BC Students Attend March For Life Despite Administrative Hiccups

On Friday, January 21, tens of thousands attended the annual March For Life rally in Washington, D.C. on the 49th anniversary of the landmark U.S. Supreme Court case Roe v. Wade. Since 1974, pro-life activists, advocates, and supporters have been convening in Washington to visibly demonstrate commitment to protecting the rights of the unborn. But activists have been particularly excited about this year’s march as some speculate it could possibly be the last march before Roe v. Wade is overturned. 

Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization is an ongoing Supreme Court case resulting from a lawsuit from Jackson Women’s Health Organization in 2018 after the state of Mississippi passed a ban on abortions past fifteen weeks of pregnancy. The file, accepted for review by the Supreme Court in December of 2021, is likely to be decided by June of 2022. The hope from pro-life activists is that, by deciding against the Misssissippi abortion provider, the Supreme Court will determine Roe v. Wade unconstitional on a federal level and return abortion laws fully to the power of the states.

Boston College’s Pro-Life Club (PLC) prepared to travel to D.C. this year to join the march as they have done in recent years. However, they were unable to attend this year. There is a tacit understanding between the PLC and the university that students will be attending the March For Life. In past years, this has never been a problem, and organizing has always gone smoothly and without trouble. But amid the era of COVID-19, things proved to be more complicated.

The first issue PLC co-presidents Max Montana, MCAS ‘23, and Isabel Wagner, MCAS ‘22, ran into was university approval. As the pandemic shows little signs of slowing down, and with variants making appearances across the country, out-of-state travel approvals for university clubs have been slower than usual.

In an interview, Wagner said that the club had been corresponding with Office of Student Involvement (OSI) advisors to make sure the trip would be possible since October. Though they had gained approval in November, approval was revoked mid-December as COVID-19 concerns prompted the administration to reconsider all travel requests. So, despite the head start, the trip would not again gain approval until January 14th, 2022, one week before the march. Wagner explained that even though the club was making preparations throughout December, these were all under the auspices that the trip to D.C. would eventually be endorsed.

“I couldn’t believe the trip was being approved the second week of January,” she said, shaking her head. “With the trip only a week away we scrambled to make sure everything would be ready in time, including making sure we had a bus, hotel rooms, and conference tickets.”

For big purchases like hotel rooms, clubs need special permission to have funds transferred to a club credit card, which is only done after review of the spending request. But this request cannot be reviewed or granted until the trip itself is approved.

“This [request review] delayed everything,” she continued, sighing as she recalled the events over the prior few weeks. “The hotel fees were going up because we hadn’t paid them yet. The Cardinal O’Connor conference, which we had purchased tickets for, went virtual and refunded all of our tickets, meaning we had to find another venue to attend for the time being. Luckily, Students For Life of America [SLFA] were still hosting their conference, but their tickets were twice the cost and OSI wasn’t willing to increase our budget, meaning we had to use more club funds which required additional approval from OSI. SFLA was kind enough to hold spots for us despite us not yet having made payments, but ultimately payment had to be given in full by the 10th. We managed to get fund appropriations approved in time to pay them, but then there was still the issue of finding a bus. No BC buses were available, so we had to look at outside vendors.”

Everything seemed to be falling apart; the trip had finally been approved—albeit late— but the issue of buses was still undetermined because the bus the club chose needed to be reviewed by the risk management team to make sure their insurance policies complied with BC standards. The trip, which was planned to begin around 11 p.m. on Thursday, January 20 so students could arrive at 8 a.m. in D.C. in time for the march on Friday afternoon, still had no bus as of Wednesday, January 19.

Wagner and Montana were hopeful that the bus could still be approved in time, so they postponed making an announcement about the trip’s cancellation. But when their OSI advisor told them on Wednesday morning that BC denied the bus company they chose, and that no school buses contracted through BC were available, the trip was canceled. An email was sent out later that afternoon to break the news to club members.

Yet some determined students still traveled to DC. A small but resilient group of students took matters into their own hands and were resolved to attend the march despite the cancellation. Some took buses, others took planes, and others took their own cars.

Anilda Rodrigues, MCAS ‘22 and the social media coordinator for the PLC, attended the march in a last minute decision.

“I was so disappointed that [the trip] was canceled. I really wanted to go. That’s when I asked [in a March for Life group chat] who else was going. Shortly after, a friend of mine called me and told me there were round-trip buses going to DC for 100 bucks. So I thought,  ‘Why not?’ ”

Another member, Veronica Gasowski, LSEHD ‘25, had found bus tickets through Flix, and the pair made an impromptu decision to travel down together.

“In retrospect, it was a crazy decision. But I wouldn’t change a thing.” Rodrigues said as she smiled behind her glasses, stifling a reserved laugh.

They took an 8:30 p.m. bus departing from Brighton. The trip would ultimately take eight hours, with a few interspersed stops in New York, Philadelphia, and Baltimore, and finally arrive in DC at 5:10 a.m.

Then the pair came to the realization that they were a bit underprepared. With no hotel booked, and nowhere to stay in DC until their bus ride back to Boston at 11 p.m., they wandered to a local Walmart to grab supplies.

“It was so cold,” Gasowski recalled. “We walked a half hour to a Walmart, and had to wait another half hour for it to open at 6 a.m. We went in and bought sweatpants to help keep us warm.”

After the purchase, the pair went to the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception located in D.C. Mass was scheduled to begin at 8am, but did not begin until 8:30 a.m. due to the sheer amount of attendees. The church, which is quite large and can sit 6,000 people, was packed.

“There were so many people from all around the country,” said Gasowski. “We met people from South Dakota, California, and other states. The energy in the church was exuberant and exciting. It was the encouragement we needed to endure the cold.”

The Mass was celebrated by Cardinal Sean O’Malley, archbishop of the Archdiocese of Boston.

Following the Mass, they visited the John Paul II Shrine, which was closed due to the march, and toured around until the rally began at around noon at the National Mall. Keynote speakers included actor and producer Kirk Cameron, congresspersons Julia Letlow and Chris Smith, Lisa Robertson from Duck Dynasty, and Fr. Mike Schmitz, a priest and internet personality who hosts the Youtube channel Ascension Presents and directs youth and young adult ministries.

The rally continued until 1 p.m., when the march began. Pro-life advocates made the two hour march to the Supreme Court, where the march traditionally ends.

Rodrigues and Gasowski relayed the atmosphere of the march, calling it beautiful, peaceful, and invigorating. “I didn’t see any counter-protestors,” they both recalled. “In fact, [we] saw people from the sidelines cheering us on, supporting us. [We] even saw a small group of Democrats for Life, which was heartening. [We] were surprised and excited to see people from across the political spectrum standing for life.”

As the march began to come to an end, Rodrigues and Gasowski began to realize they had many hours left until their bus arrived. Furthermore, their phones were nearly dead. They tried to connect with other BC students who made the trip down, but were unfortunately unable to meet with any of them. The two spent the next eight hours in and out of museums, restrooms, and hotel lobbies in feeble attempts to stay warm and keep their phones charged.

“It was so exhausting. We hadn’t slept in over 24 hours and we were on our feet literally all day. And the chilling cold was nearly unbearable. It was a humbling experience, especially as we encountered many of the city’s homeless and poor as we traveled from location to location. It made me realize the exhausting efforts they had to make just to stay warm and charge any electronics they had. At one point, we saw rows and rows of tents lined along sidewalks.

“I ended up giving almost all my money away because so many people came up to me to ask. I remember feeling distinctly humbled as we finally got on the bus. We were going back to our regular, luxurious lives on a nice campus with heat, hot water, food, and a roof over our heads. They had to live that everyday; we only lived that for 24 hours. We only walked one day in their shoes.”

With the trip ended, the two arrived in Brighton at 7 a.m.

The Pro-Life Club hopes to resume regular trips to the March For Life as they did pre-pandemic, and that the trials and mishaps of this year will not interfere with next year’s plans. The club is hopeful that better procedures and protocols regarding travel will emerge as the administration adjusts in the era of COVID-19.

Featured image courtesy of Anilda Rodrigues, MCAS ’22