Last Thursday night, I made one of the most spontaneous decisions of my life so far. Two hours before the bus left for Washington D.C. to attend the 44^th annual March for Life, I decided to go. Usually, I’m not one to make these kinds of impromptu choices. Most of the time I think and plan things for WEEKS before I make any drastic decisions, but this semester I decided I was going to do things differently and try to live more adventurously.

So I packed my things and got on the bus with fifteen other students from Assumption and a few more from Holy Cross. I knew a couple people going on the trip, but I didn’t know anyone very well. However, I didn’t feel scared or anxious at all. I was genuinely excited, and proud of myself for deciding to embark on this adventure.

The next morning we arrived in Washington D.C., and I was running on about two hours of sleep. It was freezing, and I was exhausted, but I was pumped and ready to go. I had always wanted to attend the March For Life, but I had never had the chance until now.

Being in D.C. was almost surreal. I read later that there was a total of 800,000 people at the March. I had never been a part of something so big, and so important. It was truly a life changing experience.

While the March was long and cold and very slow, I had such an incredible time. I got to talk with some people from Assumption that I had never talked to before, and I met people from other places across the country as well. After 10 miles of walking that day, I was exhausted but felt very accomplished for being able to take part in such an incredible movement.

However, there was one aspect of being at the March that really bothered me. People around me were trashing the Women’s March, which took place a week earlier. Even though I am pro-life, I am a huge supporter of the Women’s March. If I could have been there as well, I would have.

I think it is a common assumption that if someone is pro-life, she can’t be a feminist as well. But that is certainly not the case. I am a feminist and I am proud to say so. I believe that the Women’s March was an amazing movement and I wish I could say that I took part in it.

It’s sad for me to hear people make degrading comments about the Women’s March, especially coming from other women. We may have equal rights to man, but we certainly ARE NOT treated that way. Especially under the current presidency. Women deserve to be treated with respect, not degraded by some racist bully who is, unfortunately, the leader of our country.

People ask me how I can be pro-life and a feminist: isn’t that kind of contradictory? But seriously, I can be whatever the hell I want to be. I’m not going to confine myself in some party. I don’t make decisions or form judgments based on whether something is “republican” or “democrat”. I prefer to base my values on what I feel is truly right in my heart.

I personally feel that abortion is murder. I understand that not all people feel that way. I respect your opinion and your beliefs and am not going to attempt to persuade you to agree with mine. The issue of abortion is a big deal, and personally, I think it is much more complicated than being pro-life or pro-choice. There are so many different viewpoints and I don’t think anyone should feel the need to conform to a certain one. For example, even though I would describe myself as being pro-life, I believe that if bearing a child would have chances of causing serious harm or even death to the mother, then an abortion should be considered.

I also believe that women deserve to be political, socially, and economically equal to man. I understand that according to the law they are, but we certainly aren’t in practice. Women still get lesser pay than men. We still have to deal with catcalling, and other forms of abuse. And now we have to deal with a president who makes comments like “You know, it really doesn’t matter what they write as long as you’ve got a young and beautiful piece of ass. But she’s got to be young and beautiful.” And that isn’t even the worst of it!

I have many other beliefs as well. Ones that people may describe as belonging to a certain party, but I just describe as being ethically and morally right, in my opinion of course. Why do Americans have this pressure to confine themselves to a particular party when in reality there are hundreds of different viewpoints to take about so many different issues? Just something to think about.

I am pro-life. I am a woman. I am a feminist. I am a Christian. And I am proud.