Abortion Advocates Struggle to Find Marchers, Look to Celebs for Help
by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
April 13, 2004
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) — Pro-abortion groups are having a tough time finding enough abortion advocates across the country to attend their national march that will be held in less than two weeks. To get more people to the event, they have enlisted the support of top Hollywood celebrities to help them.
Leading groups like Planned Parenthood, NARAL, and the ACLU have spent over a year touting the April 25 march, but are now relying on leading television and movie stars and pop music icons to get more people to the nation’s capital.
More than 100 celebrities have signed up to lend their endorsement to the pro-abortion march. Others will attend in person.
The list ranges from musicians such as Christina Aguilera, Lisa Loeb, and Ashley Judd to actors such as Jennifer Aniston, Kevin Bacon, and Alec Baldwin and other notables like Ted Turner, Cindy Crawford, and Jane Fonda.
“The right to decide when or whether to have a child is a fundamental human right,” said actress Helen Hunt. She decried the cuts in taxpayer-funded abortions President Bush has put in place by reissuing the Mexico City Policy.
“It’s important that all Americans stand up for their rights and the rights of all women worldwide,” adds LisaGay Hamilton, actress in ABC’s drama "The Practice."
Meanwhile, Bradley Whitford, an actor from the NBC political drama "West Wing," plans to attend the event in person.
“My message to the politicians will be simple: Enough is enough. We have the right to make our own deeply felt, deeply moral decisions," Whitford said.
But not all celebrities back abortion. Others say women deserve better than abortion.
Two-time Emmy award winning actress Patricia Heaton, a star on the hit comedy series "Everybody Loves Raymond," is unabashedly pro-woman and pro-life.
Heaton, who has been the honorary co-chair of Feminists for Life since 1998 believes it is better to “make the system conform to what is best for you and your baby instead of making the baby go away to conform to what is best for the system.”
She decries groups like Planned Parenthood and NARAL who make it appear that abortion is preferential to motherhood.
“Even though we are a very baby-friendly environment, I still think that there’s a lot of feeling out there that [mothers have] second-class status in society," Heaton said.
Kathy Ireland, the first "supermodel," agrees that the rights of women and unborn children can go hand in hand.
“I’m liberal about the rights of the unborn child," Ireland explained. “I’m [also] a person who always has and always will fight for the rights of women."
Ireland says that once she realized the humanity of the unborn, she could no longer take a pro-choice position. “From the moment of conception, a new life comes into being with a complete genetic blueprint. The sex is determined. The blood type is determined. It doesn’t start out as one species and suddenly become a human being.”
The coalition of Hollywood celebrities backing the pro-abortion March includes:
Margie Adam
Christina Aguilera
Jennifer Aniston
Curtis Armstrong
Elaine Aronson
Bea Arthur
Ed Asner
Kevin Bacon
Alec Baldwin
William Baldwin
Meredith Baxter
Shari Belafonte
Maria Bello
Polly Bergen
Thora Birch
Amy Brenneman
Betty Buckley
Jessica Capshaw
Lynda Carter
Stockard Channing
Jill Clayburgh
Kate Clinton
Glenn Close
Cindy Crawford
Sheryl Crow
Alan Cumming
Tyne Daly
Blythe Danner
Kristin Davis
Ossie Davis
Dana Delany
Laura Dern
Ellen DeGeneres
Ani DiFranco
Illeana Douglas
Denise Dowse
Fran Drescher
Kirsten Dunst
David Eigenberg
Hector Elizondo
Emme
Eve Ensler
Giancarlo Esposito
Melissa Etheridge
Morgan Fairchild
Edie Falco
Frances Fisher
Calista Flockhart
Jane Fonda
Bonnie Franklin
Janeane Garofalo
Ana Gasteyer
Indigo Girls
Annabeth Gish
Whoopi Goldberg
Lauren Graham
Maggie Gyllenhaal
LisaGay Hamilton
Ben Harper
Ed Harris
Salma Hayek
Marg Helgenberger
Isabella Hofmann
Helen Hunt
Amy Jo Johnson
Kathryn Joosten
Ashley Judd
Catherine Keener
Carole King
Swoosie Kurt
Christine Lahti
Sanaa Lathan
Sharon Lawrence
Lisa Loeb
Amy Madigan
Natalie Maines
Wendie Malick
Joshua Malina
Camryn Manheim
Frances McDormand
Ewan McGregor
Marilyn McIntyre
Sarah McLachlan
Moby
Demi Moore
Julianne Moore
Alanis Morissette
Kathy Najimy
Alyson Palmer
Joe Pantoliano
Mary-Louise Parker
Adrian Pasdar
Pink
Martha Plimpton
Doris Roberts
Paul Rudd
Susan Sarandon
Campbell Scott
Kyra Sedgwick
Martin Sheen
Cybill Shepherd
SONiA
Fisher Stevens
Gloria Steinem
Julia Stiles
Corky and Mike Stoller
Sharon Stone
Amber Tamblyn
Mary Testa
Charlize Theron
Uma Thurman
Heather Tom
Stanley Tucci
Kathleen Turner
Ted Turner
Sarah Weddington
Audrey Wells
Bradley Whitford
Alfre Woodard
Thom Yorke
Amy Ziff
Elizabeth Ziff
