. Indeed, the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.” Life is a priceless gift that we do not have the authority to take away.
But the argument and avocation for life is not subject only to a theological perspective. Apple CEO Steve Jobs, Olympic gold medalist Simone Biles, American icon Marilyn Monroe, NFL Pro Bowler Jimmy Graham. What do all these iconic figures have in common? They were all delivered by their brave mothers and raised by foster care or adoptive parents. Can you imagine if they had been aborted because they were just an “accident”? It is truly amazing the impact one person can have on the world around them. That is why we march—to show women that they have options other than abortion.
Every one of the hundreds of thousands of men and women attending one of the many marches across the nation has their reason for marching. This is what some of our very own Concordia students say:
Lindsay Sampson: “I march to say that as a young American woman, I believe that the unborn and vulnerable are lives worth protecting. They share the same equal, inalienable rights before our government that I have.”
Grace Woelmer: “I march to represent my belief for the right to life for all people, and to be a voice for the voiceless.”
Clara Rich: “I march because each person whose life is lost to abortion is a person who could have grown up to be someone like me. I march because “I love them both”—the unborn child and the struggling mother. I march because even if society doesn’t love an unborn child, God is the one who gives each life value.”
Eric James: “I march because the right to life is greater than the right to a lifestyle. No child should be taken out of this world because a company sees a profit.”
Samantha Coomer: “I march because life isn’t a choice.”
Abby Whitener: “I march because women and unborn children deserve better than abortion.”
Krista Schmidt: “I march because we are all God’s children, God loves life, and I want to be the voice for the voiceless.”
I, along with the Concordia Bulldogs for Life, am proud to take the stance that every human being has the right to life. As it was so eloquently written by our founders in 1776, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all Men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness…”
That is why we march.
Read more about Concordia’s pro-life group Bulldogs for Life here.
