"It's inclusive of anyone from any background."
These women appear to have struck a nerve with their inclusive message: their group brought 1,500 young people to D.C. for the March this year.
"Consistency is key for young people," Corbello said, adding that young people from Louisiana are lucky to have a legislature that is bipartisan on life, including Democrat Rep. Katrina R. Jackson, who spoke at the March this year. Seghers attributes the bipartisanship to Louisiana's diversity and "culture of family values."
Though "family values" often connotes religion, Pro-life Louisiana's events are mostly secular in tone. "Abortion is wrong because it is violent," Corbello said. "That's not a religious belief."
Family is a common theme among young people at the March. Though many of them march for religious, political, and educational reasons, almost all point to their families first when asked about their interest in pro-life issues.
Mother and daughter Claudia and Taylor Turcott did this in a literal way, carrying signs with arrows drawn toward each other. Claudia's reads: "25 years ago, I thought abortion was the only way, but I walked out of that clinic with my baby that day." Taylor's read: "October 1994: I survived my mom's abortion appointment."
Taylor began volunteering at a crisis pregnancy clinic in college after learning about her mother's near decision to abort her. The Turcotts see their advocacy, especially the March, as an opportunity to share their gratitude.
Although many people who saw Claudia's sign thanked her for choosing life, she simply said: "I just feel so, so grateful. I don't think I'm unusually brave." Claudia wants to encourage young women facing unplanned pregnancies: "You will be amazed by how many resources there are to help you."
Friday's crowd was full of extraordinary stories like the Turcotts.
One woman, Francis Reciniello, has attended the March for over 30 years. As an immigrant from Honduras, she said she had never supported abortion because it was antithetical to her culture and upbringing. So when a friend got pregnant in college, Reciniello offered help and begged her to choose life.
It worked. "She told her boyfriend and he married her, and they named their child 'Francois,' after me" Reciniello said.
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Though Reciniello's own children are active pro-lifers, most years she marches with her friend, who immigrated to the U.S. from Germany. "She's a cancer survivor, and every year we say: 'Can we make it?' And we do. Even though we go at our own pace now."
The two expressed their amazement at how young the March has become. "Young people are really stepping up!"
Perhaps the most extraordinary part of the March for Life was that the thousands of people who attend each year think of their peaceful activism, loving families, and joyful sacrifices as ordinary.
"This is just, like, normal," said Garrett, a high school student from Philadelphia, about being young and pro-life. "It's how we grew up." His classmates Evan, Miguel, and Charlie nodded.
"It's normal to respect each other, to have respect for other human beings."
Jeanne Marie Hathway is an intern at the National Review Institute and a student at The Catholic University of America.