Two rallies rouse marchers on 31st anniversary of Roe

Published: 2004-01-22

WASHINGTON (CNS) -- One rally before the annual March for Life Jan. 22 opened with a rock band and a rapping priest in a sports arena, rousing 20,000 or so mostly Catholic teens who joined in a lively Mass before the march. A second, outdoor rally with the White House as a backdrop had a string of politicians and religious leaders urging political action and prayer from the throngs gathering from across the nation to march to the Supreme Court. "Let's change the culture of death into a culture of life," urged youth rally emcee Ginny Dauses, youth minister from St. Francis of Assisi Parish in Derwood, Md. Speaking to the Ellipse rally by phone, President Bush said much the same thing. "I know as you return to your communities you will redouble your efforts to change hearts and minds, one person at a time," he said from Roswell, N.M. Since the first March for Life in 1974, participants have traditionally gathered at the Ellipse between the White House and the Washington Monument for a rally before beginning the march down Constitution Avenue to the Supreme Court and the Capitol.

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