The March for Life

The first March for Life was on January 22, 1974, a year after the Roe v. Wade ruling. It was intended as a one-time event, but once supporters realized that pro-life members of Congress were far from reversing the right to an abortion, then the pro-life march became a yearly protest until the Supreme Court case would be overturned. This first march began with a rally in front of the Capitol building while Congress announced pro-life legislation. Subsequently, the participants participated in a “Circle of Life” around the Capitol in an attempt to lobby their representatives. It was organized by Nellie Gray, a pro-life activist, and a Catholic, who was adamant that these marches ought to continue until human life is fully protected, from womb to tomb.

Roe v. Wade is a Supreme Court case that was decided in 1973 to offer women the freedom to choose an abortion without excessive government restriction. Jane Roe, the pseudonym of the plaintiff, wanted an abortion while she was pregnant with her third child. At the time, however, abortions were illegal in Texas unless there was a medical necessity to save the mother’s life. She filed a lawsuit against Henry Wade, the district attorney of Dallas County, Texas. She claimed that state laws against abortions were unconstitutional because they violated her right to privacy, based on the First, Fourth, Fifth, Ninth, and Fourteenth Amendments. After many appeals, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of the plaintiff, claiming that the Due Process Clause in the Fourteenth Amendment fundamentally protects the right to privacy, which includes the right to an abortion. The majority opinion, though, did specify that this right must be balanced by the government’s inherent interest to protect the “potentiality” of human life. After this ruling, states could not regulate abortions within the first trimester, had limitations on regulations in the second trimester, and could only prohibit them entirely once the child reaches "viability".

Even before the Roe v. Wade decision, Nellie Gray was an advocate in the pro-life movement, urging Congress to pass a Human Life Amendment. She was the president of a local group and joined the National Right to Life Council Board of Directors in 1973. Adamant that this organization needed to establish a demonstration in front of the Supreme Court on the anniversary of this decision, Gray organized the first March for Life. She sent letters, created posters, and held press conferences, all of which she stressed that there ought to be a clear message broadcasted to the everyday person. She emphasized that this movement had to be fearless and unwavering until Roe is repealed. On the 22^nd of January, several thousand people gathered in the front of the Capitol to participate in a rally, where multiple politicians and pro-life leaders offered brief remarks. The march itself led the demonstrators from the Capital to the Supreme Court steps, which lasted about an hour.

The First March for Life Protest (January 22, 1974). Image courtesy of the March for Life Education and Defense Fund.

      At its core, the March for Life fights for the common good of all people, without excluding the unborn. Just as Nellie Gray fervently preached, if one human does not have the right to life, then none of humanity has the right to life. The March for Life in 1974 fought to preserve the rights of children who lost their fundamental right to life in Roe v. Wade. As Gaudium et Spes states, protests ought to be to support all human citizens. The various pro-life marches in Washington D.C. aim to protect all of humanity and serve to showcase the historical roots of a protest that continues to have hundreds of thousands in attendance.

The History of the March for Life webpage houses a timeline, beginning with the first march in 1974 and ending with Nellie Gray’s death in 2012.