Bitter Cold Doesn't Stop Chicago March Against 'culture Of Death'

CHICAGO (CNS) – Dana Mentgen donned six layers of clothing and made the trek downtown to Chicago's Federal Plaza on Jan. 17 because he felt it was important to witness for life against the "culture of death."

            "I think the majority of people are pro-life. It's just that we've been silent too long. We have to speak out," said Mentgen, a parishioner at St. Raphael the Archangel Parish in Old Mill Creek.

            Mentgen was one of thousands of "pro-life popsicles," as organizers called them, who came from around the Midwest and braved below-zero wind chills to participate in the 11th annual Chicago March for Life. About 3,000 people from around the Midwest turned out for the event. Besides Illinois, pro-lifers came from Indiana, Wisconsin, Iowa, Ohio and Michigan.

            Because of the extreme cold, organizers condensed the speaker portion of the event.

            Marchers carried signs with pro-life messages in English and Spanish and listened to speakers including Chicago Archbishop Blase J. Cupich; the Rev. Corey Brooks, pastor of New Beginnings Church of Chicago; and abortion survivor Melissa Ohden.

            "No child should be told that there is no room for them. The womb should not be the child's tomb," Archbishop Cupich told the crowd. "We just celebrated Christmas, the season that features the birth of a child, a season of new life and new beginning. A child, like no one else, creates and fosters hope in our world. We need to make room for the child just as we need the hope a child brings. What we do today is about making room for hope in our world."

            Rev. Brooks called on the crowd to carry the pro-life message to the African-American community, which he said is unfairly targeted by Planned Parenthood. The African-American community makes up 13 percent of the U.S. population yet has a third of all abortions, he said.

            Ohden shared how she was aborted and left to soak in a burning saline solution for five days -- a process intended to kill her. Her mother was forced to undergo the abortion against her will. Ohden called for support for women who feel forced to have abortions and said pro-lifers aren't just "pro-baby" but "pro-women."

            Duriga is editor of the Catholic New World, newspaper of the Archdiocese of Chicago.