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Thousands demonstrate on 31st anniversary of "Roe vs. Wade' ruling

 
Published Jan. 23, 2004|Updated Aug. 27, 2005

Thousands of abortion protesters, some carrying signs that said "American Holocaust" and "I regret my abortion," marched from the White House to the Supreme Court on Thursday to mark the 31st anniversary of the decision that established a woman's right to the procedure.

"Abortion kills more people than war," said 14-year-old Andrew Marshall, who traveled with his family and a Catholic youth group from McMurrey, Pa. "We're trying to win a war in America, it's a war to stop abortion."

The day of demonstrations against the court's 1973 ruling in Roe vs. Wade began with a mass and rally attended by nearly two-dozen Catholic bishops and a crowd of about 15,000, mostly teenagers.

"The theme of this day is human life and human dignity," Cardinal Justin F. Rigali, archbishop of Philadelphia, said before the rally. Outside, thousands more demonstrators gathered around Washington.

President Bush called in a brief statement, telling antiabortion marchers they were gathered for "a noble cause."

"The right to life does not come from government, it comes from the creator of life," the president said by telephone from Roswell, N.M., where he was wrapping up a two-day trip.

Terry McAuliffe, chairman of the Democratic National Committee, said abortion rights were at risk because of Bush's decisions, "from stacking the federal judiciary with antichoice proponents, to executive orders, to regulations, to restrictive legislation and key political appointments."

"Antichoice zealots want to impose their views and theology on the rest of us, and that's just not right," said Gloria Feldt, president of the Planned Parenthood Federation of America, which plans its own march April 25.

Outside the Supreme Court, Luana Stoltemberg, 43, of Davenport, Iowa, said she began regretting her abortions when she learned they had robbed her of the ability to have children. She later adopted.

"I've had three abortions and that hurts women like me," she said. "It devastates us physically, mentally, spiritually and emotionally."