Basking in Republican Gains, Abortion Foes Rally in Capital

Marching with evangelical purpose -- but with little sense that their convictions would quickly become law -- thousands of abortion opponents braved the cold and snow Monday to rally against Roe vs. Wade, the 1973 Supreme Court decision that established a woman’s right to end a pregnancy.

“It’s so obvious to us, our belief in the rights of the unborn,” said Barbara Parker, who came to Washington from St. Joseph, Ind., with her three children and her husband, Geoffrey. “We are hoping to change things.”

But neither thought the November election results would change things anytime soon -- although “I’m more hopeful than if it had gone the other way,” Geoffrey Parker said.

In their first big gathering since Republicans retained the White House and made gains in the House and the Senate, abortion opponents expressed faint hope that they had the political muscle to enact long-sought measures, including mandatory notification of parents when teens seek an abortion.

But President Bush gave them little reason to expect that the electoral gains would lead to quick legislative fixes. In a telephone call from Camp David broadcast to the rally over loudspeakers, Bush said that although “we’re making progress in Washington ... a culture of life cannot be sustained solely by changing laws. We need most of all to change hearts.”

Since the Supreme Court declared on Jan. 22, 1973, that a constitutional right to privacy protected a woman’s decision to have an abortion until a fetus could live outside the womb, abortion foes have assembled to protest around the anniversary of the ruling. They believe the decision is bad constitutional law and will eventually be overturned.

But Bush said nothing Monday to signal an administration push to outlaw abortion.

“The America of our dreams, where every child is welcomed in life and protected in law, may still be some ways away,” he said. “But even from the far side of the river ... we can see its glimmerings.”

Several congressional speakers were more emphatic.

Sen. Sam Brownback (R-Kan.), one of the most outspoken abortion foes in Congress, told the rally: “The end of abortion on demand has started in America. In its place, a spring of life has begun.” And Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa) urged demonstrators to “never, ever back up” and to keep marching “until we celebrate the end of Roe v. Wade.”

During the rally, dozens of women stood on the podium, each bearing a sign that said “I Regret My Abortion.” After the speeches, demonstrators marched from the Ellipse, near the White House, to the Supreme Court.

At a news conference before the rally, the National Right to Life Committee set the day’s tone. Saying the Senate had between one and four additional votes against abortion because of election gains, legislative director Douglas Johnson saw “grounds for guarded optimism about chances for success in the Senate.”

One priority is a bill that would make it a federal crime to take an underage girl across state lines for an abortion without notifying her parents. The bill has passed the House but has been blocked in the Senate.

“We are now more hopeful for favorable Senate action,” Johnson said.

A second priority is the Unborn Child Pain Awareness Act, which would require any doctor about to perform an abortion on a woman at least 20 weeks pregnant to tell her that the fetus experienced pain and to offer pain-relieving drugs for her and the fetus. “We believe we will see action this year,” Johnson said.

Both sides are preparing for a confrontation over possible Supreme Court vacancies. Arguing that former Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle (D-S.D.) was defeated in large measure because of his obstruction of judicial nominees, Johnson warned Democrats not to repeat that history.

“If Senate Democrats continue to obstruct judicial nominees at the behest of liberal pressure groups, they do so at their collective political peril,” he said.

Abortion rights advocates, some of whom turned out in a counter-demonstration Monday, also seemed poised for battle.

Nancy Keenan, president of NARAL Pro-Choice America, warned that if Bush tried to “pack the Supreme Court with out-of-touch far-right judges who want to take away our rights, he’s going to hear from [the] pro-choice majority loud and clear.”

Many at the rally had personal reasons for attending.

Rachel Johnson came from Kentucky because “I love children and I cannot imagine anybody killing a little baby.”

Melissa Cowden came to her first “March for Life” rally 20 years ago when she was in college. This year she brought her husband and two children. The election gives her “a sense of hope,” and she is optimistic that several Supreme Court justices are “coming of age.”

But her husband, Matthew, an Episcopal seminarian, said he thought the country was “very divided on every issue,” including abortion.

“It’s not that minds are changing,” but that people are actually talking about it, he said.