Thousands march on Washington to protest 'Roe'

 Annual Rally in Opposition to Roe v. Wade

Jan 23, 2012

March for Life | Education and Defense Fund

Elected officials, clergy, and activists held their annual March for Life rally on the National Mall marking the anniversary of the Supreme Court decision in Roe v. Wade. 

 

 

By Bob Smietana, USA TODAY

Updated 1d 21h ago

 

 

Ryan Phillips says he believes every life is sacred. And so Monday morning, he and about 70 of his classmates at Pope John Paul II High School in Hendersonville, Tenn., boarded buses headed for Washington, D.C., for the annual March for Life.

They joined thousands of protesters who marched from the National Mall to the Supreme Court in chilly, soggy weather in the annual call for an end to abortion in the USA. The march is held every year since 1974 to mark the anniversary of the 1973 Supreme Court Roe v. Wade decision that made abortion legal nationwide.

"We live in a culture of death," said Phillips, a senior who says he has attended the march 10 years in a row. "We'd like that to end."

   

By Jacquelyn Martin, AP

Two women pray at the top of the U.S. Supreme Court steps in Washington on Sunday.

Tim Forbes, dean of campus ministry and student life at Father Ryan High School in Nashville, spent Monday in the nation's capital with about 100 students from the Catholic school's Respect Life club. The group started their day at a youth rally that drew about 20,000 to Washington, D.C.'s Verizon Center arena, Forbes said. Then they hit the streets.

"It was cold and wet, but a spiritual high," Forbes said after the march. He said the event allowed students to show their enthusiasm for life in general and not just their opposition to abortion.

"This is an issue where they can cheer. They can be teenagers — but they can also be involved in a movement that can make a difference," he said.

House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, told the throng gathered Monday afternoon on the muddy National Mall that he's one of 12 children.

"I'm sure it wasn't easy for our mother to have 12 of us, but I'm glad we're all here," Boehner said. "I've never considered being 'pro-life' a label or a political position. It's just who I am."

Several dozen members of Congress addressed the rally and were cheered by participants, many of whom carried signs reading: "I Vote Pro-Life First" and "Defund Planned Parenthood." Signs endorsing Republican presidential contenders were less evident, although some favored Rick Santorum and Ron Paul.

Rep. Chris Smith, R-N.J., urged anti-abortion-rights voters to unite behind the eventual Republican nominee. "We don't have the luxury of disunity or nominee disappointment or apathy," Smith said.

Americans remain strongly divided on abortion. A Gallup Poll last year showed that 49% of respondents identified themselves as "pro-choice," while 45% called themselves "pro-life."

Nancy Keenan, president of NARAL Pro-Choice America, said in a statement that politicians supporting the March for Life were ignoring more pressing issues.

"Anti-choice politicians and their allies promised to focus on creating jobs, yet they are attacking a woman's right to choose at near-record levels," Keenan said.

Smietana also reports for The Tennessean in Nashville. Contributing: The Associated Press.