Pro-Choice Activists Prepare for Rallies

On the eve of nationwide abortion-rights rallies, activists built a huge memorial Saturday on the grounds of the Washington Monument to commemorate the lives of the women they say were killed by botched abortions before the procedure became legal in 1973.

In what organizers say may be the largest mobilization ever of supporters of a woman’s right to an abortion, thousands of women and men from across the country are expected to rally in Washington today, one of more than 1,000 events scheduled in 150 cities.

The National Organization for Women, a sponsor of the events, said the 28-foot-long, tomb-shaped Washington memorial was built to commemorate the lives of women who died from botched illegal abortions in the years before 1973.

Organizers estimated that 10,000 American women a year died of back-street abortions before the Supreme Court ruled that year that women had a legal right to abortion.

On Saturday, NOW and other groups also dispatched 480 volunteers to a southeast Washington abortion clinic to counter an “Operation Rescue” raid by about 250 abortion foes. Police said they arrested 212 people after they broke through police lines and attempted to blockade the building.

NOW spokeswoman Tiny Hoff said none of the NOW demonstrators, who sought to clear a path for patients, were among those arrested. Police weren’t sure of the breakdown.

Elsewhere in Washington, anti-abortion forces planted more than 4,000 crosses and Stars of David in a mock cemetery across from the White House to commemorate aborted fetuses and held a 24-hour prayer vigil.

Kate Michelman, chairwoman of the National Abortion Rights Action League, said the nationwide series of pro-choice events, called “Mobilize for Women’s Lives,” will focus what organizers called a two-pronged attack on both state and federal policy toward abortion.

The demonstrations are to begin with a sunrise “Thousand Points of Light” vigil in Kennebunk, Me., near President Bush’s family retreat in Kennebunkport. At that ceremony, “We will say ‘America stands for choice, President Bush, and your demagoguing cannot turn us around,’ ” said Faye Wattleton, president of Planned Parenthood.

Bush planned to spend the day at Camp David, Md.