As you read this, thousands upon thousands of pro-life Americans are marching in the streets of Washington, DC. They come from all walks of life -- young and old (but disproportionately young, male and female, gay and straight, black and white, secular and religious. They've done so every year for decades, uniting in yearly condemnation of a pair of radical abortion rulings by the Supreme Court in 1973. Due in large measure to the Court's extraconstitutional activism, America's legalized abortion regime remains significantly more inhumane and permissive than the laws in most of the civilized world. The resulting annual demonstration of moral disgust, which somehow also manages to maintain a spirit of joyful hopefulness, is taking place today. Right now. Every year they come, and every year they're largely ignored by the mainstream media, despite enormous attendance figures across the whole country. Because, it seems, big crowds aren't relevant or instructive (see: the media's constant dismissals of the throngs at Trump rallies)...until they are, of course:
How many metro rides were taken during Women's March Vs Trump inaugurationhttps://t.co/FTAh01XVS4 pic.twitter.com/PyMgRX7Gq9
— Cory Doctorow (@doctorow) January 23, 2017
The crowds from Obama’s inauguration in 2009 (left) vs. Trump’s in 2017 (right) https://t.co/kHHgyW8sv6 pic.twitter.com/vyG64aGwuX
— Elana Zak (@elanazak) January 20, 2017
Trump's frustration with the media's downplaying of his inauguration's attendance -- replete with giddy comparisons to Obama's numbers or the women's march turnout -- is understandable, even if it's become a weird, credibility- and energy-sapping obsession. But that obsession has at least prodded him to make an excellent point in a number of interviews and public appearances over the last few days. Since the press just experienced leg thrills over gigantic left-wing crowds from coast to coast, will they finally stop ignoring the March for Life?
That was Trump raising the comparison in his speech to Congressional Republicans today, in addition to his sit-down with ABC News earlier in the week. He obviously wants to make a point of highlighting this disparity, and he's right to do so. And because battles over crowd sizes have been all the rage this week, media treatment of today's vast pro-life gathering will be an interesting measuring stick of how much Trump can goad and shame the press into improving its coverage of an event that they would clearly prefer to ignore. What would be the excuse for not giving it much more attention than usual this year -- especially coming on the heels of the anti-Trump marches? Toss in the fact that Vice President Pence will address the rally, as will top Trump advisor and winning campaign manager Kellyanne Conway, and it looks like the Trump administration is making a strong statement in support of the march, and the noble cause it champions. What a welcome departure from the previous administration's parade of callous insults ("war on women," legal fights with nuns) against the majority of Americans who value unborn life and conscience rights.