Opponents of abortion took to the rally
2023.01.21 03:16
Opponents of abortion took to the rally
By Ray Johnson
Budrigannews.com – For the 50th anniversary of the “March for Life,” thousands of anti-abortion protesters gathered in Washington on Friday. This marked the beginning of a new chapter for a movement that has been working for decades to overturn Roe v. Wade, the landmark decision that recognized a woman’s right to an abortion.
Leaders and activists of March for Life were celebrating their movement’s victory as that ruling was overturned, advocating for stricter restrictions on abortion at the state and national levels, and pleading with God to change the “hearts and minds” of Americans who support abortion rights.
“We are not yet finished,” March for Life President Jeanne Mancini told the crowd, which swelled across the National Mall despite appearing smaller than the previous year.
She stated, “We will march until abortion is unthinkable.”
According to the Guttmacher Institute, a reproductive rights research and advocacy organization, 12 states have enforced total abortion bans with limited exceptions since the repeal of Roe on June 24, 2022. Additionally, abortion is not available in two additional states.
Attendees of the rally stated that they wanted to see abortions outlawed in all states at all stages of pregnancy. “I demand protection at conception” and “abortion is genocide” were among the slogans carried by some.
Pastor Rob McNutt, who works at a Maryland crisis pregnancy center, said, “I believe that, just like we wouldn’t want to murder anybody out here, we wouldn’t want to see any of these lives hurt or lost.”
Kathleen Stahl, a 60-year-old Washington, D.C.-based nurse who works in maternal and child health, stated, “Life begins at conception.”
Stahl and others stated that, in addition to abortion prohibitions, they desired additional legislation aimed at providing women facing unexpected pregnancies with resources.
Stahl stated, “We need to provide our mothers with healthcare, and a lot of our young mothers need more support.”
“We love babies!” was chanted by activists as they recited the Lord’s Prayer. because their route was slightly different from previous years. They didn’t go directly to the Supreme Court building in honor of their victory; instead, they passed in front of the U.S. Capitol, where they hope to see federal anti-abortion legislation passed.
Two days before the 50th anniversary of the Roe v. Wade decision, the event took place.
Celebrating the occasion, proponents of abortion rights reflected on the significant disruptions to U.S. reproductive healthcare over the past year and called for additional legislation to safeguard abortion rights.
Herminia Palacio, president of the Guttmacher Institute, stated in a statement, “On what would have been the 50th anniversary of Roe, we are instead facing the deepest crisis in abortion access in 50 years.”
At the rally, U.S. House Majority Leader Steve Scalise and Mississippi Attorney General Lynn Fitch, who won the case Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization that prompted the Supreme Court to overturn Roe, spoke.
Scalise praised the passage of the “Born-Alive” bill last week by a Republican-led House, which aims to safeguard the welfare of infants in the extremely rare event that they are born during abortion procedures. The bill is unlikely to pass the Senate, which is led by Democrats.
Mancini stated that the March for Life organization intends to intensify its state march initiative in the future to advocate for additional restrictions at the state level.
Virginia hosted the first state version of the national march in 2019. The organization intends to hold ten state marches in 2023, including ones in Connecticut, Arizona, Virginia, and Virginia.
She stated that Michigan, one of the states in which the anti-abortion movement has recently suffered defeat, is one of the states in which Mancini would like to see the march movement expand next.
