Hundreds March Against Abortion Rights About 70 Others Rally To Defend Planned Parenthood, Roe Vs. Wade Decision

More than 500 people quietly marched to the Planned Parenthood clinic on East Indiana on Sunday to mark the 25th anniversary of legalized abortion and pray for an end to the practice.

Led by pastors from numerous area churches, the crowd far outnumbered the 70 or so people in the clinic’s parking lot who were defending the Jan. 22, 1973, Roe vs. Wade decision.

“We are not here so much to march as to pray,” Pastor Doug Mallot of the Rock of Ages Christian Fellowship told abortion opponents.

The gathering was not a demonstration as much as it was a “demonstration of grief and sorrow of God’s heart over the innocent killing of babies” and to “confront the invisible strongholds of darkness,” Mallot told the crowd before the group departed from Fourth Memorial Church on North Standard.

As the group walked down Standard and then Indiana, people quietly chatted and some prayed, while others carried banners with images of Jesus Christ and saints. One man carried a fake spear with two babies impaled on the end.

Reaching the clinic after about a 10-minute walk, the crowd sang songs to the accompaniment of an electronic piano set up in front of Planned Parenthood.

Pastor Rob Greenslade of Peaceful Valley Church at Elk led the group in praying for everyone involved with Planned Parenthood - from doctors who do work that “is totally opposed to what they are trained to do” to security guards “who have to guard this sin.”

Meanwhile in the Planned Parenthood parking lot, those on the other side of the issue chatted and held a plethora of signs, including “I’m 16 and not pregnant,” “Thanks to Roe vs. Wade, my daughters have a choice,” “I will not let you take away my rights” and “I’m pro-choice and I go to church.”

John Nugent, executive director of Planned Parenthood in Spokane, said he was pleased with the number of people who turned out to support the clinic and the Roe vs. Wade decision.

“Planned Parenthood does more through its family planning efforts to prevent abortions than these rallies or these prayers would ever do,” Nugent said.

The prayers, songs and speeches outside the clinic’s gates lasted nearly two hours as people stood in 40-degree weather.

“God’s never asked us to stop abortion,” said Pastor Jim Anderson of Lifeline Ministries. “God has asked us to obey him. When we do the obeying, God will do the stopping.”

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Color Photo