Of all the news stories I’ve read describing this year’s March for Life in Washington D.C., none make me prouder or more hopeful for the future than this little piece by Robert McCartney in the Washington Post:

“I went to the March for Life rally Friday on the Mall expecting to write about its irrelevance. Isn’t it quaint, I thought, that these abortion protesters show up each year on the anniversary of Roe v. Wade, even though the decision still stands after 37 years. What’s more, with a Democrat in the White House likely to appoint justices who support abortion rights, surely the Supreme Court isn’t going to overturn Roe in the foreseeable future.

How wrong I was. The antiabortion movement feels it’s gaining strength, even if it’s not yet ready to predict ultimate triumph, and Roe supporters (including me) are justifiably nervous.”

Did you catch that?

McCartney admits that he went in with an agenda, planning to serve up some of the main-stream media usual: The pro-life movement is a dying cause kept alive by a few angry old men, young people are overwhelmingly pro-choice, women are underrepresented, ... etc.

But what he saw would not allow him to report such things.

Half of the crowd, he estimated, were younger than 30. And what’s more, promoting abortion just doesn’t seem to be as cool as it once was:

“Activists who support abortion rights conceded that there’s less energy among young people on their side of the debate.

‘Unfortunately, I feel my generation is a little complacent,’ said Amanda Pelletier, 20, co-director of the abortion rights group at American University. ‘It just doesn’t seem to be a very hip issue.’”

First of all, kudos for Robert McCartney for reporting with integrity, despite his pro-abortion bias. Many of his colleagues found themselves incapable of such fact-based, balanced reporting.

And second of all, I just want to say how much I LOVE the fact that Catholic school kids, Christian youth groups, and home school families can show up by the bus-load in our nation’s capitol, wave some signs, shout some slogans, and smile big and bright for the cameras ... and their infectious joy, love, youth, and enthusiasm leave the pro-abortion “insiders” shaking in their boots.