Posted on 01/25/2005 6:18:18 AM PST by NYer
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- With a larger turnout that in previous years, at least 250,000 pro-life advocates marched in Washington Monday for the annual March for Life.
Those attending celebrated the pro-life accomplishments over the past year and the energy level was high as speakers talked about the upcoming battles during 2005, including a likely fight over a Supreme Court appointee.
The day began with a mass and a pro-life youth rally at the MCI Center featuring thousands of young Americans from across the nation. From there, pro-life advocates gathered for a rally at the Ellipse and then the traditional march to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Rachel Johnson came from Kentucky because "I love children and I cannot imagine anybody killing a little baby." She said she has a friend who has had an abortion and noted the negative impact it had.
Brandy Gonzalez was one of tens of thousands of young Americans at the march, as is always the case.
"I think abortion is stupid and it should be considered murder," she told the Los Angeles Times. "I'm Daniel Waid and I agree with her message," her friend added, poking fun at political commercials.
Marchers held dozens of different signs with some saying, "Stop Abortion Now, and "A Baby's Heart Starts Beating in 18 Days. Who Are You to Kill It?"
Others held signs focusing on how abortion hurts women, such as "Women Deserve Better Than Abortion."
Marchers heard from a number of pro-life members of Congress who talked about past accomplishments and future plans.
"The end of abortion on demand has started in America. In its place, a spring of life has begun," Senator Sam Brownback of Kansas said.
Rep. Steve King, an Iowa Republican, urged marchers to "never, ever back up," and to keep marching "until we celebrate the end of Roe v. Wade."
Missouri Congressman Todd Akin argued the Declaration of Independence put forward the notion that everyone has a right to life.
"You are fighting for the same basic freedom that our founders fought for: that people have dignity, worth and value," Akin told the huge crowd. "And we believe that, and we will never stop until we put an end to abortion."
Many pro-life advocates say the re-election of President Bush gives them hope that more progress can be made to stop or reduce abortions in the next four years.
Geoffrey Parker of St. Joseph, Indiana, who attended the march, said, "I'm more hopeful than if it had gone the other way."
In a press conference, leaders of the National Right to Life Committee said Bush's victory in November shows the pro-abortion Supreme Court I out of step with the American people. The current court backs abortion by a 6-3 majority and partial-birth abortion by a 5-4 margin.
Discussing chances in Congress of passing new pro-life legislation, "There are grounds for guarded optimism about chances for success in the Senate," NRLC legislative director Douglas Johnson said.
One bill he hopes Congress will begin work on is the Child Custody Protection Act, legislation that would requires states without parental involvement statutes on abortion to honor those of other states.
It would prohibit an adult other than a teenager's parents or legal guardian from taking her across state lines for a secret abortion.
Another priority is the Unborn Child Pain Awareness Act, which would require abortion facilities to tell women that an abortion after 20 weeks into the pregnancy will cause severe pain for the unborn child. She would have an option to offer anesthesia to the baby before the procedure.
"We believe we will see action [on the bill] this year," Johnson said.
Terri Schiavo's father Bob Schindler, Sr., spoke at the rally and called Monday's decision by the Supreme Court not to hear an appeal of a case necessary to save Terri's life, "judicial homicide."
Catholic Ping - please freepmail me if you want on/off this list
Do a google search on the march for life, and you will finds lots of media attention, worldwide.
There's one person who knows how to vote.
Yesterday, ABC News headlined this event as "Abortion Rights Objectors", not Pro Life Activists.
There was a christian seminar here in Fresno awhile back that was attended by about 1,000 people. The local fish wrap's article re the event was nothing but quotes from the handful of protestors outside, including the obligatory pic of their picket signs. Not one quote from a peaceful loving attendee.
Where's the media? Quoting Hillary's every word,
of course!
Doesn't it seem a bit strange that while the Senate
Dems are trying to smear Condi Rice, the woman who
aspires to succeed Bush is getting all the glowing
press?
How dumb they think we are. 'Course, there's plenty
of dumb ones out there!
Sorry. This event does not fit the template of the major news media. If they say nothing about it, it did not happen. And if it did not happen, the contrary view, that unlimited abortion is a good thing, prevails.
It's worse than that. MSNBC referred to the March for Life as a protest "commemorating" Roe v. Wade. No, I'm not kidding.
Another broadcast mentioned "hundreds" of people at the march. Not hundreds of thousands. Just hundreds.
Qwinn
Terri Schiavo's father Bob Schindler, Sr., spoke at the rally and called Monday's decision by the Supreme Court not to hear an appeal of a case necessary to save Terri's life, "judicial homicide."
TERRI SCHIAVO PING!
"If our nation be destroyed, it would be from the judiciary." - Thomas Jefferson
It was prominently discussed in my hometown paper (the very liberal Baltimore Sun), along with reference to Pres. Bush's call to them.
The above is the answer to your "where's the media?" question.
Even though there are several prominent politicians within the GOP who can not be described-unfortunately-as pro-life, the reason that this is such a divisive, searing issue within the public consciousness is because of the Democratic Party; it is the national Democrats who refuse to even make the merest acknowledgment of an unborn child's humanity.
The contemptible manner in which the Casey family has been treated by members of their own extended political family is a glaring example of this fact.
It is great to see that after 32 years of killing 45 million babies, the anti-baby murder movement is growing, not diminishing. And the numbers are swelling with young people who will be voting for the next 50 years. Thank God for every courageous one of them. They will turn this country around after the sickening moral slide their morally-tepid grandparents and parents have visited on the nation.
"I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So because you are lukewarm, neither hot nor cold, I am about to spit you out of my mouth."
God's words in Rev. 3:15,16.
amazing media bias ping
I went down there at lunch yesterday. Encountered the kids marching from the MCI Center to the Ellipse. It was great to see all the young kids having a blast in the cold! Brought back memories.
That said, I disagree with the crowd assessment in this story. I would say the crowd was large, but not nearly to the size of last year's march. Last year, I couldn't walk along Constitution as both sides were packed with overflow from the Ellipse. This year, there was no one past the American History museum. I think it was because many (myself included) had to choose between the Inauguration and the March as well as groups from New York and New England probably being stuck in the snow. I only saw one group from Mass. this year as opposed to the dozens of groups I saw last year. This crowd was MUCH smaller than last year, probably about 100,000.
On the other hand, I saw NO pro-aborts. Last year there were a couple I witnessed walking around, but I didn't see any this year.
LOL.
US media buried it or tagged it as scarey. (Quick! Women unite! Your rights are eroding...We need Hill as President!)
I didn't see any evidence of that, it was talked about on many of the radio programs that I listened to.
A nice aerial shot of Constitution Ave would confirm or deny that. Wonder where all the aerial shots are?
Hmmmm ... yes, like the Coptic Christian family found dead in their NJ, USA home, with their throats slit? Absolute silence from the MSM!
bump
Nobody on the news shows I watched said anything about the numbers involved; that is why I am surprised this morning to hear that 250,000 turned out. (I would have been surprised to have heard that 25,000 turned out.) From the coverage on the networks that I saw, I would have thought that, at most, maybe 10,000 were there (which would have been a respectable number in itself).
What sort of coverage do you think 250,000 people turning out for gay rights, same-sex marriage, etc. would have gotten?
Would the leaders have been invited on the Today show?
Would there be ANY coverage of opposition placards?
Would the Sunday interview shows have invited the leaders on?
Would the pundits in the opinion columns have spilled endles s ink about the trouble Bush was in now?
just asking. . .
It was prominently discussed in my hometown paper (the very liberal Baltimore Sun), along with reference to Pres. Bush's call to them. The above is the answer to your "where's the media?" question
http://www.baltimoresun.com/search/dispatcher.front?Query=%22march+for+life%22&Go.x=9&Go.y=7&target=article
That is a search for "march for life" on the Baltimore Sun's website. There are 4 results returned, none mentioning the actual march.
(Where's the media?)
"The end of abortion on demand has started in America. In its place, a spring of life has begun," Senator Sam Brownback of Kansas said.
Please God, make it so! I'm so glad to see the pendulum swinging back again. I am one of those previously idiotic, young (18) and uninformed women who had an abortion at the height of the "Keep Your Laws Off My Body!" days and have regretted it every single day of my life for 25 years.
It really does mess with your head, once you grow up and realize what you've done. Amazingly, I was given a second chance at being a Mom, and I'm an Aunt fifteen times over by now, and a Godmother twice so far, but that makes it all the more obvious that what I did years ago was 100% wrong.
This is the best I could find, for projecting depth of the marchers.
I glad the crowd around the Ellipse was better.
I'm just comparing last year to this year. Last year I could barely move down either side of Constitution between 10th and 14th Streets. This year, there was no one after the corner of 14th. Also, alot of the side streets and Pennsylvania ave were swamped with people last year, but none this year. People didn't seem to have a problem getting to the Ellipe this year either (crowds were flowing in) as opposed to last year.
It's possible they all moved ot the Ellipse, but I think it's wishful thinking that the crowd was larger this year than last. Maybe the same in a smaller space, but definitely not larger. I don't think it helps us at all to have falsely inflated numbers.
I would LOVE to see our numbers if we held the March on a Saturday in spring, like the Death March last year. If we can pull over 100,000 in snowy, freezing weather on a weekday....
Well, we'll have to agree to disagree.
Dear sartorius,
Actually, the local Fox outlet, WTTG, channel 5, ran a surprising piece last night on a related story.
The Bowie-Crofton pregnancy aid center was victim of a bunch of pro-death vandals this weekend, and Fox 5 had a long, very sympathetic story on the incident, that nearly amounted to a five-minute infomercial on crisis pregnancy centers. My wife and I almost fell off the couch watching it. The director of the center showed off all the damage, and got to talk about their sonogram machine. She was able to show 4-D sonogram images of very early unborn babies.
The reporter took a sympathetic tone, mocking the "pro-choice" vandals who spray-painted "choice" on one of the windows, wondering why anyone would oppose folks who were just trying to give women a real choice, other than abortion.
Shocking, quite shocking.
I'm still smiling from the thought of it.
sitetest
It seems that at least 250001 people knew about it, so there must have been coverage somewhere. I cannot accuratedly answer questions that start out with "would..."
Dear Hoodlum91,
I don't know whether the crowd at the march was bigger or smaller this year. It seemed as jam-packed as ever to me. I thought attendance at the Mass was smaller this year, but not by a lot.
I wouldn't be surprised if attendance had fallen. I know that the last few years, my church, in suburban Maryland, has nearly filled the 50-seat bus we rent each year, and this year, we had fewer than a dozen and a half, even though we had 40+ folks sign up for the bus.
I'd attributed it to early morning temperatures near 0 F on top of the recent snow.
sitetest
Dear Hoodlum91,
"On the other hand, I saw NO pro-aborts."
Concerning this, our K of C Council pro-life couple told us that the pro-death folks took no permits this year for counter-demonstrations. Guess they couldn't round up a half-dozen pro-deathers to go down and get all the media attention.
sitetest
A quarter million (250,000) is vastly exaggerated ... especially on a Monday in the in the snow and cold of winter. In order to generate those kind of numbers a lot of people have to travel and with snow storm warnings posted the last several days (leading up to Monday) for the mid-west, mid-Atlantic states and the north east this protest didn't come close to generating those kind of numbers.
I've gone to the March twice. It's always a wonderful event--the sense of goodness all around is palpable--and it's always ignored by the media.
LOL! I guess that is their idea of fair and balanced! On the other side of the spectrum, I thought Fox news had fairly good coverage.
Nope no media bias exists
Just couldn't even bring herself to use their own words or at least call them demonstrators.
Nope, to her they're protesters....hoping to connect these people to the animals that invaded D.C. last weekend.
We were kinda surprised ourselves.
Passion - Conversely, F911 wasn't nominated for Best Picture, either.
From the TV videos I saw, the crowds seemed HUGE!!
If Bush had gone to the rally, the media would be there.
Funny how the the president goes to other conventions to give a speech? Isn't this suppposedly a PRO-Bush crowd? Next time Bush gives a speech think about this phone call. I know, I know, fund-raising is MORE important.
A phone call sure ain't a warm or hot move of support, now is it? Why not at least send Health and Human Services secretary Thompson? HHS Secretary Thompson talks about cutting fat from your diet and exercising more to lengthen life. Isn't getting a START to life just as important?
Funny, a foreign dignitary dies, and high US officials are dispatched around the world. A pro-life event happens down the street in Washington DC and phone calls are in order.
Is the Roe v. Wade anniversary on the calendar? Oops, almost forgot to make the PHONE CALL.
Dear BluH2o,
I didn't try to assess the crowd size this year, but if it was as big as last year (and I don't doubt it), then it was in the range of 200,000 +. The last couple of years, looking at photographs after the fact, and applying estimates derived from in-crowd counts of density, the march has done around 200,000 or so in attendance.
Weather and travel warnings or no, there were lots and lots and lots of folks from out of town. I saw marchers from South Akron, Ohio, myriad towns and cities in Pennsylvania, ranging from the southwest corner, through the middle of the state, to Philadelphia, and above. Pennsylvania turned out big groups of Philadelphia kids, and kids from near the W Va border.
Lots of folks from different parts of New York, including the Diocese of Rockville Center (Long Island)(I found this a little shocking - they came with professionally-made diocesan banners) and upstate New York. Folks from Indiana, W Va, NJ, New England, North Carolina, California, France, Brazil (considering this a protest of AMERICAN abortion law, I can't explain folks from France and Brazil), and a variety of other locations.
I know that there were more buses this year than last, as there were so many this year that the buses were all corralled over at RFK Stadium.
There were, though, fewer bishops at the Mass prior to the march. However, there were a bunch of bishops at the march who weren't at the rally, including Archbishops Burke and O'Malley. I wonder whether they didn't wish to concelebrate with a certain prelate from our nation's capital.
As jwalsh07 said, the crowd was a bit denser this year. LOL. Boy was it ever. We were near the front of the rally (I think) and it took a half hour from the start of the march for us to begin to be able to march. And somehow, this year, they kept the crowd from stretching as much. I like to weave in and out of the crowd with my family, to move more quickly through the march. That was a lot tougher this year, because there were fewer "openings" in the crowd through which to move.
It was a truly huge crowd.
sitetest
The politicians that come to the M4L are the most committed of all and those are the ones I want there and leading the movement in Congress. Chabot, Chirs Smith, Melissa Hard, Todd Tiahart, Sam Brownback to name a few.
I saw a young lady (about sixteen) in a shopping mall with a teeshirt on that said, "I survived -- " on the front it said, "but millions of people in my own generation were sacrificed to abortion...think about it."
I stopped her, gave her a big hug, and she hugged me back. She said she gets pro and con comments from her peers at school, but that she gets their attention by saying, "Aren't you lucky your mom decided to have you? You and I are of a generation whose fates could have been decided by a whim." I hugged her again.
During the next association speech Bush gives (in person), I'll be remember this PHONE CALL.
Also, speaking of 'aura':
Don't you think that if President Bush attended, or even another high-level Bush administration official, that that wouldn't make NEWS? How much news coverage was there for this event? How's that for 'aura'?
In the early days of abortion, I delivered an aborted baby. Long story, but his mother went in for saline solution, it didn't take, and she was sent home until she went into labor. She went into labor that night, ambulance didn't come and I delivered the baby. I was already against abortion, but delivering that dead child cemented my opinion solidly for the rest of my life.
Watched the Vigil Mass, live on EWTN! Here's the tally ...
WASHINGTON, January 24, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Thousands of Catholics from across the country packed the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception last night for the Vigil Mass for Life and National Prayer Vigil for Life, marking the 32nd anniversary of Roe v. Wade, the Supreme Court decision legalizing abortion and the millions of unborn lives lost because of it.
Over 200 priests joined 16 bishops and five cardinals and the US Papal Nuncio, in concelebrating the Mass providing a visual spectacle which awed the overflow crowd cramming every corner of the massive Basilica.
Despite the biting cold, approximately 8,000 people filled the church. Pilgrims from all over the United States, including LifeSiteNews.com reporters with a Canadian contingent, were treated to a majestic choir and were welcomed by Washington's Cardinal Theodore McCarrick.
The Vigil Mass for Life and National Prayer Vigil for Life are sponsored by the Secretariat for Pro-Life Activities of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), The Catholic University of America, and the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception. Also assisting is the organization Seminarians for Life International.
Cardinal William Keeler, Archbishop of Baltimore and Chairman of the USCCB Committee for Pro-Life Activities, was the principal celebrant and homilist at the Mass.
The Vigil Mass for Life was first celebrated in 1981. Today, the Vigil Mass and the Youth Mass are the largest annual Masses in the United States.
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