Reagan Heartens 71,000 Protesting Abortion Rights

President Reagan told some 71,000 cheering anti-abortion demonstrators today “the momentum is with us” to end “the terrible national tragedy of abortion” but urged them to reject the use of violence in their cause.

Reagan, speaking on the 12th anniversary of the Supreme Court ruling that legalized abortion, said, “We cannot condone the threatening or taking of human life to protest the taking of human life by way of abortion.”

Reagan spoke by telephone for six minutes from the Oval Office to shivering demonstrators from dozens of states massed on the Ellipse a quarter of a mile from the White House.

‘Momentum Is With Us’

“I am convinced that our response to the 12th anniversary . . . must be to rededicate ourselves to ending the terrible national tragedy of abortion,” Reagan said. “I want you to know that I feel these days, as never before, the momentum is with us.”

This is the first time Reagan has agreed to address the annual rally, although he has been asked in previous years.

The crowd erupted in applause and cheers as Reagan spoke.

Reagan recalled that in his State of the Union message last year he called on Americans “to rise above bitterness and reproach and seek a greater understanding of this issue.

“I am convinced that spirit of understanding begins with a recognition of the reality of life before birth and a recognition of the reality of death by abortion.

“But that spirit of understanding also includes, as all of you know, a complete rejection of violence as a means of settling this issue,” Reagan said, in a reference to bombing attacks on abortion clinics, which he has condemned.

‘I Support You’

When Nellie Gray, president of March for Life, told Reagan via electronic hookup that the group will push for a constitutional amendment outlawing abortion “without compromise,” Reagan replied, “Good for you, and I support you.”

White House spokesman Larry Speakes, however, said in a clarifying statement: “There is no change in the President’s position on abortion. He believes that abortion should be prohibited except when the life of the mother is endangered.”

After hearing Reagan, the demonstrators staged their annual March for Life to the steps of the Supreme Court on Capitol Hill.

Security at the court was extraordinarily heavy. Wooden barricades had been placed overnight at walkways leading from city sidewalks onto court property, and visitors had to pass through a metal detector before entering the building.

As Justice Harry A. Blackmun, author of the court’s 1973 decision, ate breakfast as usual with his law clerks, three watchful court police officers sat nearby.