Politics
Tuesday January 22, 2008
French March for Life in Streets of Paris on Anniversary of Abortion Legalization
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By Matthew Cullinan Hoffman
PARIS, January 22, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Up to 10,000 people marched in Paris last Sunday, January 19th in protest of the anniversary of the legalization of abortion, which occurred on the same date in 1975.
While police estimated that only 2,500 people showed up for the march, organizers claimed that around 10,000 attended. Substantial underestimation of the actual size of crowds at pro-life events seems to be the rule for police and media in most of the Western world.
The Paris March for Life began in the Plaza of the Republic and ended next to the National Opera in the middle of the city. The event was attended not only by French citizens but by Britons, Germans, Italians, and Austrians, as well as people of other countries.
The slogan of the march was "Thirty Years is Enough". Participants also held signs that read "Abortion Never Again", "Mama, Save Me, Let Me Live", and "The Family: the Foundation of the Nation".
The French news blog Christian Journal noted that the march was remarkable because in France, "the debate over abortion is almost prohibited."
The Christian Journal added that the French Catholic bishops were nowhere to be seen. "And the bishops, who should be on the front lines, maintain a low profile. Six among them (over 200) have given their support, but none of them were in the March."
One French politician, Bruno Gollnisch of the National Front, reportedly told the blog e-deo during the march that, "It's a moral issue, but it's also an issue of national importance, because France is in the process of committing suicide." He added that "If the French kill their children and cause others to come in and replace them, they forfeit their right to live freely and independently in the land of their ancestors."
France has suffered a steep decline in its birthrate, which is below replacement level, and an aging population. Increasingly, however, the country is making efforts to encourage larger families, and the birthrate has risen somewhat (see previous LifeSiteNews coverage at http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2006/mar/06033002.html).
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