SPRINGFIELD, Delaware County, Pa. (KYW Newsradio) — The annual March for Life is taking place in Washington, D.C., on Friday. Thousands of anti-abortion activists from the Philadelphia area made the trip to be a part of the first march since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade.
About 3,000 people from the region are participating through the Archdiocese of Philadelphia. Buses departed from churches and schools very early Friday morning. Two buses, with about 80 students, staffers and others, left from Cardinal O’Hara High School.
“Really encouraging to see so many young people interested in this movement,” said Maria Parker, theology chair at O’Hara and bus captain for the trip.
Parker acknowledged there’s a different landscape this year in the fights for and against abortion rights. The March for Life has happened every year since the first anniversary of Roe v. Wade. This year, 50 years after Roe, the march comes just months after the Supreme Court’s Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization decision, which overturned the landmark 1973 decision and eliminated the constitutional right to an abortion.
“Now, we’re proud to be part of the post-Roe generation, where we can witness to supporting women in crisis pregnancies and vulnerable babies, to protect their lives and provide them with an opportunity to come into the world,” Parker said. “So, instead of focusing on the legal aspect of it as a nation, it’s more of the individual, personal aspect of ‘How can we love you better?’”
Related
Abortion advocates continue to argue that the decision to terminate a pregnancy is a woman’s to make. But, after Dobbs, that option has been eliminated or greatly diminished in half of the country. A dozen states have instituted a near-total ban on abortion — though legal challenges are pending in several cases — and a number of other states have more restrictions in place as well.
In Pennsylvania and New Jersey, abortion is still legal and available. Former Gov. Tom Wolf signed an executive order last summer to legally protect people from other states seeking an abortion in Pennsylvania, as well as the doctors who offer them. And Gov. Phil Murphy, a year ago, signed into law a guarantee of the right of all New Jerseyans to reproductive autonomy.
Senior White House officials, on Thursday, said they would continue to call on Congress to restore the protections that Roe offered. Republicans, however, has a slim majority in the House. Also, while some anti-abortion leaders are pushing for a complete federal abortion ban, Democrats are still in control of the Senate and White House.
Related
