Opponents and advocates of abortion marked the sixteenth anniversary of the Supreme Court’s Roe v. Wade decision last month with demonstrations, prayer vigils, press conferences, meetings with government officials, and campaigns calculated to sway public opinion. And the activities on all sides seemed to reflect the heightened debate surrounding the issue.
The most visible event occurred in Washington, D.C., where an estimated 65,000 prolifers gathered for the sixteenth annual March for Life. The diverse crowd, which included evangelical; fundamentalist; Catholic; Greek, Russian, and Romanian Orthodox; and Jewish Orthodox representatives, marched from the White House to the Supreme Court to show their opposition to legalized abortion. The march was peaceful, with no arrests, although some tense moments occurred when a small group of prochoice counterdemonstraters confronted the group near the Supreme Court.
President George Bush addressed the crowd through a telephone hook-up and made his strongest prolife public statement to date. “I think the Supreme Court’s decision in Roe v. Wade was wrong and should be overturned,” he said, adding that he also believes “America needs a human life amendment.” Said Bush, “I promise you that the President hears you now and stands with you in a cause that must be won.” Prior to the march, Vice-president Dan Quayle met with a group of 15 prolife leaders.
Participants in the march appeared to be more optimistic about impending success than in previous years. “I can feel it; I can hear it; victory is coming,” said Sen. Gordon Humphrey (R-N.H.). One of the major reasons for renewed prolife optimism is the Supreme Court’s decision to hear oral arguments this spring about a Missouri law that regulates abortion.
On the day prior to the march, U.S. Attorney General Richard Thornburgh told NBC’s “Meet the Press” that he believes the Court “will return the regulation of abortions, like many health and safety questions, to the states.”
However, at a press briefing, National Right to Life (NRLC) president Jack Willke said he does not believe the Court will “reverse Roe in its entirety.” More likely, Willke said, the “legal constructionists” on the Court will “chip away” at the Roe ruling.
Willke, whose group was not officially involved in the march, announced that the NRLC is launching a national crusade of prayer against abortion. Pledging that it will be “totally nonsectarian” and voluntary, Willke said, “We’re going to see tens of thousands of points of light in prayer” on this issue.
In another section of Washington, 153 prolifers were arrested in an Operation Rescue-style sit-in at an abortion clinic. The group called itself “Rachel’s Rescue” and was made up of women who have had abortions. Those arrested were charged with blocking a public passageway.
Meanwhile, advocates of abortion staged their own events. Planned Parenthood released a statement signed by 13 civil rights activists challenging any similarities between the prolife Operation Rescue movement and the civil rights movement of the 1960s. “The adoption of the tactic of civil disobedience is their right, but the appropriation of the moral imperative of the civil rights movement is all wrong,” the statement says. “Perhaps it is more accurate to compare Operation Resuce demonstrators to the segregationists who fought desperately to block black Americans from access to their rights.”
The Religious Coalition for Abortion Rights (RCAR) held a press conference to pledge its commitment to abortion. “The religious community will not stand by and allow restrictions and erosion of Roe v. Wade,” said RCAR president Faith Evans.
A network of prochoice groups is said to be spending millions of dollars in a campaign to keep the status quo on abortion. The campaign will include newspaper ads, a petition drive, and an April march called the March for Women’s Equality/Women’s Lives. Organizers say they hope to draw twice as many participants as came out for the March for Life.
Prolife leaders are gearing up for the public-relations battle. Willke said he expects the debate will make the fight over the failed confirmation of Judge Robert Bork to the Supreme Court “look like a Sunday school picnic.”
