5 Things You Should Know About the March for Life

By Michael Gryboski, Mainline Church Editor Friday, January 27, 2017

4. An Unknown Number

Minister Louis Farrakhan, the Nation of Islam leader in Los Angeles in this 2005 file photo. | (Photo: Reuters/Ric Francis)

Exact estimates for how many people attend the annual March for Life are hard to come by. Estimates can sometimes vary wildly from source to source.

The reason for this is because the National Park Service, which oversees the National Mall, ceased keeping track of attendance figures for rallies of all kinds in 1995.

As noted by the publication The Blaze, the reason for this stems from Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan and his renowned Million Man March.

"Farrakhan's Million Man March in October 1995 brought hundreds of thousands to Washington, but the National Park Service's crowd estimate pegged attendance at 400,000 — far below the touted 1 million," explained The Blaze.

"Farrakhan threatened to sue the agency, and Congress soon thereafter ordered the Park Service to stop estimating crowds altogether to avoid future politicized troubles."