The local Gannett newspaper sent a reporter to the March for Life - she travelled by bus with a Rockland County contingent.
Her article was pretty solid -
D.C. anti-abortion rally on Roe-Wade 35th | lohud.com | The Journal News
Hundreds of Rockland and Westchester residents participated in yesterday's 35th annual March for Life, which is held to mourn and oppose the U.S. Supreme Court's Roe v. Wade decision - the landmark 1973 case that gave women the legal right to have abortions.
The counties' activists, who boarded buses as early as 5:30 a.m. to attend the rally, appeared to be swallowed among the massive throngs that gathered on the Ellipse just south of the White House. There, a flood of brightly colored signs esteeming life and denouncing abortion peppered the overcast skies.
>>>>>>
President Bush, whose telephoned remarks were broadcast over loudspeakers, gave his support to the protesters.
"You believe, as I do, that every human life has value, that the strong have a duty to protect the weak," he said, "and that the self-evident truths of the Declaration of Independence apply to everyone, not just to those considered healthy or wanted or convenient.
"These principles call us to defend the sick and the dying, persons with disabilities and birth defects, all who are weak and vulnerable, especially unborn children."
After Bush, legislators from throughout the nation spoke, encouraging attendees to elect a president this year who is against abortion.
>>>>>>
Rosemary Eshghi, 54, of Chappaqua said anti-abortion views are a priority when she considers a presidential candidate.
"I've always voted pro-life," she said. "I don't vote for the person who's most likely to win. I vote for the person who I believe in my heart should have that position and who is also pro-life."
Judith Anderson, co-director of the Hudson Valley Coalition for Life, said yesterday's turnout was the best she had ever seen.
"I've never seen so many young people, and the energy was phenomenal," she said.
Anderson said significant support from teenagers was a telling sign of Roe v. Wade's impact.
"This coming generation has seen the pain of Roe v. Wade," she said. "They've seen the devastation and they've seen it isn't helping women at all. They understand that Roe is a lie and it needs to be overturned."
The Washington Post also did solid reporting of the March, including an excellent picture -
A Youthful Throng Marches Against Abortion - washingtonpost.com
Tens of thousands of abortion opponents took to the cold, gray streets of Washington yesterday, buoyed by a recent report that the number of abortions in the United States had hit the lowest level in years and vowing to continue the fight.
Many of the participants in the March for Life were young people, many from religious clubs and church-run schools from as far away as Ohio, Texas and Tennessee. The march has been held each year since 1974 to protest the Supreme Court's Jan. 22, 1973, decision that most laws against abortion violate a constitutional right to privacy.
In many ways, the march resembled a gigantic pep rally, with smiling teenagers in matching scarves or sweat shirts holding school banners high as they moved along Constitution Avenue NW toward the Supreme Court. But the individual signs they clutched told of their commitment to a cause: "Give Life, Don't Take It" and "Your Mother Was Pro-Life."
"It's illegal to kill someone walking down the street, so it should be illegal to kill someone in the womb," said Topher Boehm, 17, a member of the Pro-Life Club at the Jesuit College Preparatory School of Dallas. "This is the social justice issue of our era, and I want to do something about it."
Kelsey Wilson, 16, and Michelle Caulder, 17, along with their group from a Catholic church in Indianapolis, waved "Defend Life" signs as they maneuvered through the crush of people. This was their third Washington march, and they plan to keep coming, they said, until abortions are outlawed.
"I think abortion is wrong. People have reasons why they think it's right," Caulder said. "But it's wrong all the time."
Amazingly - or perhaps not so amazingly - the NY Times did not have any of their own coverage of the event. They simply posted an AP story on their website - Thousands Protest Roe V. Wade Decision - New York Times
Comments