March for Life NZ 2018

Hello all!!

As you may have guessed from the title, I participated in the March for life here in New Zealand just last week!

I drove down to Wellington (where the march was held) the day before with my sister Bee, and Katherine (a friend). We had a reasonably good trip, though we did get stuck in traffic/roadworks a few times. Bee and I stayed the night with my aunty, and hung out with a friend the next morning.

Unfortunately we were running a little late to the Civic Square and ended up just parking in a random parking building, not really paying any attention as to where it was! We ran across several streets, eventually seeing people in hi-vis vests and carrying balloons, and concluded that we'd finally found the march. Yay!

There were policemen, news reporters, and cameras galore. On the sidewalks people gathered to watch the march pass by, often videoing and snapping pictures of the many passionate, merry marchers. All around me, people were holding signs high, wearing March for Life Aotearoa 2018 t-shirts, waving balloons, smiling at cameras, talking to friends, and commenting on the massive amount of people who had congregated to march. 

We walked alongside the march, travelling in the opposite direction, towards the Civic Square, where the march had started, to find Katherine, who had been dropped off by her hosts. As we walked, we passed a woman who gave us each a paper sharing hope with girls and women in trouble and describing a baby at various stages of gestation.

Suddenly we were hailed over by other friends who were both marching, and hugged by girls who were delighted to see us there. Bee was handed a ribbon to pin to her shirt. (And I'll just add that I didn't get a March for Life t-shirt because I was too late!!! *sobs*)

We walked along, dignified one minute, waving ecstatically the next. We got about halfway through the march before I suddenly realized that we were walking on the road! Yep, silly, I know! Signs said things like:

"I Choose Life"

"Love Them Both"

"Pro-Woman, Pro-Child, Pro-Life"

"Abortion is MURDER"

"Life Empowers Women"

"As a Former Fetus I Oppose Abortion"

"I Still Miss My Baby - after 26 years"

"God is Pro-Life"

There were people from all sorts of walks of life - I saw Tongans who had on red Tongan shirts and carried Tongan flags. I saw feminists. I saw Catholics. I saw athiests. Old people mingled with young people, middle-aged with children.

At the front of the march, people were singing, and it eventually reached me at the middle, approximately. We sang 'This is the Day" and other hymns. Sometimes I heard trumpets, and I once saw a man in a hi-vis vest walking on the outside and tapping a rhythm on his little hand-drum.

A lady behind me passed her sign onto her friend, saying her arms were sore. I payed close attention to them, hoping that when the friend's arms got sore, I could offer to carry the sign. Sure enough, that's what happened, and I was just delighted to have a sign. I carried it to Parliament and held it almost all the way through the speeches.

When we reached Parliament, I looked around to see the Beehive - and ignorant as I am, couldn't figure out which building it was! (I thought I saw two Beehives... but maybe I only saw one!) One of the friends I was with wanted to get closer to the front of the crowd, so we forged past lots of enthusiastic people, and then found a couple of other friends! As a group  on the platform performed dances, songs, and the national anthem, I stood clapping awkwardly with my sign (it is a little hard to clap when you're holding a large sign above your head!) and hollering each time something magnificent was said. (I apologize to anyone who heard my hollering. :D I haven't done it in a long time! ;)) About half-way through the address at Parliament, I passed my sign on to Emma, a girl standing with Francis Posthuma, who I'd met a couple of weeks or so before at the euthanasia debate.

Two MPs, Simon O'Conner and Alfred Ngaro, spoke, encouraging us and sharing stories. A doctor spoke, revealing the lies of the abortion industry. She stated that when you have an abortion, you are told lies like:

"Everything will be the same afterwards, just like life before you got pregnant."

"The fetus can't feel anything; it's just a blob of tissue."

You are never told the truth: There are so many physical and psychological problems afterwards! Some effects of abortion on the mother are:

- Abdominal pain and cramping

-Nausea, vomiting, and diarrhoea

-Haemorrhage

-Perforated uterus

-Complications in later pregnancies, such as ectopic pregnancies, placenta praevia, and premature birth

-Greater risk for developing breast cancer

-Greater risk of mental health problems

-Greater risk of substance abuse and suicide

*Symptoms are sourced from Health Research Council of NZ, Elliot Institute, and abortionservices.org.nz*

A lady called Rebecca spoke about her experience in 2013, when she got pregnant after (13?) babies and 8 c-sections. Her family was over-joyed and ecstatic!

Until they were told that the baby had lodged in the scar of the previous c-sections. This was extremely dangerous and would probably cause death for both the mother and baby.
Pressure began coming in from all sides to have an abortion. Everyone, even down to the hospital janitors were telling her she had to have an abortion.

A doctor even came up to them and said that 'he was a Christian, and he believed in miracles, but they weren't getting a miracle'!

She and her husband insisted that she wasn't going to have an abortion, and signed a paper that said she wouldn't make a huge fuss or big deal if she bled to death or something like that, in order to get help.

The doctors then decided that maybe they could help a little bit, and did what they could.
Soon after they found out that the baby was safe in the womb! They were so thankful.
Yet, even after that development, it was still going to be a high-risk pregnancy, and people were still recommending she have an abortion.

She did bleed a few times throughout the pregnancy, had to be rushed in to hospital in an ambulance, but each time they managed to stop the bleeding.

At the end of her story, she called forward her daughter - the baby that was supposed to be aborted. A gorgeous blond-haired little girl, she smiled shyly at the crowd all smiling and clapping.

A 'Father' (a Catholic priest, I think) also gave a short speech.

After the speeches, we were told that the march had officially finished, and we were not to go marching around the streets with our signs!

I gave the sign I'd carried to Aleisha, one of the friends I was with, to pass on to Kate Cormack, and stayed to talk with Francis, Emma, a girl called Abby, and a few other girls. While we were talking, two men holding a camera and a microphone came up, introduced themselves as from Newshub, and asked whether we would like to answer a few questions related to the March for Life. There was a general, nervous assent, and the reporters arranged themselves, then asked Francis and Abby each a few questions like "What do you have to say to pro-choicers?" "Do you think that pro-lifers and pro-choicers will be able to read a compromise?" "Why were you here today?"

Each girl answered thoughtfully and well, though perhaps a little nervously, and the reporters thanked them, walking off to find another person to interview! :P

I hung around to get a picture with Francis, which was kindly taken by Abby! :D

Emma Rankin also came over to say hi and talk to me for a bit, which I was (secretly!) delighted about, since I'd only met her once as well. Thanks, Emma, if you read this! :)

After a little while of talking with newly-made friends, we headed over to a reunion between the people who had attended an Activate internship, I believe.

Shortly after that, we left, only to tramp around that part of Wellington city for a long time trying to find our car! (Don't tell anyone, but it took us over an hour, I think!)
The moment we got in the car, we drove straight to State Highway 1 to begin our 8-9 hour long journey home.

Will we see you at the March for Life NZ 2019?