Pro-Life Students Hit the Road Again to Raise Awareness Against Abortion

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Pro-Life Students Hit the Road Again to Raise Awareness Against Abortion

by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
May 28, 2010

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Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- They're back -- the pro-life college and high school students who literally walk a mile, or thousands, for the pro-life cause. To raise awareness against abortion, the students associated with the Crossroads are again trekking from San Francisco, Los Angeles and Seattle to the nation's capital.

The students typically find a warm welcome in the cities and towns the pass through on their way through dozens of states.

Since 1995, Crossroads has organized 12 week long walks across America from the Pacific coast to Washington and Canadian participants head from coast to coast as well.

During the journey, each walker averages over 1,000 miles and takes an active role in the organization's mission by speaking to parishes and pro-life groups. Crossroads walkers also engage local communities through peaceful, prayerful protests and sidewalk counseling at abortion centers in the cities they travel through along the way.

“From the Pacific coast to the Capital, these simultaneous walks for life will cover over 13,000 miles, pass through 38 states, 4 provinces and thousands of towns and cities,” Crossroads said in a statement.

Crossroads was founded in 1995 by Steve Sanborn, a student at Franciscan University of Steubenville (Ohio) as a response to Pope John Paul II's call to take an active role in the pro-life movement in order to establish a culture of life.

“An integral part of Crossroads is our yearly pilgrimage across the United States. Each summer, young adults walk [the journey] witnessing to the dignity and sanctity of all human life from the moment of conception to natural death," the group says.

"Crossroads was started in response to the late John Paul II's call to the youth of America at the World Youth Day in Denver, Colorado to 'build a Culture of Life'" said Jim Nolan, president of Crossroads. "He challenged the youth of America and the world to 'Be not afraid'.

Last year, Nolan talked about one experience that sticks out as evidence of the political realities pro-life advocates face today.

He said the ill effects of such wrong-headed policies as the so-called extremist list that named pro-lifers as a threat were on display as a group of walkers sought to traverse the federally run Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado.

Three female walkers were stopped immediately before entering the park by a male ranger who said they would not be permitted to continue unless they changed out of their pro-life T- shirts. The shirts are solid colors with the words "Pro- Life" emblazoned on the front.

Nolan said the ranger said pro-abortion people in the park might find the shirts offensive.

After getting legal help, the walkers were eventually allowed to continue.

"There is no doubt in our minds that this was a case of thinly veiled harassment based on nothing more than political ideology," Nolan said.

"We've seen this in the past from certain authority figures, but never before has it been so emboldened by an Administration that chooses to portray concerned young citizens as pseudo- terrorists. It is shameful, and frankly a great waste of national resources at a time when the economy is already suffering," he said.

Related web sites:
Crossroads - http://www.crossroadswalk.com