Third time is also a charm....my third trip to DC for the March for Life

This was my third opportunity to attend the March for Life in Washington DC. The first two times I hitched a ride compliments of KY Right to Life who take several buses. The cost is reasonable and it is a package deal. Ed Cecil of Owensboro KY has organized buses ever since 1973. They were very gracious to add me to their list and since I was traveling alone; paired me up with nice ladies to share a  room with and  took great care of me. I appreciated the opportunity to cross something off my bucket list. It was exciting to be part of the event that draws such a crowd and is routinely ignored by the MSM.

This year the Mid South District of the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod asked me to go and represent them. My husband said he would go as well. We had frequent flyer miles and used them to prevent a long car trip. Yah! So with my husband along, who has a great sense of direction, I felt free to deviate from the group. We rode the Metro in and attended the Pro Life Con hosted by Family Action Council.  I met up with my long distance online boss, Jill Stanek. I am a contributor to Jill Stanek.com and now the new venture Stanek Report. The weather was rather nice and I felt somewhat cheated since I have marched in snow, rain and sleet to prove how hardy I am even though not part of the millennial generation that was clearly the majority there.

A side  story that gathered much media attention was the last minute scuttling of a major pro life bill that would ban abortions after 20 weeks gestation. This  polled to represents that 56% of Americans favoring lowering the ban to 20 weeks. The abandonment of the bill  was leaked the night before the March and the news junkies who follow social media caught wind of it. Jill Stanek felt so strongly about it that she told a reporter from Bloomberg that for the first time in her pro life activism career she was willing to get arrested over it.  She made a Facebook event invite asking for people to show up at Rep. Renee Ellmers (R) North Carolina's office at 3PM following the March to protest since she had been identified as the one leading the effort to bail.

We hurried over to the event and on the way  was stopped by a reporter for the CBS News and asked to give a brief interview. Of course they start with the softball questions to warm you up like...why do you march? But what they really wanted was a sound bite for the evening news about the dust up in the GOP ranks with the scrapping of the 20 week abortion ban. This caused more writers to note that the CBS gave 15 seconds to the March but the majority of that was about the bill controversy.

After the March, we stayed for the Life Conference hosted by the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod.  This two day conference was packed with information and ways to stay engaged as we head home and back to  our everyday lives. I had heard many of the speakers before and even had the opportunity to lobby with Dr. Donna Harrison in Tennessee. However, I was informed, invigorated and renewed my commitment to the cause of life.

So if you have never been to the March for Life in DC, add that to your bucket list.