They came from all over the country, some riding in buses for 20 hours or more, many spending the night in church basements, all braving the cold, frosty weather to attend the 38th March for Life in Washington D.C.

Young and old came, but the vast majority of the hundreds of thousands of marchers were young – high school students, college students, youth groups, and children. They came as if following the Pied Piper: great throngs of young people singing, chanting, praying, and marching, determined to defend life in all its stages, and calling out to lawmakers to overturn 1974 Roe v Wade law that allowed the slaughter of one third of their generation.

Some groups chanted “Hey! Hey! Ho! Ho! Roe v Wade has got to go!” Others cried out “Pro-Life! Pro-Life”. A group of teenage boys wearing t-shirts draped as capes yelled “Save the babies!” Little children repeated over and over, “Choose life! Not abortion!”

They marched, full of energy and enthusiasm, from the Washington Mall, up Constitution Avenue to the Supreme Court. Along the way, a huge billboard displayed grisly pictures of aborted babies – a grim reminder of the horrors of abortion. People were hushed, and many turned to prayer. Outside the Supreme Court, large groups of people carried black signs that read, “I regret my abortion” and “I regret my lost fatherhood.” Many people, upon completing the march, stood on the sidewalks, watching with awe, the great sea of people that just kept coming and coming and coming.

And where was the mainstream media in all of this? They were nowhere to be seen. Now these young people are returning home, weary from all the physical discomforts of cold and travel, but ignited in their resolve to protect the unborn. They will eagerly search the internet and news for coverage of the March for Life, and find that the media has chosen to ignore or distort this tremendous event. Will they be disappointed? Perhaps. More likely, they will be incensed; this will only add fuel to their fire.

These young people, who love truth and life, want to be heard. And no doubt, they will be. Unlike the children of Hamlin who disappeared to a place safe from the corruption of dishonest and greedy adults, these young people will go back to their homes and schools. They will proclaim the truth to their peers, changing hearts and minds one at a time. And next year, when the Pied Piper takes up his call, these vibrant young people will come again in even greater droves to march for life and to be a voice for the voiceless.