WASHINGTON— The March for Life is becoming an annual pro-life Woodstock as the crowd becomes increasingly younger.

At least half of the 100,000 marchers appeared to be under 25 as scores of school buses brought students from colleges and high schools from every corner of the United States.

“We just all are strongly pro-life and we need to be a witness,” said Chad Koehnke, 19. He is co-president of St. Louis University's pro-life club, which sent 75 students to the march. “This is a peaceful way to do this.”

Jessica George, 19, brought along 54 fellow students to the march from Belmont, N.C. “Our motivation is to save babies. This death has overwhelmed our nation,” she said.

For some students, the March for Life started years ago.

“I've come every year with my family,” said Carrie Klinker, a student at James Madison University in Harrisonburg, Va. “And I just wanted to see if I could get students from JMU to come with me.”

Several organizations assisted the students in expressing their passion for the pro-life cause.

Knights of Columbus, American Life League and National Right to Life all produced thousands of placards with similar pro-life messages. The World Youth Alliance supplied “Culture of Life” stickers to thousands of young students.

Pro-Life Rocks

Rock For Life appeared to be the favorite choice of the young people. In addition to holding concerts in the days preceding the march, the organization's clothing articles, depicting an unborn baby jamming on a guitar, were seen on thousands of teen-agers.

“Every year, more and more young people come to Washington, D.C. on the anniversary of the Roe v. Wade ruling to stand up against the slaughter of our generation,” said Bryan Kemper, director of Rock For Life. “Twenty-nine years ago the Supreme Court declared war on a group of people. The very persons who survived the Roe decision come here to protest the pro-death Supreme Court and pray for those justices and our nation.”

Comments from spokesmen for pro-life policy organizations were focused less on the activity of marching and more on the legislative progress of the pro-life cause.

“We are awaiting with bated breath for President Bush to zero out UNFPA [the United Nations Population Fund] funding,” said Ken Connor, head of Family Research Council. UNFPA, which funds government-run programs in China, has been accused by human rights activists and pro-lifers of complicity in forced abortions and other coercive practices carried out under China's one-child population control policy.

“That would be an important statement not just to this country,” he said, “but to the world that UNFPA has been used as a ruse to promote forced abortions in China.”

But last year's announcement barring taxpayer support for overseas abortions was not matched this year with a policy statement by Bush on UNFPA, or anything else on the life issue.

Genevieve Wood, vice president for media at Family Research Center, said that Bush had distracted media attention away from the pro-life march.

“He's holding a press conference in West Virginia promoting tax cuts,” said Wood. “Why would he draw media attention to an event outside of D.C.?”

Bush did place a phone call of support from Charleston, W. Va., to March for Life organizer Nellie Gray during the march (see story below).

Some insiders speculated that the Bush administration wanted to distract media from the event because it was widely believed that Gray would criticize the president's policy on stem cell research during her remarks, as she did when he announced it in August.

However, Gray didn't criticize the administration when she addressed the crowd near the Washington Monument before the march.

Pro-Abortion Anger

In contrast, abortion activists were highly critical of Bush during their own Roe v. Wade event.

“Bush's anti-abortion agenda could completely tip the scales of justice against women's rights,” said Kim Gandy, president of National Organization for Women, which organized supporters at the Supreme Court hours after the pro-life march finished. “We aren't going to allow that to happen, and we're not going to stop organizing until abortion is safe, legal and accessible for every woman in the United States.”

Mark DeYoung, director of the New York-based North American Youth Alliance, which works to foster a culture of life, defended Bush against attacks from both camps.

“It would have been 100% support if he had sent someone from the White House,” said DeYoung. “But we understand that that his attention is also focused on other culture of life issues, addressing terrorism and handling economic concerns.”

At the steps of the Supreme Court, as she watched the conclusion of the March for Life, Gray said that the crowd, which she estimated at 100,000, was an impressive turnout for a weekday.

“It is amazing with all the obstacles, with 9/11, with anthrax hitting our own post office [in Washington], that the people came,” Gray said. “And here we are, an hour and half later and they're still coming.”

Joshua Mercer writes from Washington, D.C.