Picture: 30,000 attend West Coast Walk For Life

A beautiful sight:

Pro-life demonstrations coast-to-coast:

Thousands more turned out for the 2009 Walk for Life West Coast despite a chance of rain. No rain this year, but lots of enthusiasm and excitement as more than 30,000 walked from Justin Herman Plaza along the Embarcadero to Marina Green on Saturday, January 24. {More.}

God Bless them!

At the March

I will be at the blogs4life conference in the morning, and on the National Mall during the March for Life.

I'll be sending up live updates via twitter here.

Multimedia coverage will be posted to AMP NEWS once we have a chance to edit it over the weekend.

Please pray for the unborn today in a special way.

The March for Life media blackout

The annual March for Life is the mainstream media's favorite event not to cover, as Get Religion notes.

That's one of the reasons why there's AMP NEWS. We'll be there.

Obama invited to March for Life

Nellie Gray sent the invite on behalf of the March organizers. Read her letter here.

Sen. Brownback & Rep. Rodgers to speak at blogs4life

The press release:

Senator Brownback is one of the foremost proponents of life within the Senate. He has been involved with extensive pro-life legislation in Congress including the sponsorship of the Unborn Child Pain Awareness Act, which would require doctors to inform pregnant women that expert testimony shows that unborn babies can feel pain after 20 weeks. Rep. McMorris Rodgers has been a consistent advocate for the unborn throughout her time in Congress. She founded the Congressional Down Syndrome Caucus and co-chairs the Congressional Women's Caucus which seeks to better the lives of women and families.

Details here. The Family Research Council is hosting an open house with coffee, muffins, etc and you can watch the conference on flatscreen TV's. If you're lucky, you may catch sight of me as well. ;-)

CNA: Catholic college students to participate in March for Life en masse

Here they come:

Thousands of Catholic college students and faculty will participate in the National March for Life in Washington, DC this Thursday.

The March began in 1974, one year after the U.S. Supreme Court decision Roe v. Wade imposed permissive abortion laws nationwide, and has drawn tens of thousands of protestors to the nation’s capital for decades.

Pre-eminent among the colleges participating in the March is the Front Royal, Virginia-based Christendom College, which has participated in the demonstration since 1974. It will bus all of its students to Washington, and for the third time will lead the March with its school banner.

Magdalen College’s entire student body will travel about 500 miles from Warner, New Hampshire to march for the second straight year. Students solicited donations for the trip. (More)

Is your school/youth group sponsoring a trip to the march?

Preparing for the 36th March for Life

In what little time is spared me around work and school today, I'll be preparing for tomorrow's March for Life.

I will be at the blogs4life conference in the morning, and then I'll be milling around the National Mall, conducting interviews and filimg roll for future AMP NEWS content, and twittering away all the while.

And afterwards, where else but the Dubliner?

{Check AmP regularly today and tomorrow for updates.}

Video: ALL's Training And Activism 2009

If you are in town for the March for Life, check it out:

More info here. It's free!

Events: March for Life 2009

The Cardinal Newman Society has compiled a great list (items in bold I plan on attending):

• 1/21 Tenth Annual Cardinal O’Connor Conference at Georgetown featuring Robert George and Feminist for Life’s Serrin Foster
• 1/21 “Exposing the Truth of Abortion” talk and screening of Beyond the Dark Valley at the Catholic Information Center
• 1/21 March for Life Convention at Hyatt Regency
• 1/21 An Afternoon of Prayerful Remembrance and Intercession at the National Shrine Crypt Church
• 1/21 Solemn Vigil Mass for Life at the National Shrine
• 1/21-1/23 American Life League’s Rock for Life Training and Activism Week in Washington
• 1/22 Cardinal Newman Society Breakfast Briefing for officials of Newman Guide Colleges
• 1/22 Solemn Mass for Life at the National Shrine
• 1/22 Youth Rally, Confessions and Mass at the Verizon Center
• 1/22 The 36th Annual March for Life (Washington, D.C.)
• 1/22 Catholic Athletes for Christ post-March reception at Kelly’s Irish Times
• 1/22 Rose Dinner at the Hyatt Regency
• 1/23 Pro-Life lobby day on Capitol Hill with Concerned Women for America (CWA, 1015 15th St, NW, D.C.)
• 1/24 Students for Life of America (SFLA) conference and VIP Reception

Also, Thursday, January 22, 12:45 pm at the Catholic Information Center in downtown DC:

• A screening of Beyond the Dark Valley, a short film featuring compelling testimonies of many who have been devastated by abortion. (For more information and to view a trailer for the film, visit www.BeyondTheDarkValley.org.)
• Discussion moderated by Joyce Zeunis, radio talk show host.
• Author Jane Brennan discusses her book, Motherhood Interrupted, a collection of sixteen stories of healing and hope after abortion.

For more events and tips, see my post last week.

Free Overnight Housing offered to March for Life participants!

From AmP reader Colleen:

Jan 21. Overnight Housing for Pilgrims - Free Housing at Catholic University's DuFour Center! Housing space is available for groups, individuals, and families. Contact the Campus Ministry office at Catholic University at 202-319-5575.

Also see the comment thread on this post for more housing opportunities. Thank you, readers!

Highlights of '08 March for Life Coverage

Here's the best of my March for Life coverage last year:

• Flickr set: March for Life '08
• Flickr set: Blogs4Life Conference
• YouTube video: Energetic March for Life Chanters
• YouTube video: Bird's-eye view of the Marchers
• This tag gathers together AmP blog coverage chronologically
• See also: "pro-life", "culture of life", "culture of death" & "abortion"

Plenty to peruse.

Lodging for the March for Life?

Housing for people coming into DC to attend the March for Life is a bit crunched this year because of Obama's inauguration two days prior. It's going to be hard enough functioning in DC the weekend before, and the revelers aren't expected to leave right away, either.

Several folks have emailed me asking for housing tips. I'd love to help them out, and here's where you come in - do you know of any solutions? Are you coming with a large group who reserved extra rooms? I'd hate to see living accommodations go to waste in one group while others miss out on attending the March because they couldn't find a place to rest their head at night.

So, drop me a line by email or comment below. If there's already a place where people are having this conversation - that would help too!

Thanks, papists!

A couple March for Life nibbles

CNS has a rather extensive preview of this year's March for Life.

Concerned Women for America will also be participating (and handing out snacks).

Preparing for the March for Life 2009

The 2009 March for Life is only a couple weeks away. I'm beginning to plan out which events I'll be attending/covering. My coverage last year was well received and I look forward to do it again this year (the 36th anniversary) with some experience behind me.

Some helpful links to get us started:

• A PDF file with some official events listed by the March for Life Education & Defense Fund
• More events listed over at the Priests for Life website
• Details on the MFL Convention will be published here on January 7th
• Rock for Life will be hosting a training and activism week
• Bryan Kemper is doing great work over at Stand True (and they have the best t-shirts)
• American Life League is working tirelessly around the year for pro-life causes
• LifeSiteNews has an article covering the preparations for this year's March. A sample: "Gray told LSN that this year's focus would be the equal right to life of both mother and child - precluding the widespread acceptance of abortion in case of a threat to the health of the mother. Pro-lifers must remember, said Gray, "that abortion is both about the baby and the mother, and that they have an equal right to life." Therefore, "The life principles mean equal care with no exception."

That's at least a start. Did I miss something?

And if you are planning on attending the March - I'd love to hear about your plans in the combox!

Don't forget the West Coast Walk for Life

For those unable to trek out to Washington DC on January 22nd for the March for Life, consider the fifth annual West Coast Walk for Life in San Francisco on January 24th.

The organizers have placed a pro-life banner on the SF Bay Bridge, which carries 250,000+ cars a day.

2009 Pro-Life Blog Awards have begun

Hosted by the American Life League.

Hop on over if you're a pro-life blogger!