Notre Dame Students Lead Washington D.C. March for Life

The Washington D.C. March for Life left Notre Dame students with a renewed urgency for the pro-life movement, Sophomore Mary Olivia Balmert told The Observer.

More 600 members of the Notre Dame Right to Life club, including both students and faculty members, traveled to Washington D.C. to attend the national march last Saturday. Notre Dame were given the opportunity to lead the march, which sophomore Susanna Floyd called "an incredibly cool experience."

Notre Dame students show off their pro-life signs at the March for Life in Washington D.C.

The participants from Notre Dame converged on the National Mall with more than 650,000 people from across the country to march in protest of the 1973 Supreme Court decision on Roe v. Wade, which legalized abortion in America. This years march held special significance because 2013 marks the 40th anniversary of the Supreme Court ruling. 

Standing up for their beliefs in solidarity was very memorable, Sophomore Lexi Stroud said. "It was amazing to see how many people showed up for the cause. I especially loved marching along side my friends and participating together to demonstrate our beliefs."

Mary Olivia Balmert, who serves as a comissioner in Notre Dame's Right to Life club, saw the event as a wake up call for the nation, she told The Observer.

"This trip [was] especially serious because it encouraged us to look back over the past four decades and remember how many lives have been lost in that time framed: over 55 million," Balmert said to The Observer. "Roe v. Wade occurred before I was born, meaning that when I was in utero it was considered legal for my mother to terminate her pregnancy and end my life if she had wanted. As my poster at the march said, I'm a survivor."

Notre Dame sophomores Susanna Floyd and Lexi Stroud at the march in Washington D.C.

Sophomore Right to Life club media commissioner Andrew Weiner was one of 50 students who got to carry the official March for Life banner at the front of the crowd. 

"It was great being with a group of young people leading the march, leading the way and showing people that we are a generation that really cares about this issue," Weiner said. 

Notre Dame students commuted to the march via two overnight bus trips, each lasting upwards of nine hours. The travel was definitely worth it, Susanna Floyd said. 

"It was just a really fun experience to attend the march and to be able to see Washington D.C." Floyd said. "I am so happy to attend a university that makes it possible to attend events like this and I am so happy I took advantage of the opportunity to come."