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People rally at the first Pennsylvania March for Life at the state Capitol Building in Harrisburg on Monday, Sept. 27, 2021.
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Thousands expected at March for Life event in Harrisburg

Dan Gleiter / pennlive.com

Thousands expected at March for Life event in Harrisburg

HARRISBURG — More than 100 busloads of people are expected to make their way to the Pennsylvania Capitol on Monday for the state’s second annual March for Life.

Organizers say they are coming to show they are redoubling their efforts to support the protection of pre-born children in what is the first Pennsylvania march since the U.S. Supreme Court overturning of the landmark Roe v. Wade decision in June.

A spokesman for the host organization, Pennsylvania Family Institute of Harrisburg, said this year’s Pennsylvania March for Life will be both a celebration of that court ruling that leaves the legality of abortion up to each state and a call to action for state lawmakers to pass laws that protect life.

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“It’s put more importance on the states and we’re seeing many attacks on the aspect of just trying to say life is a human right and should be protected,” said institute spokesman Dan Bartkowiak. “So it’s those in the pro-life movement that are just coming together to say life should be protected. That’s what Monday is all about.”

The day’s events begin with a 9:30 a.m. Mass at St. Patrick’s Cathedral down the street from the Capitol. That will be followed by a pre-rally prayer at 10 a.m. at the stage set up at the Capitol’s front steps, where the rally will take place at 11 a.m.

A march around the Capitol is set to step off around noon before returning to the Capitol steps for testimonials from women who had abortions. The day concludes with an afternoon Mass at 1:30 p.m.

Last year’s inaugural March for Life drew several thousand people who packed the Capitol steps and spilled onto the grounds around them. Mr. Bartkowiak is expecting similar numbers on Monday.

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Among the scheduled speakers are March for Life President Jeanne Mancini and Ann McElhinney, who produced and co-wrote a film about Philadelphia abortion provider Kermit Gosnell, who was convicted in 2013 of killing infants born alive, along with others.

Also addressing the crowd will be three prominent anti-abortion lawmakers in the Republican-led General Assembly: House Speaker Bryan Cutler, R-Lancaster County, Senate Majority Leader Kim Ward, R-Westmoreland County, and Sen. Judy Ward, R-Blair County.

Judy Ward sponsored the proposed constitutional amendment that passed in July that seeks to ensure there is no guarantee to abortion rights nor the public funding of abortions in Pennsylvania. She and others who support that constitutional change stress that it alone doesn’t alter the state’s Abortion Control Act that allows legalized abortions up to 24 weeks of a pregnancy.

Rather, they say it ensures that the General Assembly, not the courts, determines policies that cover abortion.

Abortion rights activists, however, argue that constitutional change would open the door to efforts to pass more restrictive abortion laws that could not be challenged in state courts.

They saw what some of those efforts might look like over the past two years when proposals were offered to ban abortions once a fetal heartbeat is detected and bar abortions because of prenatal diagnosis of Down Syndrome.

“Nine out of 10 Pennsylvanians want abortion to remain legal,” said Lindsey Mauldin, a spokeswoman for Planned Parenthood Pennsylvania Advocates. That was the finding from the most recent Franklin & Marshall College Poll released in August.

“Legislators should listen to their constituents and stay out of Pennsylvanians’ reproductive decisions. Abortion bans aren’t just unpopular — They put people’s health, lives and futures at risk,” she said. “Here in Pennsylvania, abortion is legal, and Planned Parenthood’s Pennsylvania affiliates remains committed to keeping it accessible.”

Abortion rights advocates gathered at the Capitol on Wednesday to make that position clear and to rally opposition to the proposed constitutional amendment.

On Monday, it’s the other side’s turn. Mr. Bartkowiak said the message to be conveyed at the March for Life rally will be about “life is a human right,” and there are options to abortion.

“Legislators and Gov. [Tom] Wolf are trying essentially to make abortion unrestricted through all nine months of pregnancy and funded by taxpayers,” he said. “That’s just not what Pennsylvania values are about, and certainly we want to see life protected.”

First Published: September 18, 2022, 1:00 p.m.
Updated: September 18, 2022, 1:13 p.m.

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People rally at the first Pennsylvania March for Life at the state Capitol Building in Harrisburg on Monday, Sept. 27, 2021.  (Dan Gleiter / pennlive.com)
Dan Gleiter / pennlive.com
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