March for Life: 40 years later

BY ELIZABETH CARDEN PHILLIPS ’86

On January 22, 1973, the United States Supreme Court legalized abortion in America in the Roe v. Wade decision. The next year, on that same day, the March for Life began.

Each year since, hundreds of thousands of Americans from every state have journeyed to the nation’s capital in January to march from the National Mall to the Supreme Court in peaceful witness to the injustice of abortion.

St. Cecilia Academy began attending the March for Life in 1983, the 10th anniversary of Roe v. Wade. As a junior at SCA, I was incredibly blessed to be a part of that inaugural journey. Looking back, I see it as one of the most important events of my life.

(Above) Elizabeth, Sister Mary Caroline, Sister Mary Angela, and Amy Carden Conlan ‘81 met up at this year’s March for Life. (Right) Elizabeth’s daughter Cecilia ’25 with friend Stella Perazzini ‘23.

On the day we were to leave, Nashville woke to a late January ice and snowstorm. We were too young to worry about the hazardous conditions and were blissfully unaware that parents and chaperones were on the phones weighing the safety of making the fifteen-hour bus ride. In the spirit of trust and courage, our principal, Sister Mary Angela, made the decision to go forward. I’m forever grateful that she did.

We loaded the bus with our pillows and sleeping bags, full of excitement and not sure what awaited us in our nation’s capital. As the tour bus crept over the icy Shenandoah Mountains, there were a few slips and slides, a large number of rosaries said, along with lots of laughter and singing. We arrived in D.C. safe and sound, if a little groggy.

I’ll never forget my first view of the Capitol as our bus pulled in to join the hundreds of other buses lining the National Mall. The Washington Monument, The Smithsonian Museums, the Capitol, the Library of Congress, the Supreme Court, all enormous and grand, took my breath away. We had just enough time to run through the Smithsonians to see some of our nation’s history before meeting up on the Mall for the March.

Even more impressive than the monuments and museums was the crowd that gathered for the March. As a young high school girl from Nashville, I had never seen so many people in one place—thousands upon thousands of young and old jostling together as President Reagan addressed the crowd from the White House. There were smiles and handshakes and hugs between strangers and new friends.

It was cold and gray, and the winter storm that had followed us from Nashville started to shower down large snowflakes as we began the march down Constitution Avenue, but I don’t recall feeling cold at all. The crowd was so joyful and inviting that it was difficult to feel anything but warmth. Banners identifying groups from Michigan, Florida, California – and just about every state in between – flapped in the wind as we slowly walked the two miles to the Supreme Court, praying the rosary at some parts, singing at others and cheering pro-life messages. It felt like one big family. possible, I traveled back to D.C. for the annual March for Life. I was honored to be a board member of Tennessee Right to Life for many years as we worked on a constitutional amendment to the state constitution to allow common-sense safeguards to abortion laws in Tennessee. Currently, I pray the rosary each week with other Dominican campus parents and friends at Nashville’s Planned Parenthood.

It was that day I decided I would live in D.C. someday. I would be part of the change our nation so desperately needed. I applied for and received a congressional internship during college, and then moved to Washington D.C. after graduation. I was blessed to work in media for a public policy foundation dedicated to pro-life issues. Each January, on my lunch breaks, I would walk from the office to join up with the marchers. Even on my own, I never felt alone. It was like a family reunion of sorts.

When I moved back to Nashville, I continued to pursue public policy work for the Governor of Tennessee, where I met my husband. Whenever This past January, I had the chance once again to attend the March for Life. This time, my daughters, both now St Cecilia girls who are nearly the same age I was when I first made the trip, were there with their classmates. In that crowd of thousands, I caught a glimpse of my former principal, Sr. Mary Angela, marching alongside other Dominicans Sisters. As we walked together, she shared with me how anxious she had been to let a bunch of high school girls board the bus that snowy day almost 40 years before. She said, “We saw you girls off, and then started saying the rosary over and over again until you were safely there.” It was one of the full circle moments we are sometimes allowed by God’s Providence. I can’t imagine how different my life would be if Sister Mary Angela had made a different choice. I’ll be forever grateful for SCA’s courageous commitment to the dignity of each human life and for igniting in me a passion for caring for the unborn and their mothers. ◊

(Above) Friends Anna Huber '22 and Lauren Regnier '22 with Elizabeth’s daughter Flanigen ’22 at this year’s March in D.C. (Left) Elizabeth and Flanigen were part of this year’s SCA delegation for Women’s Pro-Life Day on the Hill in Nashville. Pictured left to right: Shawn Curley, Elizabeth Phillips '86, Sister Anne Catherine, Flanigen Phillips '22, Lauren Regnier '22, Clare Dalske '23, Sarah Dalske, Louisa Bateman (SCA Teacher)