Tuesday January 19, 2010
Pro-Life Rallies in New England Draw Large Crowds
By Thaddeus M. Baklinski
CONCORD, New Hampshire, January 19, 2010 (LifeSiteNews.com) – New Hampshire Right to Life organizers said that the direction of public opinion is turning in favor of protection for the unborn as over 300 pro-lifers gathered in front of the State House on Saturday for the state’s annual Right to Life March.
Knights of Columbus spokesman Ronald DiStasio, co-chair of the group’s pro-life committee, said, “This is a spiritual and cultural battle we are fighting,” adding that he believes that “the tide is turning our way.”
The marchers included politicians, clergy, activists and entire families, who carried pro-life signs and banners.
Karen Testerman, the founder of Cornerstone Policy Research and currently a Republican candidate for governor, told the crowd, “We can take this state back, and we can turn this state into a respecting-life state again.”
During the demonstration marchers filed past the Feminist Health Center abortuary, where they placed a small coffin and dropped rose petals.
New Hampshire Right to Life president Kurt Wuelper said the symbolic gesture was “the healing part of this memorial to the millions lost to this tragedy we call abortion.”
Republican candidates Frank Guinta and Jennifer Horn told those gathered that they would oppose federal funding of abortion under the proposed health care bill and that the unborn must have a voice not just in New Hampshire but in Washington.
The featured speaker at the rally, singer/songwriter and author Juda Meyers, told the crowd that she had been conceived when her mother was raped, but pro-lifers like those gathered on Saturday had convinced her mother not to abort.
“I know people you are saving today probably will not come back and tell you ‘Thank you for what you have done’. I’m saying thank you in proxy,” Meyers said.
In Maine, hundreds of pro-lifers joined hands around the State House in Augusta to mark the annual Hands Around the Capitol Rally and March.
“This event is where we publicly recognize and mourn the Supreme Court decision of Roe v. Wade, while providing an intense impact on those who witness our solemn March,” organizers said.
At 12:30 the Maine Capitol Bell was rung 37 times, representing the number of years since Roe v. Wade was enacted, while participants circled the capitol building hand in hand in silent memory of the unborn
Many local pro-life marches have taken place around the U.S. in anticipation of the huge National March for Life in Washington D.C.
See the LSN comprehensive list of Washington March For Life events here.