Hundreds of thousands of people braved the bitter cold last week to participate in the March for Life in Washington, D.C. on January 22. Despite the sub-zero wind chill, people from all across the country walked to restore the right to life for the preborn.
After the March, my friends and I walked to the Lincoln Memorial. I stood between those humbling columns and remembered the scenes from one of my favorite movies, “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington.”
The film reaches its turning point as a no longer naive young politician sits in the shadows of the Lincoln Memorial, having just been crushed by a political machine. From D.C. to his hometown, the news media is being maneuvered against him.
He feels so small, so helpless, so foolish to have believed that the truth would prevail. He feels beaten, ready to go back to his small town. What can one man do against such corruption, such injustice?
Then a friend finds him in the shadows of the Lincoln Memorial. She reminds him that he shouldn’t place his faith in people but in “plain, decent, everyday common rightness.” She points to Abraham Lincoln, a man who refused to stop fighting though the odds were stacked against him and the opposition was severe. He had faith that “rightness” would win.
“All the good in this world came from fools with faith like that,” she tells the young Mr. Smith.
As I stood there, I felt like Mr. Lincoln and Mr. Smith. The media ignores pro-lifers or distorts the truth to make us look weak. Our opposers paint us as liars and fools.
Yet, I found hope in the memory of Mr. Lincoln. He had faith against the odds when he fought to require rights and protection for every human life.
I have faith that one day our country will protect every human being’s right to life inside the womb and out. Until then, we will continue to march, fighting for “plain, decent, everyday common rightness.”
