On Jan. 24, tens of thousands of people from many states, backgrounds and belief systems, all of whom agree life is the only choice, gathered in Washington, D.C., for a peaceful demonstration of our commitment. The event went largely unreported.

The annual March for Life on the 32nd anniversary of the Roe vs. Wade decision, which legalized abortion in the United States, was the culmination for many conferences, prayers and visits to legislators' offices.

Those of us who traveled from the Archdiocese of Hartford and parts north were delayed but not stopped by Blizzard Charles, which dropped more than a foot of snow Saturday and Sunday.

The delay prevented us from attending the Liturgy at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception on Sunday evening, but we were not fazed.

On the morning of Jan. 24 we attended a special March for Life Liturgy presided over by the Rev. James Cronin, director of Pro-Life Activities for the Archdiocese of Hartford. It was followed by breakfast and a rousing call to action by Austin Ruse, president of the Catholic Family and Human Rights Institute.

Mr. Ruse's message was that in this time of catastrophe, when life is being attacked from every side, we are needed as advocates for the weak and enslaved and as a voice for the voiceless. This is a time to go beyond private worship and to engage in the public struggle, he said. There are days of discouragement, but "We are happy warriors because we know for whom we fight. We can feel His (God's) presence among us."

Gathering at the Ellipse later the same day was exciting. So many people, gathering for a common life-affirming cause, took pictures and greeted other marchers from Florida, Ohio, Massachusetts and Kentucky. The march was preceded by speeches from clergy, legislators and leaders of the pro-life movement.

President Bush spoke to us via telephone from Camp David. He encouraged us to "take heart from our achievements, because a true culture of life cannot be sustained solely by changing laws. We need most of all, to change hearts. And that is what we're doing, seeking common ground where possible, and persuading increasing numbers of our fellow citizens of the rightness of our cause."

After the speeches, we started the 17-block walk to the Supreme Court building where the Roe vs. Wade decision was rendered in 1973.

The march was peaceful, solemn and hopeful, with time to reflect on the diversity of the participants. Christian, non-Christian, students, educators, professionals, small business owners and retired people from all over the Eastern United States attended. These are people who are engaged in questioning the status quo, bucking the system pleading for the defense of life.

This event was one of many across the country, but these peaceful, hopeful people — radicals, people of faith, Americans — were snubbed by the news media.

How do we explain the lack of interest? The demonstrations are not seen as newsworthy, although the issue — millions of decisions to end millions of new lives by millions of women — is controversial and alive. The Washington Post chose to report the march in the D.C. Metro section. It was not considered worthy of mention anywhere in the main section of the newspaper.

Life and life issues — abortion, war, euthanasia, embryonic stem-cell research, poverty and slavery, the death penalty — need our full attention.

Individual decisions, enlightened by respect for all human life, can nurture a culture of life, and this life-affirming culture in turn will encourage and support decisions that confirm life as the only real choice.

We were four ladies from Southbury who rode on a bus with Sister Suzanne Gross, FSE and 55 other people from Connecticut. Our destination was Washington D.C. and our purpose was to march for Life, on Monday January 24th, 2005, down Constitution Ave.

Tens of thousands of people, young and old from all over the country joined together as one voice to make a stand for Life on that freezing cold day.

I was struck by the banner carried by another group from Connecticut who met up with us at the Holiday Inn on the Hill that morning. The group was lead by Fr. Cronin from Milford and on the banner was a Bible verse from the Old Testament " …nor shall you stand by idly when your neighbor's life is at stake." Leviticus 19:16.

On reading those words and reflecting on them I realized this was the reason why I decided to go to D.C. on this particular day for this particular reason.

I was reminded of an experience I had around 10 years ago when my mother took my four sisters and me on a trip to Munich Germany to experience our German heritage, at least as much of it as we could in one short week. While there we toured the beautiful square, churches, shops, theater, and the beer hall filled with singing and dancing. It was in December and it was cold and beautiful and a lot of fun.

But before we left we also made a visit to the remains of Dachau, the work/death camp of the Holocaust where thousands of Jews and others perished. It was a sickening tour, one which I will never forget.

I know that we have all heard the stories and seen the pictures about the concentration camps. Then the guide pointed out the high cement walls around the camp and told us how during the time of the holocaust, the people who lived in the neighborhood that encircled the camp, carried on with their usual daily activities of eating, drinking, and going to work, school and church, as if no one knew what was going on behind the walls. They lived oblivious to the culture of death that was literally in their own back yard. During our tour I thought, how horrible, how sickening, how could people close their eyes and literally ignore this horrific treatment of other human beings.

So I say today, are we much different from those people living in the neighborhood of Dachau? How can we continue to live with our eyes closed to the holocaust of today's culture of death to infants?

From 1973 through 2000 more than 39 million legal abortions occurred in our country. How much longer will we the people of the United States continue to be oblivious to our own holocaust? After being in Munich and having my eyes opened, how could I not go to Washington to protest abortion? Is this not the least I could have done?

Any woman who is pregnant and in need, can turn for help to the pro-life Movement. She never has to feel that abortion is the only option. People anywhere in the country can find assistance at the following numbers: