400,000 (mostly young) people marched through Washington a few weeks ago. 40,000 (mostly young) people marched through San Francisco a few weeks ago, again to witness to the sanctity of every human life. A young lady who had been at World Youth Day in Madrid last year told me that the Walk for Life had that same joyful, hopeful spirit. These massive gatherings of the world’s youth are not at all like the angry, destructive “Occupy” crowds. Pro-life youth seek to build, not tear down. Young people, especially Catholic young people, beautifully testify to the joy of living the virtue of hope. And so the Prolife Movement is characterized by youthful hope and joy.
   The Culture of Death, driven by “old” men and women who have turned from God and so lost their hope, seeks to strangle youthful joy. It seeks to convince young people, especially, that life is essentially irrational and random, and we cannot hope to ever reach the truth about anything. The Pope has called this the “Dictatorship of Relativism,” which proclaims that there is no such thing as truth.

   Death’s Culture forces its darkness into our children’s lives through the media, university and school curricula, and even through state law. For example, did you know that California law prohibits a 12-year-old girl’s parents from knowing that she is pregnant and seeking an abortion? The law, in other words, does not support a parent’s right to protect his or her own daughter from sexual abuse and the trauma of abortion. But a girl’s parents are her best hope to protect her youthful freedom and joy in a culture that encourages predators. It is simply irrational to deny a girl this fundamental right to her parents’ support.

   A grassroots campaign to change that law, called the Parental Notification Initiative, is in the works. On a Sunday to come, you will have a chance to sign a petition to get this initiative on the November ballot.