Life Marches On
Marianne Donadio, her husband Donny and their son Jude pose for a photo with their dear friend Father Robert Ferguson, FSSP, at the 1996 March for Life in Washington, D.C. (Provided by Marianne Donadio)WASHINGTON, D.C. — Looking out over the National Mall on Friday, Marianne Donadio watched crowds of joyful people at the first March for Life after the overturning of Supreme Court decisions that had legalized abortion nationally.
She soaked in the poignancy of the moment as memories of marches past came flooding back – vivid flashes of the people, sights, sounds and sensations over the three decades that she has been advocating and marching for life in our nation’s capital.
Between listening to the reverent hum of all-night rosaries, sleeping in the crypt of the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, marching in the snow and bitter cold, carrying her six children in tow some years – and even appearing as a pro-life advocate on national television with the president of the United States – Donadio had seen and done a lot. Then Roe v. Wade was overturned last summer.
Donadio is a steadfast ambassador for life. She is the vice president and chief development officer of Room At The Inn, a Catholic maternity home in Greensboro that provides comprehensive services to pregnant women experiencing homelessness, helping give them the support they need to choose life for their babies.
Her work brought Room At The Inn national attention in 2018, when she appeared with the president on national television. Just after that, she told The Catholic News Herald the tide was turning in favor of life in the United States. Remembering her prophetic comments, the Catholic News Herald asked Donadio to reflect on her 35-year odyssey of marching for life in Washington, D.C. Here is her story:
The Early Days
My first March for Life was just before I turned 16, in 1987. I went on a combined trip of the Our Lady of Grace youth group and the foreign exchange students from the Greensboro public schools.
As a recently arrived immigrant from England and a young Catholic, I felt like a bridge between the two groups. We took a bus up to D.C. and stayed several nights on a school gym floor in sleeping bags. The trip included a lot of sightseeing, which was great. The march was a small part of the itinerary, but a big part of what made the trip important to me.
A winter storm blew through while we were there. Cars were almost buried along the side of the route as we marched for life. I remember thinking that the world must have gone mad and that it was crazy that abortion had been legal for more than 10 years!
In 1991, I returned to the March for Life with my friend from church, Monica Pollard, who also attended UNC-G with me. It was her first time there, and she was very affected by it. Later that year, Cardinal John O’Connor founded the Sisters of Life. She joined the new order after graduating from college that summer.
A few years ago, I received a call from Monica – now known as Sister Faustina – asking if Room At The Inn could take a mother from New York who desperately wanted to move away, because her family was pressuring her to get an abortion. The young woman came to stay at Room At The Inn and had a beautiful baby boy.
She remained at Room At The Inn while earning her bachelor’s degree. and now she is doing very well, having gotten married and made a new life for herself and her family in North Carolina.
I have been to the National March for Life most years. Sometimes on buses, sometimes in vans, sometimes just driving up in my own car. In the early days, the basilica allowed pilgrims to sleep downstairs after the Vigil Mass the evening before the march. It was a very special experience to be able to take part in Eucharistic Adoration during one of the Holy Hours, then to lie there in the crypt among fellow Catholic pro-lifers listening as everyone prayed the rosary throughout the night.
Growing Pains
Donadio at the March for Life in Washington, D.C. on Jan. 20, 2023. The march grew and grew over the years. Because of the growing numbers attending the Vigil Mass, chairs for the overflow crowd were set up in the crypt and the Mass was livestreamed downstairs on big-screen TVs. Sadly, this meant people could no longer sleep in the basilica overnight.
Since then, I’ve stayed with friends or in hotels. One year, we stayed at the Theological College at the Catholic University of America.
Some years were so cold there were hypothermia warnings and medical tents set up everywhere. In subsequent years, I made sure to bring extra packs of “hot hands,” gloves, scarves, hats, thermals and socks for myself, my husband and our six kids. Of course, during those times it would be unseasonably warm, and we would have to lug all that extra stuff around with us as we navigated escalators and trains using strollers as carts. It was always worth it.
One thing that really strikes me about the March for Life is the wonderful bond among the thousands of marchers. There is such a feeling of unity for the cause.
People are friendly and helpful, and you really feel an almost familial connection with these strangers.
Over the years, our feeling of hope, and trust that we could make a change in the laws of our land, seemed to grow and then wane. I remember thinking, “If only we can get a pro-life president and a pro-life majority in the House and the Senate, then this will be done and dusted,” but pro-life politicians came and went and not much changed.
Turning Point
That changed when Donald Trump became president. Whether you are a fan or not, you cannot deny that he did what he said he would do as far as the pro-life promises he made during his campaign. The hope among pro-lifers became tangible. There was an air of excited anticipation at the March for Life that hadn’t been present for many years.
I remember telling the Catholic News Herald in 2018 that I felt the tide starting to turn toward life. You see, 2018 was a very special year for me. That was the year Room At The Inn was recognized by the president at the White House in a historic speech from the Rose Garden that aired on national television and at the rally before the march began.
I and two of my children, Benedict and Maria, were called to the podium where then President Trump was speaking as he shared with the world the mission of Room At The Inn and my own unexpected pregnancy at 17 with my eldest son Benedict. I was fortunate to have the support of my parents during my pregnancy, and I wanted every woman who found herself in a similar situation to know that she could have the support she needs to choose life like I did.
I can see that because I trusted God, He took my scary situation and turned it into what has become my life’s work. And it is incredibly fulfilling work – raising six children with my husband and working to protect the unborn and their mothers. It eventually led to that moment in 2018 as well. To be recognized on a national scale was unfathomable. I never even dreamed of something like that.
A Watershed Moment
Four and half years passed after my national television debut.
Then the big news dropped this summer. The Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in its decision Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization. I remember the moment I heard the news. It was June 24, 2022. I had been driving and listening to music when the news first broke, so I didn’t hear about it until I arrived at the home of Albert Hodges, my dear friend and co-worker in the pro-life movement for 35 years. It was so beautiful and fitting that he was the one who told me.
Though the problem of abortion is far from solved, it would be wrong not to celebrate the enormous milestone of overturning the so-called constitutional right to abortion in our land. It is true that there have always been abortions, whether legal or otherwise, and sadly, they will probably continue to occur no matter what the law says. However, it is important that, as a civilized society, we recognize the dignity of human life and create laws that protect life.
With that said, the most important thing we can do is always welcome new life with love and support, so that every woman feels she can choose life – and have it abundantly.
— Marianne Donadio, special to the Catholic News Herald, with reporting by Annie Ferguson