12,500 Gather on Parliament for life…not against choice

This will be one of the few places where what took place yesterday will be considered the March for Life, not an anti-abortion rally.  Check out Twitter and Identi.ca for photos and the updates as they happened from the man Blaise himself.  There are many things we can highlight about the March, such as the vibrant youth that were present, the testimonials or even the fact that there are pro-life MPs in Ottawa (have a look at the end of the post for the list of the MPs present.  It would not be a bad idea to send them a letter of thanks for bearing witness to life), but I wanted to touch on something that Bishop Nicola De Angelis said:

…in promoting and defending life, you don’t count your personal costs…you are always in the front line trenches, day by day, bearing witness to the cause of life.

The March for Life is awesome and grows every year.  We need the March for Life to show that there are so many people in this country that support the sanctity of life.  However, ultimately we will win this battle by changing the culture on the ground floor.  Everyone of us has to be out in the world, in whatever situation we find ourselves in, and stand up for the cause of life.  We don’t have to be overbearing, moralizing or mean-spirited.  On the contrary, we must demonstrate that we love life, that we are happy being pro-life and we must have a charitable response for why we are pro-life.

By continuing to be a people of life in our everyday lives and sharing the joy that comes from that, perhaps in the future the media will stop calling this an anti-choice rally and recognize for what it truly is:  A witness to the sanctity of each individual life.

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MPs present at the March for Life:

Rod Bruinooge (Winnipeg South), Harold Albrecht (Kitchener-Conestoga), David Anderson (Cypress Hills-Grasslands), Leon Benoit (Vegreville-Wainwright), Kelly Block (Saskatoon-Rosetown-Biggar), Dean Del Mastro (Peterborough), Royal Galipeau (Ottawa-Orleans), Ed Komarniki (Souris-Moose Mountain), Guy Lauzon (Stormont-Dundas-South Glengarry), Pierre Lemieux (Glengarry-Prescott-Russell), Gurbax Singh Malhi (Bramalea-Gore-Malton), Phil McColeman (Brant), Dan McTeague (Pickering-Scarborough East), Lavar Payne (Medicine Hat), Paul Szabo (Mississauga South), Brad Trost (Saskatoon-Humboldt), Tim Uppal (Edmonton-Sherwood Park), Maurice Vellacott (Saskatoon-Wanuskewin), Mark Warawa (Langley), Jeff Watson (Essex) and Stephen Woodworth (Kitchener Centre).