WASHINGTON – Several Catholic schools from the Diocese of Columbus brought groups of students to the March for Life this year.
Students had various reasons for wanting to attend the event on Friday, Jan. 19, but if there was a common denominator, it was a belief in defending the sanctity of every human life.
Ted Welsch, a senior at Columbus St. Charles Preparatory School, said he wanted to be a voice for the voiceless. He added that it is important for the strong to protect the weak, especially today.
Looking to the Blessed Virgin Mary as an example, Welsch recognized her openness to life. She accepted the gift of life given to her by the Holy Spirit and said “yes” to bearing the Christ child in her womb.
“Mary could have said ‘no’ and what would have happened then?” he said. “We believe that life is important from conception to natural death – from womb to tomb – and there’s nothing more important than that.”
This was Welsch’s second year at the march. He said that back home, it can be lonely feeling sometimes that he is the only one who believes in the right to life. At the march, being surrounded by thousands of others with the same belief was a reminder that he is not alone.
“Life is important and we have to fight for it because every natural right and every civil right starts with life, and if life isn’t upheld, then nothing can be done,” Welsch said. “The Lord Himself speaks about that and He is truth, and if truth isn’t true, then nothing can be true.”
Esmeralda Bravo Botello, a junior at Columbus Bishop Hartley High School, took part in the march because she believes every person has a right to be born. She encouraged people to consider what might have happened if the right had been taken away from them and they were not alive today.
She recognized that babies cannot defend their right to life and must rely on somebody else to be their voice. Many people regard preborn babies as “things,” she said, and disregard their humanity.
“Some people don’t realize that when you abort a baby, that baby is not just going to disappear out of the blue,” Bravo Botello said. “That baby’s going to be killed and that baby’s going to be thrown away with a lot of other babies that are just dead, and they’re going to go crush them up like they’re nothing, and those babies are just as valuable as you are.”
As a Catholic, Bravo Botello said, she believes it is her duty to march for the faith and Church teachings she professes.
“It’s part of my religion to go preach what I believe in,” she said. “This is what I believe and this is what we believe, and this is not just your life that you made. This is a gift that God has given you. It’s a privilege for you to carry a child and it’s not fair that you decide ‘I don’t want it.’”
Quinten Gale, a senior at Columbus Bishop Ready High School, wanted to attend the march to support people in all stages, helping them know their life is valuable, and to encourage mothers to choose life for their children.
He wanted to show “support for those who are going through a really hard time in their lives and don’t know where to turn, and they need to know that they have support in that time, that they can, that there’s a lot of people who are willing to help them, and they have that backing.”
Gale discussed the sanctity of life in all stages and circumstances, acknowledging that every life has value.
“Anybody, all people – life is sacred no matter who you are, whether you’re experiencing depression or anxiety or whatever situation,” he said.
The March for Life was Gale’s first march in several years. He previously attended in middle school.
Gale’s experience was different this year. Having a deepened understanding of the right to life made the march more impactful for him.
For Tessa Bott, a junior at Columbus St. Francis DeSales High School, this was her third year attending the March for Life.
Asked why she wanted to march again this year, she said it is gratifying to give “your all to something that you’re passionate about and something you really care about.”
Bott also said, “It’s important to stand up for what we believe in, not only as individuals but as a church, and to come together as one.”
For her, there is no difference between defending the right to life for preborn children and for those who have been born. Bott recognized a duty to fight for every life.
“In the same way as you would fight for a life already born, you’re still fighting for a life,” she said. “It’s just in the womb.”