Friday, January 23, 2009

The 2009 March for Life   [Mark Hemingway]

Though the massive crowds from the Inauguration appear to have finally left D.C., they were quickly supplanted by the influx of people attending the March for Life, held annually on the anniversary of the Supreme Court’s infamous Roe v. Wade decision legalizing abortion. This year marked the 30th anniversary of the march, right on the heels of the election of the most pro-choice president in history. The crowd attending this year’s march was exceptionally large.

The crowd near the Capitol, looking down Constitution Avenue:

Given Obama’s recent election, the parallels between between civil-rights and the pro-life movements did not go unnoticed.

As Ronald Reagan famously quipped, “I’ve noticed that everybody that is for abortion has already been born.”

Remarks from Obama’s inaugural address had unexpected resonance at the March for Life. Our new president said yesterday:

We will not apologize for our way of life, nor will we waver in its defense, and for those who seek to advance their aims by inducing terror and slaughtering innocents, we say to you now that our spirit is stronger and cannot be broken—you cannot outlast us, and we will defeat you.

Unlike Roe v. Wade, the right to bear arms was indisputably enshrined in the Constitution. Yet while we don’t subsidize gun ownership, Planned Parenthood gets $336 million a year in tax dollars. More taxpayer-funded abortions are on the way as well; Obama has already announced he’s repealing Bush regulations that prohibit the funding of abortions as a part of international aid.

Abortion isn’t as partisan an issue as it is made out to be. The crowd was much less hostile to Obama than many on the left might imagine. Some of them even voted for him.

Perhaps it’s impolitic to speculate what a 19-year-old Ann Dunham would have done if abortion had been a legal option. In any event, many people are ecstatic this week because she chose motherhood.

Dr. Seuss knew what was up.

There are several problems with this analogy, but hey, everything is better with bacon, right?

Two Jews who choose life.

Can’t say I’m a fan of civil religion, but sometimes a picture is worth a thousand words.

The march reaches its logical endpoint. With luck, Stevens, Souter, Ginsburg and Breyer are looking out the window.

01/23 01:00 PMShare