By Julie Asher
Catholic News Service
WASHINGTON – House Majority Leader Eric Cantor of Virginia said that after being out of power on Capitol Hill for the past couple of years, pro-life supporters in Congress and across the nation have been re-energised since last November’s elections brought in “the biggest pro-life freshman class in memory.”
“The tide has turned,” Cantor said in remarks at the March for Life rally on the National Mall on 24 January to mark the 38th anniversary of the Supreme Court’s Roe v Wade decision legalising abortion.
The official anniversary date was 22 January, but the March for Life was organised for the following Monday to allow participants to visit their representatives on the Hill after a noon rally and a march along Constitution Avenue to the Supreme Court.
More than 40,000 people attended the event.
Members of the House pledge to institute a government-wide ban on the use of Federal funds for abortion, said Cantor.
He acknowledged that any pro-life legislation will face an uphill battle in the Senate and with President Barack Obama, a supporter of keeping abortion legal, but “the people’s House will stand unapologetically for life.”
Nellie Gray, founder and president of the March for Life Education & Defence Fund that organised the march, said there have been incremental steps in the past 38 years to try to address the fallout of what she called the “unconstitutional” court decision but nothing short of overturning Roe is acceptable.
She said pro-life supporters had come to Washington to bring their message to Obama “with love, and we’re willing to work with you … as the president of all the people, including the preborn.”
She expressed disappointment with the statement the president issued on 22 January, in which he noted the anniversary of Roe, “the Supreme Court decision that protects women’s health and reproductive freedom, and affirms a fundamental principle: that government should not intrude on private family matters.
“I am committed to protecting this constitutional right.”
Religious and civic leaders demonstrated their continued opposition to abortion across the US with rallies, Masses and other public events marking the anniversary of US Supreme Court’s 1973 Roe v Wade decision.
At a 24 January rally in Trenton, New Jersey, organised by New Jersey Right to Life, New Jersey Gov Chris Christie shared his own pro-life conversion story: when he first heard the heartbeat of his daughter while she was still in the womb 15 years ago.
“It was at that moment that it became clear to me that being on the sidelines on this issue was not something that I could live with, and that I needed to speak out in favour of the very simple idea that that child is a life which deserves protection,” Christie said.
“What we need to do each and every day is to live our lives in a way that encourages everyone to understand why this cause is so important, to show that we respect the life of every human being and that every human being is one of God’s creatures and deserves the love and respect that God gives to all of us,” he added.
t bus shelters throughout the Washington area, the Catholic Church is sending a message to women and men whose lives have been affected by abortion: “Come back to God, who is love and mercy.”
The 10-week campaign at 79 shelters in the District of Columbia and the surrounding Maryland and Virginia counties opened in late January as tens of thousands of people gathered in Washington to mark the 38th anniversary of Roe v Wade.
The campaign marks the first time that Project Rachel ads were running in Spanish at Washington bus shelters and the first time that one of the ads was aimed at men affected by abortion, said Deirdre McQuade, assistant director for policy and communications at the US Bishops’ Secretariat of Pro-Life Activities, which is funding the $200,000 campaign.
Each ad depicts a person with a thought such as “God will never forgive me,” “I feel so worthless” or “I failed as a father,” followed by a response such as “God’s greatest desire is to forgive,” “You are precious to God” or “Do not despair. All is not lost,” followed by the tagline, “Come back to God, who is love and mercy.” The campaign is “inviting people to the heart of the Church, which is God’s love and mercy,” McQuade said.
The ads direct people to a website, http://hopeafterabortion.org, where they can find resources about the psychological, emotional and spiritual aftermath of abortion, information on what to say to a friend who has had an abortion and a message board where those affected by abortion can share their stories.
The site also features an interactive map to help people locate a Project Rachel programme in their area.