This past Friday, I had the awesome experience of attending the March for Life in Washington D.C. I have never been one to be an activist for a specific cause in this way before, but I feel very passionately about being pro-life, and I felt it was time to go on the March. So Thursday night, the pro-life club at my university boarded a bus to head out to D.C. We arrived at 7:00 am the next morning to a brisk chilly day. Little did I know how much the March for Life would impact me until later that day.

I could already tell it was going to be a good day for the pro-life movement when I heard that Vice President Mike Pence was going to speak at the rally at the Washington Monument. It was truly a historic day because a vice-president has never spoken at the March for Life in the 43 years preceding its beginning back when Roe vs. Wade was passed. He had a very inspiring speech that lit a fire under everyone that was at the rally that morning. I believe that with this new administration, things will get accomplished. Pence said multiple times in his speech, that “life is winning again.” He spoke about how Trump and his administration will work hard to make sure that taxpayers will not have to pay for Planned Parenthood. We have already seen how serious they are about it after Trump signed an executive order banning foreign funding of places that provide abortions in other countries.

Other great speakers, including congresswoman Mia Love of Utah, who spoke about the idea that there should be less of “what could’ve been” and more of “what can be and what will be.” Through her personal story of being adopted instead of aborted, she showed us there are other options for struggling mothers or couples who may not be ready for a child of their own. Football player Ben Watson also spoke at the rally. He called on the men in the crowd to speak up for the rights of the unborn. He is a devout Christian and father who wants more men to take up the torch and follow the pro-life movement.

Unborn babies have rights and we need to protect those rights. As the sign, I carried around during the march said: “Choice kills those without one.” Let’s give unborn babies a chance at life. Who knows who they could turn out to be. As Mia said in her speech, they could be the next doctor that cures cancer or a teacher who inspires children to learn. If her parents had chosen to abort her instead of giving her up for adoption, we would not have the first female black congresswoman. See what happens when we give babies the chance they deserve? We need to give them the basic right to life because it may help the future in ways we could never imagine possible.

"A person's a person, no matter how small." -Dr. Seuss