Every year thousands of protestors take to the National Mall on the anniversary of the day abortion was legalized in the U.S., and every year members of Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Salisbury join them.

“We go every single year,” said Michael Becker, Sacred Heart’s youth minister.

A total of 30 church members attended the rally this year, and 20 people from other churches came along, as well.

According to Becker, 35 of the attendees were students.

The group from Salisbury left a day early to visit some of the Smithsonian museums and to attend a youth conference the night before.

“You can feel the buzz an actual day or two before the rally,” Becker said, adding that participants proudly wear pro-life shirts as they tour the nation’s capitol.

“It’s very busy – even busier than normal D.C.,” he said.

Matthew Fisher, who went along as a chaperone, described the actual rally as “very crowded,” but also “calm and peaceful.”

Participants pray and sing as they march, carrying prolife signs and banners.

“The crowds are getting younger and younger,” said Fisher, who has attended the rally for at least the past 10 years.

“They are the generation that survived abortion. They’re realizing that this government we live under would allow them to be killed,” he said.

His daughter, Anna Fisher, 16, said she came because she wanted to spread awareness about abortion.

“I thought it would be a great way to learn more about my faith,” she said.

The march, combined with the youth rally, was a “very powerful experience” for Sacred Heart’s youth, Becker said.

Matthew Fisher, whose two sons and daughter attended the rally, said he wanted to “continue to encourage them in prolife activism so they can speak up for mammas and babies who are in desperate situations.”

“We’re there because a lot of mothers and fathers end up chosing abortion because they don’t feel like they have another choice,” he said.

His daughter agreed.

“It bothers me that they think the only way is abortion,” she said. “It’s not necessary to sacrifice someone else’s life for yourself so that you can continue your life.”

“We see that as a horror – as a new holocaust in our era,” Becker said.

On the other hand, it’s “uplifting” to see the “amount of people who are supporting life,” he said. “You want to take all that energy and bottle it up.”