Tens of thousands attend anti-abortion demo in Washington

Tens of thousands of anti-abortion activists have marched to the US Supreme Court for a demonstration to protest against the Roe versus Wade ruling, three days after the 40th anniversary of the ruling that legalized abortion throughout the United States.

The organizers of Friday’s pro-life demonstration said over 400,000 attended the event to denounce the landmark 1973 Roe versus Wade Supreme Court ruling that made abortion strictly a private matter between a woman and her doctor.

The organizers of the annual March for Life on the National Mall in Washington say that each year more US citizens are leaning toward the movement as awareness over the scientific effects of abortion spreads across the country.

“Abortion is not good for women,” March for Life Director Jeanne Monahan said, adding, “Experience, science and research continue to show what common sense tells us. Abortion takes the life of the baby and wounds the mother.”

Last year, a Gallup poll found half of US citizens view themselves as pro-life or support the fundamental ideas of the movement, showing a swing of opinion from support for legalized abortion.

“Every year [since the law], abortion takes the lives of more than 1.2 million unborn children [in the US], leaving their mothers susceptible to emotional and physical risks,” National Right to Life President Carol Tobias said in a statement.

“In our society, no mother should ever feel like abortion is her only option and no unborn child should ever be considered expendable,” Tobias added.

The pro-life movement says its ultimate goal is to restore “unborn children’s legal right to life.”

The pro-lifers intend to overturn the Supreme Court ruling, which they say took away unborn children’s rights 40 years ago.

In recent years, pro-life activists have lobbied for change in state laws in order to tighten restrictions on abortion.

The government of every US state has enacted legislation restricting abortion, which include parental involvement laws, waiting periods, and conscience protections for health care workers.

Pro-lifers’ attempts to overturn Roe versus Wade failed when the Supreme Court ruled against them in the Webster versus Reproductive Health Services case in 1989 and the Planned Parenthood versus Casey case in 1992.