Choosing Death Over Life, Abortion Advocates Rally in Nation's Capitol
by Bill Fancher, Mary Rettig, and Jody Brown
April 26, 2004
(AgapePress) - Media reports differ as to how many people were in Washington, DC, on Sunday to participate in the pro-abortion "March for Women's Lives." But no one disputes why they were there: to demonstrate their belief that a woman's "right" to choose an abortion takes precedence over the life of an innocent, unborn child.
It may have been the largest pro-abortion demonstration in the nation's history -- but no one knows for sure. Planned Parenthood, one of the organizers of the march, predicted that "more than one million women, men, and children" would be on the National Mall and on Pennsylvania Avenue. But estimates following the actual event ranged from "tens of thousands" (the New York Times) to "hundreds of thousands of protesters" (Reuters and Associated Press) to "1,150,000" in a post-march press release from the organizers. There are no officials estimates of the crowd size as the National Park Service no longer offers crowd counts.
Regardless of the number, pro-life supporters along the route report they witnessed demonstrators -- who screamed obscenities and spit at them as they stood on the sidewalk -- jubilantly celebrating legalized abortion and the deaths of millions of babies killed since the Roe v. Wade decision in 1973.
Smaller in number than the marchers, the pro-lifers endured jeering, taunts, cursing, yelling, and obscene gestures in order to make their statements for the unborn. Most of the counter-demonstrators stood in silence, holding their signs, as the marchers passed. One pro-life advocate, a man named Anthony from Alexandria, Virginiz, summed up what many of the defenders of the unborn felt.
"I'm very sad -- I am extremely sad. I'm a historian and I know that any society that repudiates its past and slaughters its young is doomed -- and that's what we're doing," he said. "World War II was regarded as one of the greatest tragedies of the human race; and we are celebrating the murder of 43 million people. God help us when the butcher's bill comes in -- God help us all."
Randall Terry, founder of Operation Rescue, was on hand with a bullhorn, challenging the marchers as they passed. "Why are you supporting the murder of innocent children?" he asked. "You're supporting murder. You're supporting murder. Shame, shame on you!"
Afterward, Terry talked about the mental state of the pro-abortion participants. "They don't think, they don't reason -- and they don't want to think or reason -- because in their heart of hearts, they know that they're supporting the murder of an innocent human being," he said. "This is a death march. It's very scary. They're supporting the killing of children, so they shut off their ability to reason."
The pro-abortion marchers were supplemented by demonstrators from several other groups, including the IMF-World Bank crowd, anti-Bush forces, anti-war activists, homosexuals, and environmentalists. There were even pro-Martha Stewart people marching along with a group called "Anarchists for Sex and Cheap Abortions."
Associated Press reports that police arrested 16 people from the Christian Defense Coalition for demonstrating without a permit. Last week, that group's application for a permit was rejected by the National Park Service, which said the group's planned silent demonstration involving women who have been harmed by abortion would have been too disruptive.
A Hollywood Pro-Lifer
Pro-abortion speakers for Sunday's march included the usual line-up: Kate Michelman, president of NARAL Pro-Choice America; Gloria Feldt, president of Planned Parenthood of America; California Democrat Senator Barbara Boxer; ACLU Executive Director Anthony Romero; media mogul Ted Turner; and a bevy of Hollywood feminists, including Whoopi Goldberg, Susan Sarandon, and Ashley Judd.
But one member of the Hollywood crowd was taking a stand for unborn children. Patricia Heaton, best known for her role on the sitcom Everybody Loves Raymond, says "every woman deserves better than an abortion, and every child deserves a chance at life."
Heaton, a two-time Emmy-winning actress who is honorary chair of the group Feminists for Life, explains that it is impossible for her to subscribe to a philosophy that believes the destruction of human life is the answer to a problem that is mostly social, economic, or psychological. The actress also says that women who experience unplanned pregnancy "also deserve unplanned joy" -- and that abortion is the result of society failing women.
