Abortion opponents protest nationwide

ST. PAUL, Minn. – Thousands of abortion opponents massed outside Minnesota’s Capitol on Sunday in one of several protests nationwide on the 33rd anniversary of the Roe v. Wade ruling, amid heightened hopes and fears over what a new face on the Supreme Court will mean for the decision establishing abortion rights.

A crowd of sign-wavers clad in parkas, winter boots and collars turned up against a cutting wind to call for a ban on public funding of abortion.

“We must stop abortion in our state,” said Scott Fischbach, head of Minnesota Citizens Concerned for Life. “Things are changing in this country.”

Many abortion opponents said they were heartened by President Bush’s choice of Samuel Alito to replace Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, a moderate who was often the court’s swing vote.

Alito, who appears to have solid support from the Senate’s Republican majority, refused during his confirmation hearings to agree with assertions by Democrats that Roe v. Wade was “settled law,” upsetting supporters of abortion rights and heartening opponents.

“We have a dream today that someday soon this will not be an anniversary of sadness, but an anniversary of justice restored,” said Minnesota’s Republican Gov. Tim Pawlenty.

In Idaho, nearly 400 abortion protesters marched at the Statehouse on Saturday, including Reid Richardson and his 5-year-old stepdaughter, Allie Zebley, who carried a sign with her ultrasound photo and the words, “This is me at 16 weeks.”

About half that number gathered Sunday outside the Idaho Capitol in support of abortion rights.

“When American women are barred from accessing health services at the whim of a politician’s religious beliefs, we are not in a democracy at all,” said Bree Herndon-Michael, a member of the Idaho Women’s Network.

The largest abortion demonstration was expected today in Washington, D.C., where anti-abortion activists planned to converge on the mall to hear speakers supporting their cause and march on the Congress and Supreme Court.