Anti-Abortion Groups Rally on Capitol Hill
Jan 22, 2007— -- For 33 years demonstrators have marched from the National Mall to the Supreme Court in opposition of the 1973 Supreme Court decision which legalized abortion.
Tens of thousands of demonstrators holding graphic pictures of aborted babies chanted in protest in Washington, D.C. today on the 34th anniversary of Roe v. Wade. Lori Coch has been coming to the rally for six years. The written sign held high above her head read, "I love my son's 16-year-old birthmother."
Coch drove from Pennsylvania with her church youth group and her son. Coch had seen a friend go through abortion when she was a teenager and admitted the mother of her adopted son may have turned to abortion if she hadn't insisted on adopting him.
"This is about bringing young kids and getting them to see the lies being told to the public that abortion is an easy procedure," Coch said with the group of teenagers by her side.
Teens made up a large part of the crowd and traveled from places like California, Kansas, and Ohio with church groups and parents.
Brandan Mericle, 17, of Ohio came with his church group and mother and admitted he hadn't thought much of abortion issues before coming to events hosted by pro-life groups throughout the weekend. "Now that I've been here, I've learned a lot," Mericle said.
Politics of Abortion
Presidential hopeful Sam Brownback (R – Kansas) told the crowd, "Our presence here today sends one single message: we choose life." Brownback is running largely on the pro-life platform and told ABC News he didn't want people to be ashamed of being pro-life.
Many demonstrators were holding "Brownback for President" signs in the crowd, but the Senator from Kansas wasn't widely known even to this most promising pool of voters.
Michael DeGemova of New Jersey held a sign supporting Brownback but admitted he didn't really know who Brownback was. DeGemova found the sign lying against a fence and liked that Brownback came from the Capitol to speak. However, DeGemova's said his vote may not be cast for Brownback in 2008.
"I am certainly going to listen to him, read more, and consider voting for him, but this one issue does not mean a sure vote for the guy," DeGemova explained.
Other demonstrators like Eva Sanchez-Silver of New Jersey says it's the only issue she votes for. "I lost ten babies as a result of damage done to my cervix from two abortions, and I am a survivor of breast cancer. And it makes me furious that no one told me the facts when I was young," Sanchez-Silver said.
President Bush didn't appear at the rally but called the demonstrators from Camp David to support the pro-life groups.
"I signed into law a ban on the cruel practice of partial-birth abortions, and we will vigorously defend that law in the courts," Bush told the rally by telephone.