By Casey Pigg

A group of 10 Quincy University students travelled to Washington D.C., the first Tuesday of the semester to participate in the 2019 March for Life. This group of students is a part of an organization on campus called the Students for Life that has been going to the march every year since the student group was established. The group drove 18 hours cross-country to spend the week in Washington, participating in the Vigil Mass at the Basilica, the march, and the Students for Life Conference, as well as going to the Holocaust Museum. Participants saw this trip as a way to stand for what they believe is right.

“When I think about the pro-life movement and what you are fighting for when you march for life, you are fighting because there is a silent holocaust happening every single day as millions of babies are dying through the reality of abortion and procedural abortion,” Genesis Torrens, QU senior, said.

The March for Life is held annually in the district, since the court case of Roe v. Wade, legalizing the practice of abortions. In each of the past 46 years, thousands of people gather in the National Mall for a rally before marching down Constitution Ave. to the Supreme Court and Capital Building in protest of abortion.

This year’s march was the largest ever been reported. According to the Students for Life of America organization, over 900,000 people traveled from all around the world to participate.

“When you are there, it just strikes you how powerful you are in numbers,” Torrens said. “You are just one person, but when you are standing with all these other people who are also passionate about this issue, there is something powerful about that, but also super hopeful about that.”

Quincy University Students were not the only ones to travel a great distance to get there. More 300 people travelled from the Springfield, Illinois diocese. Many college students from around the country also marched. Notre Dame University sent 800 of its students to the march as well. That is roughly 10 percent of the student body who participated in the march.

“We have the opportunity to actually do something good for the world and it is because this horrible thing is happening in the world. We can choose to be some of the billions of people who are ignoring it and not caring about it or we can be the people who stand up and do something about it,” Lydia Martens, Vice-President of QU Students for Life, said.

Many people from different beliefs and backgrounds came together to share their support in this cause.

“The reason that we fight this is not due to religion necessarily. It is because this is important and these are people,” Emily Novelli, QU freshman, said.

While the cause is very serious, the trip is filled with fun and joy, creating a tight-knit group grown together by such a powerful experience.

“I think our group was very different and diverse with some people being friends before the trip,” Novelli said. “We just became a cute little weird messed up family in the end.”