March for Life pilgrims heading to D.C.

January 14, 2025

by Jennifer Willems

While Roe v. Wade was overturned two years ago via the Supreme Court decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, abortion didn’t go away. For that reason, thousands will converge on Washington, D.C., on Jan. 24 to defend the right to life – including 60 students and parishioners from throughout Iowa.

The annual pilgrimage is being sponsored by Pulse Life Advocates, formerly Iowans for Life. Making the trip to the March for Life will be students from Dowling Catholic High School and members of St. Francis of Assisi Parish, both in West Des Moines, as well as the Basilica of St. John in Des Moines.

The bus will leave from St. Francis of Assisi on Jan. 22 and pick up students from St. Edmond Catholic School in Fort Dodge, St. Wenceslaus Parish in Iowa City, and the Quad Cities on its way to the nation’s capital, according to Maggie DeWitte, executive director of Pulse Life Advocates.

The group will return on Jan. 26.

Mass, rally prepare pilgrims

The pilgrims will begin their day of pro-life advocacy with a youth rally and Mass hosted by the Sisters of Life on Jan. 24. The rally before the March for Life will take place near the Washington Monument that afternoon and then send participants down Constitution Avenue to an area that includes the Supreme Court building and the U.S. Capitol.

“Even though we’ve been victorious on the federal level, the reality is that abortion is still legal in many, many states,” DeWitte said. “So we do need to continue to march until all life is protected in our country.”

She called it “the largest human rights march that happens every year.”

“You get people from all across the country, all walks of life, all faiths coming together for one common mission, and that is to declare and bear witness to the fact that all life is valuable, all life has dignity, and therefore all life should be protected by our laws,” DeWitte said.

Working in different ways

Advocating for life must happen on the federal and state level now, DeWitte explained.

The Dobbs decision returned decisions about abortion to the state level, so there is still work to be done in the states where it is legal, she said. At the same time, one of the biggest threats to life is telehealth and abortion pills that are being mailed through the U.S. Postal Service.

“That’s across state lines and that is a federal issue,” DeWitte said. “That is going to take federal regulation to handle that.”

It also takes prayer and sacrifice, she said, calling the trip to Washington, D.C., a pilgrimage.

“It is a sacrifice to get on a bus for many, many hours in close quarters. Lack of sleep, lack of comfort – all of those sacrificial things that we encourage them to offer up for the lives of our unborn brothers and sisters,” DeWitte said. “And use this opportunity to really prayerfully think about the pro-life movement, think about their family, think about their part.”

It can’t just be the work of a state organization, she said.

“We all have a duty and a responsibility to share that message. The only way we’re going to create a culture of life and change hearts and minds is by engaging in conversation, by praying about this issue.”

For more information about Pulse Life Advocates, visit PulseforLife.org or call (515) 255-4113.