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1,000 turn out to march, rally for end to abortion

By Eric Swedlund

ARIZONA DAILY STAR

About 1,000 people gathered Saturday for a rally, march and memorial seeking an end to abortion.

The 10th annual March for Life started with a 9 a.m. prayer and Mass at Salpointe Catholic High School and ended with a memorial at Holy Hope Cemetery.

This year's event was marked by a greater optimism, with President Bush, who opposes abortion, recently inaugurated for his second term and the likelihood of seats opening on the Supreme Court, said organizer Kelly Copeland.

"This year is a little more positive because of the possibility of overturning Roe v. Wade," he said. "There's a light at the end of a 32-year tunnel."

The march coincided with the 32nd anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court's Jan. 22, 1973, Roe v. Wade decision legalizing abortion.

With black armbands and signs such as "It's a child, not a choice," "Chose life" and "Abortion kills children," marchers carried blue and pink balloons. Speakers called abortion an "awful practice" and a "terrible insult to humanity."

Kerri Caviezel, a nationally known anti-abortion activist and wife of "Passion of the Christ" star James Caviezel was the guest speaker at Salpointe before the roughly 4-mile march.

The anti-abortion cause is daunting as the practice continues each year, Copeland said. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports about 850,000 abortions in 2001. But as abortions continue so does the power of the memorials, he said.

"It becomes more and more powerful because of how long it takes," he said. "You can tell by the silence it becomes much more emotional."

During the memorial, a person born each year since the decision walked up as the year was called, one after another, to lay red roses on a headstone at the cemetery.

"For one thing, it says we have people here to represent the years, but how many people are missing?" said John Gauger, who carried the rose for 1983. "We feel we do make a difference. We just have to hope and pray."

Brittney Sims, who does post-abortion counseling for Reachout Healing Ministry, said it's amazing to see how much a woman can change after counseling. She said she went through 15 years of guilt after having an abortion and found peace after counseling.

Sims said she sees anger, guilt, anxiety and depression in women who have had an abortion and those same feelings used to make the march difficult for her.

"Now when I come it's just a moment to remember my own child," she said.

Patti Caldwell, CEO of Planned Parenthood of Southern Arizona, said the 32nd anniversary of Roe v. Wade commemorates the basic fundamental human right to privacy.

"That right to privacy includes the right to a safe and legal abortion for women," she said in an interview later Saturday. "Access to safe and legal abortion has saved the lives of thousands upon thousands of women."

"I'm certainly concerned the Bush administration is hostile to many fundamental human rights, including the right of a woman to make a private decision that should be between a woman, her family and her physician," she said.

● Contact reporter Eric Swedlund at 629-9412 or at eswedlund@azstarnet.com.