wfn.org | LCMS - Lutherans take part in D.C. 'March for Life'

[Worldwide Faith News <wfn@igc.org>]

The Lutheran Church--Missouri Synod
Board for Communication Services

LCMSNews -- No. 6
January 30, 2003

Lutherans take part in D.C. 'March for Life'

By Paula Schlueter Ross

Missouri Synod Lutherans were among tens of thousands of pro-life advocates 
who took part in the "March for Life" Jan. 22 in Washington, D.C.

This year's march marked the 30th anniversary of the Roe v. Wade Supreme 
Court decision that legalized abortion -- for any reason -- during all nine 
months of pregnancy.

Some 30 people from several states marched as part of a Lutherans For Life 
(LFL) delegation, according to Dennis Di Mauro, president of LFL's Northern 
Virginia chapter.  Many of the Lutheran marchers had met that morning for 
worship at Our Savior Lutheran Church in nearby Arlington, Va., and took 
the subway to the Washington Monument, where the march began.

"Our marchers joined about 100,000 others and battled 20-degree weather and 
high winds, which actually snapped a pole on our Lutherans For Life 
banner," Di Mauro said.

Marchers were "encouraged," he said, by a broadcast telephone message from 
President Bush, who was in St. Louis.  Bush noted that the gathering was 
near the memorial to Thomas Jefferson, author of the Declaration of 
Independence.

"The March for Life upholds the self-evident truth of that Declaration -- 
that all are created equal, given the unalienable rights of life, and 
liberty and the pursuit of happiness," Bush said.  "And that principle of 
America needs defenders in every place and every generation."

Bush promised to sign a bill banning partial-birth abortion if the measure 
is passed by Congress this year, and said he shares the commitment of 
marchers to build a "culture of life in America," and added, "we're making 
progress."

LFL Executive Director James I. Lamb, who took part in the march for the 
sixth time, said it is "worthwhile in that it shows we are not alone in 
this fight for life and that the pro-life movement is not going to go away."

More meaningful to him, though, was the Lutheran worship service prior to 
the march, he said, where 65 people "gathered to hear God's Word of Life, 
to commune together, and to pray together."

While LFL wants to see abortion laws changed, "our focus is to change 
hearts," Lamb said.  "While we believe abortion should be illegal, our 
focus is to make it unthinkable.  The only thing that can bring about such 
change in the hearts of people is God's Spirit working through His Word.

"So we march and we encourage others to march, to vote pro-life, and to be 
good Christian citizens," he said.  "But we spend much more time, energy 
and money producing Word-based materials for congregations to use to 
educate and equip their people."

Lamb said that, sadly, the significance of the 30th anniversary of Roe v. 
Wade this year is that it "signals 30 years of relative silence from the 
Body of Christ on the greatest atrocity against human life -- and therefore 
against the Author of Life -- of our time."

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