| Written by Nicole Lau , Youth Speak News,
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 Young people again dominated the National March for Life in Ottawa May 8. An estimated 7,800 people marched, about 800 more than last year. (Photo by Deborah Gyapong)
Joining about 7,800 other youth, adults and religious, many teens invented chants such as “They ask us who we are? PRO-LIFE. They want to know what we know? PRO-LIFE,” which they repeated over and over through the streets of downtown Ottawa.
The crowd exchanged its chants for a respectful silence as it passed the Morgentaler clinic, seen by many simply as the “killing centre.”
Many youth found it interesting and also refreshing. Among the various reasons for attending the march, Talitha Kozak, a law student at the University of Toronto, said it was exciting to meet pro-lifers from across the province, united in fighting for the pro-life cause.
For David Medal, who will graduate from the University of Toronto this year, attending the march was another exercise for him in declaring right and wrong.
“It is a simple and effective way to make a stand for the unborn and ultimately work toward extension of the rights of the unborn child,” he said.
The March for Life and related festivities took place May 8, including Mass, a prayer service, gatherings on Parliament Hill and a celebratory “Rose Dinner.” A youth conference the following day gathered 800 young pro-lifers at the Hampton Inn for lectures and workshops tailored for young audiences. Topics varied from abortion to chastity and euthanasia.
Janet Morana, one of the keynote speakers at the gathering on the Hill and also during the youth track, is director of Priests for Life and assistant to its U.S. director, Fr. Frank Pavone.
She said the young pro-lifers today have a deep understanding that every child born is automatically “a potentially disposable one” because of abortion on demand in Canada.
It is a case particularly close to the hearts of university students, said Elaine Zettel, a recent graduate of McMaster University in Hamilton, Ont.
“This is a dire crisis in Canada where our weakest citizens are put in the greatest risk,” Zettel said.
Zettel said that women are offered a band-aid solution to abortion rather than real help, including financial help and counselling.
“A third of my generation has been lost to the horror of abortion,” she said.
For many, the testimony from Dr. Alveda King, niece of the civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr., was a strong one. During the youth portion of the march, King shared her own story of abortion, of which she had two.
She, like the many women of the “Silent No More” awareness campaign, shared with the youth the painful effects and consequences of abortion.
Mary Ann Kuharski, director and founder of Pro-Life Across America, spoke about the importance of chastity and the responsibility of parents and children in ensuring this gift is respected and maintained.
She also shared light-hearted and warm anecdotes of her children and their understanding of the life issues.
(Lau, 20, studies history at the University of Toronto.)
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