Abortion Advocates Make Final Preparations for March in Washington
by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
April 7, 2004
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) — Pro-abortion groups are making final preparations for a national march for abortion that they hope will attract hundreds of thousands of people seeking to keep abortion legal and defeat President George W. Bush in November. Meanwhile, pro-life groups are preparing their own events and activities in response, including focusing on how abortion hurts women.
Efforts to build momentum for the pro-abortion march have top officials with the leading abortion advocacy groups heading across the country to turn out local activists, including college students.
In Birmingham, Alabama, activists have put together a busload of participants and students from the University of Alabama in Birmingham and in Tuscaloosa have reserved many of the seats.
In Massachusetts, Planned Parenthood League of Massachusetts claims to have filled some 30 buses full of march participants. Representatives of Planned Parenthood in Houston report that they have sold 100 plane tickets to the event to local abortion advocates.
In response to the notion that abortion is beneficial for women, the Silent No More Awareness Campaign is planning on providing the truth that abortion hurts women.
The post-abrotion group "plans on surrounding their rally of lies with a prayerful witness of the truth" by inviting women to hold signs such as "I Regret My Abortion " and "I Regret Lost Fatherhood."
Pro-life people who have not had a personal abortion experience can bring signs with the message that "Abortion hurts women" and "Women deserve better than abortion."
Despite the number of marchers already signed up, abortion advocacy groups are apparently concerned that not enough will attend. To ensure a large crowd for the event, the lead sponsors have invited anti-war and anti-Bush protesters to join them.
Though the addition of extra marchers ensures a swelling of their ranks, it would guarantee that not everyone attending has keeping abortion legal as their main political concern.
To help with turnout, pro-abortion groups have also enlisted a number of celebrities to attend.
Many celebrities including Margaret Cho, Laura Dern, Janine Garofalo, Alix Olson and Alfrie Woodard have marked their calendars to attend.
"On April 25th, one million pro-choice supporters will shape the future of our country," Planned Parenthood wrote in an email alert to supporters in December. Time will tell whether or not the prediction comes true.
The march and rally is sponsored by the National Organization for Women (NOW), NARAL, the Feminist Majority Foundation, and Planned Parenthood Federation of America.
But other groups not directly involved in the abortion debate, such as labor organizations, religious groups, and Hispanic organizations are drawing criticism for co-sponsoring the march.
Related web sites:
Silent No More Awareness Campaign – https://www.silentnomoreawareness.org
