40 Pro-Life Students Trek 10,000 Miles to D.C.

Aug 16, 2009 08:45 AM EDT

Forty pro-life college students who walked across the country from California witnessing about the sanctity of human life from conception to natural death will reach Washington, D.C., on Saturday.

Organized by pro-life group Crossroads, the 40 young adults from colleges around the country spent 12 weeks walking through 36 states, thousands of municipalities, towns and cities, and collectively logged 10,000 miles during the summer pilgrimage.

In the cities they traveled through, the students took part in activities such as peaceful protests and sidewalk counseling at abortion clinics.

The cross-country walkers encountered a few bumps on their trek. While walking through Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado, a ranger told three female students they could not enter the park unless they changed out of their pro-life t-shirt, according to Crossroads.

The shirts are in solid colors with the words “Pro-Life” across the front. The ranger explained that pro-choice people in the park might be offended by the message on the shirts.

Eventually after involving legal counsel and senior leaders of Crossroads, the walkers were allowed to continue.

Crossroads, which has organized these cross-country walks since 1995, maintains that most Americans are pro-life. It points to the recent USA Today/Gallup survey released earlier this month that shows more Americans say they are “pro-life” Americans than pro-choice.

According to the survey, 47 percent of Americans call themselves “pro-life,” compared to 46 percent who identify themselves as “pro-choice.”

However, the slight advantage in the percentage of pro-life Americans is negligible if the margin of error is taken into account.

Nevertheless, the organization’s president, James Nolan, pointed to the latest survey results and said the Obama Administration is “sadly out of touch with the values of mainstream America.”

When participating walkers reach Washington, D.C., tomorrow, they will take part in a pro-life rally at the U.S. Capitol.