“I heard of March for Life, and that it was very powerful and encouraging,” junior Collin Curtis said. “Over half a million people were there and most were students, including Stockbridge.”

For the first time since the Stockbridge Students for Life (SSFL) group was formed in 2013, seven young activists attended the annual event to protest against abortion, in hopes to change the minds of others.

Influenced by the Supreme Court’s decision in the case of Roe v. Wade, the March for Life is held annually in January. Pro-life organizations have gathered at the nation’s capitol in Washington D.C. to protest against abortion for the past 42 years.

Group member senior Emma Morris thought the SSFL’s attendance at the march made a difference due to the attendance being 650,000 this year, up dramatically from being less than 10,000 in 1973.

“The March for Life motivates others to stand up for what you believe in, even if you’re pro-choice or pro-life, just stand up for what you believe in,” said junior Madeline Battle, who was one of the seven students from Stockbrigde who made the 15 hour trip by van.

“If we’re silent then nothing gets changed, then the controversy will stay there. If we speak about it, then we won’t be so uncomfortable with it and more change will come.”

The Stockbridge Students for Life  group joined other pro-life groups and church youth groups that gathered at the National Mall.

“Having hundreds of thousands of people stand up for what they believe in, a peaceful manner, showed everyone not involved in the protest, that we can be peaceful,” junior Collin Curtis said.