Pro-life message resounds long after march participants return home

Published: 2008-01-25

WASHINGTON (CNS) -- When the tens of thousands of participants at the annual March for Life returned to their homes, some after longer bus rides than others, many of them put away their placards, marching gear and talking points for another year. But not all of them. A number of the participants who traveled great distances and braved cold temperatures to come to Washington to voice their opposition to legalized abortion were ready to jump right back to volunteering, praying or working for the cause that brought them to the Jan.22 march in the first place. Those who lobby in Washington for pro-life efforts were no exception -- they certainly got right back to work after attending the march that marks the anniversary of the 1973 Roe decision legalizing abortion. Two days after the march, Richard Doerflinger, associate director for the U.S. bishops' Secretariat for Pro-Life Activities, told Catholic News Service that his office had a full slate of issues it planned to closely monitor in the months ahead. For starters, the secretariat was supporting an amendment to the Indian Health Care Improvement Act expected to go before the Senate any day. The bill would restrict the federal funding of abortion through the Indian Health Service except to save the life of the mother, or in cases of rape of a minor or incest with a minor. The federal agency is responsible for providing health services to American Indians and Alaska's native peoples.

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