Ruth Institute Blog

by Michael Israel, ITAF 2012

My observations of the March for Life began before I even attended. This was my first time going, and I was hoping I would be able to find a ride down there. I didn’t know where exactly I was going to be during the March, various work situations had taken me from Allentown, PA to Pittsburgh, PA and to Ft. Wayne Indiana. Since by nature I am a networker I reached out to each of the nearby campus groups and found that all of them were sending delegations and all of them, though they had limited room, would be able to fit one more! This is more impressive when you consider that Ft. Wayne, Indiana is more than 550 miles away and that they had chartered a whole bus! The youth of this nation were certainly determined to attend!

Pre-March, at the rally, though all the speeches were appreciated, several in particular stuck out for me. Ryan Bombberger, whose mother was raped, put a real face to one of the more controversial planks of the pro-life movement. He was a dynamic speaker and later I’d seen that he was invited to MSNBC for in interview. He was very skilled at dismantling their questions and in not playing within their paradigms. The most inspiring speaker to me, however, was no longer even alive. Nellie Gray, the founder of the March for Life, was given a video tribute for her life’s contribution to the Pro-Life movement. I couldn’t hear what she was saying the in videos because people were talking over her, however I remember clearly the look of absolute determination on her face. Even at 88 years old, she still seemed like she was the most powerful person in any room.

Unfortunately, what I probably remember the most about the conference was the unbearable coldness of it all. At one point my feet had become frost-bitten and walking became very difficult for me, thankfully a fellow-traveler had a toe heater which brought me tremendous relief. I’m sure I was not the only one so affected, I ran into a delegation from the University of Florida and after talking to one of the students I found out that she had never seen snow before. The only thing I could think of was perhaps pro-lifers really are nuts! Or that Nellie Gray’s legacy would always live on!