March for Life Broadens Focus to Engage Cultural, Political Realms

March for Life president Jeanne Monahan says that the group's “plan and hope is to be more of a year-round organization.”

As hundreds of thousands of pro-life Americans prepare for the annual March for Life, organizers of the event are already making plans to enhance their impact long after it concludes.

While many people associate the March for Life Education and Defense Fund with the massive pro-life event it holds each year in Washington, D.C., President Jeanne Monahan told CNA that the group's “plan and our hope is to be more of a year-round organization.”

This involves increased educational and political efforts, cooperation with other pro-life groups and work to expand the yearly march in D.C. through the use of technology.

Now in its 41st year, the annual March for Life is held as a demonstration against the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision, in which the Supreme Court mandated legal abortion throughout the country.

Generally held on or near the Jan. 22 anniversary of Roe v. Wade, the march runs from the National Mall to the Supreme Court. Last year, it was estimated to have drawn more than half a million participants.

Monahan described the march and preceding rally as an opportunity to witness to the 56 million individual persons whose lives have been cut short through legal abortion.

As in past years, speakers at the 2014 rally will include pro-life leaders from the religious, political and cultural realms.

Also speaking will be Molly Anne Dutton, who made headlines last fall when she became Miss Homecoming at Auburn University by sharing her story of being conceived in rape and given a chance at life by her mother, with the help of an adoption agency.

Metropolitan Tikhon, Primate of the Orthodox Church in America, will offer an invocation prayer during the rally, and Grammy-nominated musician Matt Maher will lead the crowd in prayerful music.

As is usual for the March for Life, Monahan said, the majority of participants are expected to be young people, and the event will be marked by a “joyful, respectful and enthusiastic spirit.”