Northwest PA residents to travel to the 26th March for Life in Washington, DC

FROM: People for Life, Inc.
DATE: January 1, 1999

People for Life, Inc., northwestern Pennsylvania's largest pro-life educational organization, will send a number of chartered buses to Washington, DC for the 26th March for Life on January 22, 1999, the anniversary of the 1973 Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision.

Through Roe v. Wade and its companion case, Doe v. Bolton, the U.S. Supreme Court, by a 7 to 2 vote in each instance, struck down the duly enacted abortion laws of all 50 states.¹ The exact number of people who will take part in this year's bus excursion has not been determined, but last year People for Life sent five buses, about 225 marchers.

Attendance at the 1998 March for Life was estimated at 200,000 -- a near record turn-out.

The theme of this year's March is, "For What Shall it Profit a Man, if he gain the whole world, and loose his own soul?" This is obviously an appeal directed especially toward those politicians who say they personally oppose abortion as the unjustifiable termination of an innocent human being's life, but who refuse, for political purposes, to oppose this injustice as a matter of public policy.

The March for Life will be preceded by a Rally at noon in the Ellipse, which is adjacent to the South Lawn of -- and within earshot of -- the White House. The Rally will be addressed by many prominent individuals, including congressmen and senators, and Catholic, Orthodox, Protestant and Jewish religious leaders. Marchers from northwestern Pennsylvania will rendezvous for the Rally at the Second Division Memorial, on the periphery of the Ellipse.

The 26th March for Life will step off at 1:00 PM. From the Ellipse, the March will proceed the 2 1/2 miles up Constitution Avenue to the U.S. Supreme Court on Capitol Hill. Many marchers choose to pause in front of the Supreme Court for a time of subdued demonstration and / or prayer. Immediately following the March, northwestern Pennsylvanians will attend meetings arranged with Congressman Phil English and Senator Rick Santorum.

Reservations for the Bus Trip will be accepted until January 18. The cost of a bus seat is $30.00.

Marchers will board the buses at 11:15 PM on the evening on January 21, 1999 at the St. George Church parking lot on upper Peach Street in Erie. Meadville area marchers will board at the Park Avenue Plaza near the Meadville I-79 Interchange. After the day's activities in DC, the marchers will re-embark at about 5:00 PM for the return to northwestern Pennsylvania. The time of arrival back in Erie will be about 1:00 AM on January 23.

1 Roe v. Wade and Doe v. Bolton from a Pro-Life Perspective
Roe v. Wade erroneously declared that an absolute right to abortion, until the unborn child enters its seventh month, can be found within the Constitution of the United States. Also, a virtually absolute right to "abortion" (meaning, in this case, the killing of a viable infant) during the seventh, eighth and ninth months of pregnancy was also "discovered." A right to kill (rather than deliver) a viable infant beyond 24 weeks gestational age was made available whenever a woman's "health" is in question. Furthermore, for the purpose of securing a right to late-term abortion, a determination of "poor health" need not be limited to medical considerations, but may be arrived at "IN THE LIGHT OF ALL FACTORS--PHYSICAL, EMOTIONAL, PSYCHOLOGICAL, FAMILIAL, AND THE WOMAN'S AGE." [Section 4 of Mr. Justice Blackmun's Opinion for the majority, Doe v. Bolton, 410 U.S. 179, January 22, 1973] Thus, the Supreme Court announced to the world that abortion FOR NO REASON WHATSOEVER -- until the unborn child is fully six months old -- is an absolute constitutional right, and that abortion FOR VIRTUALLY ANY REASON WHATSOEVER -- from the beginning of the 25th week of pregnancy until the day of birth -- is a also guaranteed by the Constitution of the United States. The United States has proceeded on this basis for the past 26 years. Why should 'God bless America'?