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Email: "Pro-Life Freedom Rides Launch in Alabama"

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BY LifeSiteNews.com By James TillmanBIRMINGHAM, Alabama, July 23, 2010 (LifeSiteNews.com)—In an echo of the Freedom Rides of the civil rights movement, the nation's first pro-life Freedom Ride begins today with a rally and concert in Birmingham, Alabama, and will conclude in Atlanta on Saturday afternoon with a prayer service held at the tomb of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr."The pro-life movement is the civil rights movement," declared Dr. Alveda King, niece of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., full-time member of the Pastoral Team of Priests for Life, and leader of the Freedom Rides which will occur over the coming months."We will ride this summer for the same cause as those who rode almost fifty years ago, that every single human being is worthy of equal protection under the law," said King.The Freedom Ride is patterned after the Freedom Rides engaged in by the civil rights activists who rode buses into the segregated southern United States to test the U.S. Supreme Court decision Boynton v. Virginia, which held that racial segregation in public transportation was illegal.Nevertheless, when they disobeyed signs segregating whites from African-Americans, the Freedom Riders were still arrested and even brutally attacked and beaten by opponents of civil rights."The civil rights movement and the pro-life movement have the same heart and soul: a longing for equal justice for everyone, based on the inherent dignity of every human life," writes Fr. Frank Pavone, head of Priests for Life, which is sponsoring the Freedom Rides.The first Freedom Ride will begin with a 7:00 p.m. event at the Birmingham Jefferson County Convention Complex Theatre, featuring speakers and music.On Saturday at 9:00 a.m., the Freedom Riders will attend a prayer vigil at the Planned Parenthood abortuary on Birmingham's 27th Place South before boarding the bus for Atlanta, where the ride will conclude.Said Fr. Pavone: "The bus rides are a symbol of the journey we are on, of the fellowship we share with each other, and of the fact that we are a movement."Opponents of unborn rights have attempted to keep pro-life groups from using the King Center, where Dr. Martin Luther King is buried, and will be having their own counter-protest.Some of them have argued that the pro-life Freedom Rides oppose the principles of the Civil Rights movement and "stand in opposition to freedom and are an insult to the principle of equal justice."Dr. Alveda King responded that “I have no doubt that if they were alive, my uncle Martin and my father A.D. would be with us on these Freedom Rides for the unborn.”"I can remember the days of the 20th century civil rights movement; and yes, the Freedom Rides," she has said. "In those days, we were fighting for the civil rights of people being persecuted ... because of their skin color.""Today, in the twenty-first century, the battle still rages, and yet another precious class of human beings is now suffering discrimination due to their age and place of residence."The threat to them, she said, "is abortion."Sign up to receive updates on the progress of the Freedom Rides here.  Priests for Life maintains a list of things to do to help the Freedom Rides here.See related stories on LifeSiteNews.com:Pro-Life Freedom Rides Announced for This Summer http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2010/apr/10043005.html http://www.lifesitenews.com/news/pro-life-freedom-rides-launch-in-alabama/

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